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Building Program Service Considerations and Requirements
Directors Notes Ed Falcone January 14, 2002
OVERALL GOALS
The new Ossining Public Library will be the center of cultural and recreational life in the community. The Library will complement the work of the School District by serving the afterschool needs of students and help people of all ages continue their education. It will embrace new technologies so that its staff of professionals can provide users with a full range of information and research services, and it will add new media types to its collection as they are embraced by consumers. The Library will top a parents list of places to bring children, since it will be known as a safe, inviting, and stimulating environment. It will offer extended hours to accommodate busy schedules. And it will not neglect the public librarys traditional role as a friendly place to get a good read, meet friends, and learn about neighborhood events. In short, the Ossining Public Library will be a resource serving everyone in the community, and be a genuine source of pride to all.
SERVICES AND COLLECTIONS
THE BOOK COLLECTION
The current building opened in 1968 with approximately 35,000 print volumes. Historical records indicate that the building was designed to house up to 75,000 volumes. In only 15 years that capacity was exceeded, and in the mid-80s a substantial addition was planned but never implemented. Since that time, shelving was added to the current building to accommodate a growing collection that now numbers over 100,000 books.
Electronic books have been a much-anticipated new technology during the last decade, and some predicted the inevitable decline of the printed book. Some day this may indeed come about, but e-books have had a difficult time of late, and the industry seems to be in disarray due to technical problems and failed business plans. NetLibrary, a vendor that was gearing up to help libraries meet the expected demand for electronic titles, is in bankruptcy.
A recent news article indicated that traditional publishers are also facing problems, due to consumer resistance to rising book prices. People seem to be reading more than ever, though, and are gaining a deeper appreciation of the value of public libraries. Libraries across the country are reporting increased demand, and Ossining is certainly riding that trend the year just ended was by far our busiest ever, as measured by circulation.
Our collection continues to grow, and we are adding 3,000 volumes (net) each year. The figure would be higher but for the fact that we must discard a growing number of books to make room for new items. While many books are discarded for obvious reasons (duplicates, ephemera, and wear), we lately find ourselves pulling books only because they arent as popular as they once were.
All this is to say that we need to plan stack space for a print collection that will be growing well into the future. Planning for a collection of 175,000 to 200,000 books is not unreasonable; a collection of size and depth will still be the librarys main resource for years to come.
Certain print items need to be singled out for special attention:
- New books, especially best sellers, are very popular and circulate in numbers well out of proportion to the collections size. Shelving for this popular collection must be increased in the new plan, and different shelving types (on the bookstore model) should be studied.
- The foreign language collection needs to grow. A growing number of Spanish-speaking people are using the library. We have nearly tripled the number of Spanish books over the last 2 years. It is still only a browsing collection, though, and growth by a factor of 10 is not unreasonable to add depth and to accommodate a growing demand for popular foreign fiction.
- Genre fiction categories have very loyal followings, and are currently cramped and not displayed prominently. Mysteries, science fiction, romances, and short stories need much more space in the new building.
- Finally, we are not serving our young adults well with the current size of the YA collection. (See A PLACE FOR TEENS.)
PERIODICALS
We have an impressive collection of magazines for a library of this size that is used by many patrons. Unfortunately, we are reaching the capacity of our recently-expanded magazine shelving, and that shelving is hidden behind other stacks. There is no dedicated seating for periodical users, and we do not have proper display fixtures for newspapers. We currently have 265 magazines and 21 newspapers in our popular collection. We need to increase the capacity for magazines in the new building to a minimum of 300 titles, and substantially increase the newspaper display space, especially to allow for out-of-town and foreign titles.
MULTI-MEDIA
Our multi-media collection has grown from a small number of LPs to over 12,000 items in a number of media types. OPL was the first library in the county to circulate DVDs, and our videos (in both VHS and DVD) have become our signature collections, popular within the community and through intra-library loan. The other collections (CDs, audio books, and language tapes) are also in high demand, and community interest indicates that the demand will grow. I will have recommendations on the ultimate size of each collection soon.
We should examine new and better ways to display and store multi-media material. Our current methods of circulating videos are particularly burdensome on the clerical staff, and most materials presently require fussy processing by Tech Services. There are also issues regarding the integration of our theft detection system with the non-print collection.
Customers can read books and periodicals in the library, but can only use multi-media materials at home. We should explore the possibility of having listening and viewing stations in the new building.
THE JUNIOR ROOM
Many libraries have done creative and delightful things with their childrens spaces, and we should do no less for our children. The Junior Room is often a childs first introduction to the written word and to structured activities, a place of wonder and fun and excitement. Many of us can remember our first library card as a milestone in our lives. The Junior Room can establish the beginning of a life-long relationship with the public library, and we should pay particular attention to the design of this space. The Junior Room should be the jewel within the new library, a showcase that will be the first stop on the grand tour.
All of the print and non-print issues raised earlier apply to the present Junior Room as well, since there is a matching collection upstairs for almost every one that is downstairs. Some issues unique to the Junior Room include:
- The new Junior Room should have access to a dedicated program room with a capacity of no less than 50 people, and equipped for storytelling, crafts, films, and the other group activities that we currently offer. In addition, there should be spaces within the Junior Room itself that can be used for small-group activities. There should be adequate room for stroller parking and coats.
- There should be a separate restroom in the Junior Room with appropriately-sized facilities.
- One thing the new Junior Room does not need is a separate circulation desk. Our current setup is a staffing burden, and a shared circ desk is a priority.
- The room itself should be placed away from other public spaces to minimize noise, and there should be direct access to the room from the main entrance so that children can enter and leave without disturbing others.
- When interviewing architects, particular attention should be paid to the size and experience of their design teams. Color choices, recommendations for seating and display furniture, and overall creativity (and a dash of whimsy) will determine if the room will or won't work.
A PLACE FOR TEENS
A dedicated, inviting Young Adult Room will give teens a place to go in a community that offers few alternatives, will allow them to work on group projects without disturbing others, and will help the staff to better supervise the library. Features of the new Young Adult Room could include:
- Shelving for the growing collection of YA fiction, non-fiction, paperback series, and periodicals.
- Dedicated Internet terminals, perhaps set up as an Internet caf with the addition of soft drink vending machines.
- Furniture for individual and group study, plus casual seating. If space permits, at least one room for group projects, with walls that could serve as whiteboards.
- A changing selection of music or videos playing in the background.
This could be another signature space in the new library some libraries are moving in this direction, but there is nothing like this in our area.
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Internet terminals, and PCs with popular business and educational software, will be prominent in the new building. We currently have eight GUIs on the main floor, and three upstairs, and patrons can almost always expect a wait to use one, especially at the end of the school day and on weekends. Based on current usage, no less than fifteen GUIs for adults and six for children will be required in the new building, with room to expand if needed. In addition to the grouped terminals, we could use GUIs scattered throughout the stacks, and dedicated to card catalog use.
A growing trend nationwide in libraries (especially in universities) is to permit users to access the Internet by using their own laptops: buildings are either wired for hard connections, or equipped with wireless transmitters, and users can either provide their own network cards or borrow one from the library. WLS is studying this trend, but has not yet decided when or how to provide this service to its members. Unlike e-Books, this use of technology has a clear future and it should be an important part of our technology plan.
Due to space and budgetary limitations, few staff have access to networked WLS terminals on their desks. In todays modern work environment, access to the Internet and e-mail are important considerations. This should be addressed when designing staff space in the new building.
Finally, Internet and PC training is always popular at OPL, and a dedicated training room will be an asset in the new building. The room could be equipped with individual workstations, plus video projection equipment for lecture topics. A room of this type could also be used when there is unusual demand for GUIs elsewhere in the building.
PERFORMANCE SPACE
We are all in agreement that a major performance space, as well as a variety of smaller activity rooms and exhibit space, will be a key feature in the new building. A focus group with 10 members is currently examining this issue. Matters to be settled include the size of the room (both in square footage and seating) and its configuration (fixed or moveable seats? flat or stadium? equipped for theater productions?).
This will be an exciting room to program, and the input of the expansion committee is vital. Until their recommendations are received, here are some observations:
- Some of our Sunday concerts have drawn over 250 people; we should use this number as a floor when we consider how large to make the room.
- Any performance space should have its own street entrance so that the room can be used at all times, and without impacting on other library services.
- One of the earliest decisions the building committee will have to tackle is the disposition of the current building. If the current building has any future, it may be as a performance space. The feasibility of this idea should be explored early on.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
EXTERIOR ISSUES
Aside from the many activities going on inside, the building will serve as a piece of architecture, a civic monument, an addition to the face of Ossining. The new building should sit in harmony with its surroundings, but be distinctive as a place of importance. Taxpayers must feel that their money was well spent. I anticipate lively discussion in this area and hope we will see some compelling, truly worthwhile designs.
Some of the more mundane exterior issues that need to be addressed include:
- Parking. We currently have 31 owned parking spaces, and 22 leased spaces. On a typical day, up to 10 or more spaces can be taken by staff members, leaving 43 spaces for the public. This is barely adequate on most days, and is a real problem on program days. Based on periodic observations by the staff, the new building should have at least 70 spaces, and ideally 100. It should be noted that none of the CCNY architecture students could come up with 100 spaces, and many of their solutions for parking involved under-building spaces similar to what we have now (not an ideal solution).
- Access. Its not too hard to drive into the property, but it is often difficult to exit the lot, especially if you are making a left turn. Joyce has discussed the possibility of a modified traffic circle in front of the building to ease access, and this creative idea deserves to be explored.
- Future Expansion. Despite our best efforts at planning, there will probably come a time when even more space is needed. We will need to ask the architect to allow for the possibility of growth on the present site.