Library Spaces for All Ages - Schedule

How do you optimize library space?
This session explains how to use data analytics to maximize impact. The session will discuss how to identify relevant data, instruments to gather data, data analysis, and resultant action plans.

In 2014, the Library Station (SGCL) found itself in the middle of a potential train wreck: we had to replace the beloved, unique, custom (read: expensive) train feature in the children's department. How would we replace this destination feature while staying within our budget and keeping patrons happy? The process led us to look outside the library world, and indeed outside the world of "indoor furnishings" altogether. The result? An enormous interactive train designed by an outdoor playground equipment company. This came with unexpected benefits and led us to take a hard look at what messages we send our patrons with the features we incorporate into our spaces. Learn how we changed our space without traumatizing our patrons, how we reduced problem behaviors by saying "yes" more often, and how we somehow convinced our director to let us install outdoor playground equipment in our children’s area!

The Texas A&M University-San Antonio Library serves a population of 5,500 students in a space of 11,000 square feet on the second floor of the University’s central academic building. With the University's recent comprehensive expansion and rapid growth, along with the loss of the main campus computer lab, the library has seen increased foot traffic. These changes forced a reassessment of how our current space was used. The forthcoming addition of more computers and study tables, the conversion of the library’s special collections reading room into a quiet study room, and the preservation of several unique spaces for targeted patron groups (such as the makerspace and family study room) are some of the ways we have managed to use our small space effectively.

We had hundreds of teens flood our building after school and until the late bus arrived around 4:00 p.m. Looking at our resources, it was decided that the meeting room would be opened for those, "louder teens," that needed to burn off some steam and provide a place for them to eat snacks (since eating is not allowed in any other part of the library). We put out board games, cards, and once a month we run a movie. We also allow them to play video games on a Wii-U about once a week. If we have extra crafts, we’ll put them out for them as well. By converting this meeting room, it allows us to still give them a space, and helps the rest of the library's community enjoy a reasonably quiet library in our small space. With the help of a large donation, we were also able to create a dedicated teen space with furniture and shift our YA books to one side of the library. This gave teens that needed more of a quiet space, a place to hang out. This space also includes a bulletin board that we do passive programs with, like posting questions such as, "why do you love your library," to "what would you like to see in your next president." This gives the teens a voice and a place to express themselves.

The new library building at Lindenwood University was designed to meet the needs of university students, faculty, and staff. The project has taken its shape from a vision of the changing nature of library services and the communities we serve. Elizabeth MacDonald, Nancy Messina, and Michael Fetters will tell the story of this new building. We will share the collaborative process that led to its current design and the innovative programmatic goals that we plan to undertake. The presentation will include the initial vision for the building, and the many decisions that have been made to create a space that caters to all elements of the university community. The presentation will also include our efforts at creating a consistent marketing message that conveys the changing nature and expectations for libraries and how this new space more than rises to the occasion.

Finding space in a public library is becoming more difficult. Displays for library items, computers, study areas, and program rooms all need to fit in the same space that existed before the contemporary paradigm shift in library services. This presentation will explore Kirkwood Public Library's journey to create enough room, while maximizing modern library services. We will examine: finding areas of improvement, boosting function of allotted space, selecting and communicating with contractors, circulation improvements, and correcting an area’s appearance. By watching this presentation, we are hoping the viewer can use our attempt to get ideas for their own project.

We've taken an outgrown children's room and converted it into a teen space/makerspace at our Main Library. This space is housed with a collaboration table, a 3D printer, IMac's, IPad's, MacBook's, a recording booth, studio mixing equipment, and more! It's the ideal place for our teens to unleash their inner creativity (we also welcome our teens at heart)!! We based our space on a vision from our library director; a vision where all are welcome and everyone has something to contribute and/or learn. We designed this space with comfortable funky furniture where customers can work together, inspire each other, and expand their possibilities. With an anticipated relocation in our future, we chose fixtures and furnishings that can go with us.

What do digital equipment reserves, drab study spaces, and a bucket of green paint have in common? For Ellis library on the University of Missouri – Columbia campus, the commonality was untapped potential. The E-Learning Librarian has been working with colleagues to develop a digital media commons at Ellis library by building on mostly pre-existing resources. While digital equipment such as cameras and audio recorders has been available for several years, until recently, there were no dedicated spaces for production or lighting modules. For students, this problem was confronted with a low-cost solution: by painting a wall in two study rooms green, the study spaces now accommodate a “green screen.” For library staff, a sizable storage room was transformed into a media production space. This transformative, albeit incremental, work indicates the power of taking initiative. There is now growing administrative support for the commons, and commitment to improve the acoustics of the bare-bones study rooms. This presentation will detail the process, strategies, and experience of establishing a digital media commons for internal and external users at a large, academic library, in a shrinking budget environment.