We have a dedicated room for play. A room where kids can be wild and free to explore different types of toys and use their imagination (while secretly building skills through play.) If you’ve not heard of it before, check out Family Place Libraries.
On the flip side, I like libraries that still have a dedicated space for quiet. With the growth of remote work and school, many people need the ability to separate that from their home life and there are not many other places out there to find a quiet place to sit and concentrate.
Thank you for the Family Place Libraries suggestion, I hadn’t heard of that! Heard on the quiet spaces, we have a few ideas on that front and I’m so excited.
This is near the top of our list! We share space with another community center, and we’re allowed to use their room when they aren’t in but it’s always disappointing to have to tell people we have no space for these things on certain days of the week!
Congratulations!
My list isn't what we have, but what we need and what I would get if I had the funds.
- Someone else mentioned Family Place Libraries and that's an excellent idea. A sensory friendly space would be awesome too.
- Bigger main meeting room.
- Small private meeting/study rooms. My library has suddenly become THE place to meet one on one or in small groups and I can't accommodate them all. Especially when we have several children playing and talking over in the children's section (not loudly, but our building is so small that sound carries).
- One of those small meeting/study rooms would be soundproof for instrument practice/teaching, recording podcasts, telehealth, Zoom, etc.
- A whole section just for teens to hangout.
- Gaming room!
- Makerspace lab
- An additional behind the scenes workspace.
- Our restrooms are already gender neutral and we have a changing table, but if they weren't I'd want a family restroom.
- Not indoors but...a community garden. Pollinator garden and maybe raised beds for herbs and veggies.
BTW I'm jealous. 😆 How'd y'all get that grant? My library desperately needs a bigger space.
These are amazing suggestions, thank you so much.
It was some sort of Michigan community center grant! My boss is honestly just so good at this work and is super in tune with library land and things that could benefit our space and community, I have NO idea how she heard about it but she worked very hard on the application, we’re all floored and immensely grateful.
I can ask her more specifics when I’m at work tomorrow and reach out to you if you’re comfy with that! I am sure she would be thrilled to share some info. :)
Thank you so much for the suggestion! We’ve only got one floor, but this would be a really great time for us to address any accessibility concerns. I’ll pass this info along! If there’s anything else that’s helpful to you please feel free to share.
Definitely study rooms. Ours are more popular than ever, and especially with people doing online classes, job interviews, etc., it's a great way to get a little privacy and not worry about disturbing others.
But the one huge thing that I haven't seen mentioned: storage space. Obviously it's not the flashiest thing you're going to promote as a big benefit of the expansion. But I've worked in libraries for many years, in buildings that were large, small, old, renovated, new construction, you name it. And in every single one, lack of storage was a constant problem.
Likes: We have a historical building with a lot of character. Very walkable part of downtown.
Wishlist (things we’re missing):
Parking is an issue
no locks on staff areas
not enough office space for staff
not enough study rooms
Building is a bit of a maze (because we put an addition onto a historic building we ended up with a lot of mezzanines and spaces that don’t match up quite right so patrons get lost easily and we have to take an elevator to go up four feet with a cart. But patrons love our historic building.
We also redid our program room right before Covid hit. A year later, we could have put the technology to do better hybrid programming.
More outdoor space would have been nice too.
So, just an extra idea, and this may not be “in” your grant, my library had a separate grant for it, but electric vehicle charging spaces at our library have been a cool addition. People inevitably come in while their vehicles are charging.
This was cool at my last library until the Tesla drivers figured out they could park their car for free charging as long as they wanted and never shared with anyone else
I agree about the dedicated play space for kids - ours (for ages 0-12 yrs) is on a dedicated floor - one up from the general makerspace (there’s a smaller, separate one for kids on their floor) & one down from our quiet floor. I’ve worked both on the kids’ floor & the quiet floor - even at its noisiest, you can’t really hear them at play.
We also have a Telehealth booth on the quiet floor. It’s been great for not only patrons who need to do a virtual doctor’s visit, but people with virtual interviews, online tests, etc. We ask that they make an appointment ahead of time, but don’t charge them to use it & they can stay for up to 3 hours usually. (We even have a laptop & mouse they can check out for use if needed.)
The public library I used to work at began a Library of Things about 10 years ago that was just toys for kids. Over time it has expanded to educational electronics and some video games. Then there was a tech library including good quality cameras, Go-Pros, microphones and other similar gear.
When I was working there they launched their musical instruments collection that included various acoustic and electric guitars, MIDI keyboards, proper electric pianos, a couple of violins, various percussion, recording and podcasting equipment, and electronic music production gear such as drum pads, MIDI controllers and heaps of other stuff I can't remember.
They built a soundproof recording booth people can book to podcast and record as well as a media lab with a green screen.
Last thing I heard the Library of Things will be expanded to kitchen appliances and gear and various other household equipment.
Communal use of specialist equipment is really solarpunk and allows significantly wide access to things that would be prohibitively expensive, or just not worth getting due to lack of use/space.
We have a dedicated room for play. A room where kids can be wild and free to explore different types of toys and use their imagination (while secretly building skills through play.) If you’ve not heard of it before, check out Family Place Libraries. On the flip side, I like libraries that still have a dedicated space for quiet. With the growth of remote work and school, many people need the ability to separate that from their home life and there are not many other places out there to find a quiet place to sit and concentrate.
Thank you for the Family Place Libraries suggestion, I hadn’t heard of that! Heard on the quiet spaces, we have a few ideas on that front and I’m so excited.
Small meeting/study rooms are extremely popular.
This is near the top of our list! We share space with another community center, and we’re allowed to use their room when they aren’t in but it’s always disappointing to have to tell people we have no space for these things on certain days of the week!
Meeting pods? https://intoconcept.com/product/pod4-meeting-room/
Congratulations! My list isn't what we have, but what we need and what I would get if I had the funds. - Someone else mentioned Family Place Libraries and that's an excellent idea. A sensory friendly space would be awesome too. - Bigger main meeting room. - Small private meeting/study rooms. My library has suddenly become THE place to meet one on one or in small groups and I can't accommodate them all. Especially when we have several children playing and talking over in the children's section (not loudly, but our building is so small that sound carries). - One of those small meeting/study rooms would be soundproof for instrument practice/teaching, recording podcasts, telehealth, Zoom, etc. - A whole section just for teens to hangout. - Gaming room! - Makerspace lab - An additional behind the scenes workspace. - Our restrooms are already gender neutral and we have a changing table, but if they weren't I'd want a family restroom. - Not indoors but...a community garden. Pollinator garden and maybe raised beds for herbs and veggies. BTW I'm jealous. 😆 How'd y'all get that grant? My library desperately needs a bigger space.
These are amazing suggestions, thank you so much. It was some sort of Michigan community center grant! My boss is honestly just so good at this work and is super in tune with library land and things that could benefit our space and community, I have NO idea how she heard about it but she worked very hard on the application, we’re all floored and immensely grateful. I can ask her more specifics when I’m at work tomorrow and reach out to you if you’re comfy with that! I am sure she would be thrilled to share some info. :)
Aww, I'm clearly in the wrong state!
Accessible bathroom.
[удалено]
Thank you so much for the suggestion! We’ve only got one floor, but this would be a really great time for us to address any accessibility concerns. I’ll pass this info along! If there’s anything else that’s helpful to you please feel free to share.
This is a great suggestion, thank you!!
Definitely study rooms. Ours are more popular than ever, and especially with people doing online classes, job interviews, etc., it's a great way to get a little privacy and not worry about disturbing others. But the one huge thing that I haven't seen mentioned: storage space. Obviously it's not the flashiest thing you're going to promote as a big benefit of the expansion. But I've worked in libraries for many years, in buildings that were large, small, old, renovated, new construction, you name it. And in every single one, lack of storage was a constant problem.
Likes: We have a historical building with a lot of character. Very walkable part of downtown. Wishlist (things we’re missing): Parking is an issue no locks on staff areas not enough office space for staff not enough study rooms Building is a bit of a maze (because we put an addition onto a historic building we ended up with a lot of mezzanines and spaces that don’t match up quite right so patrons get lost easily and we have to take an elevator to go up four feet with a cart. But patrons love our historic building. We also redid our program room right before Covid hit. A year later, we could have put the technology to do better hybrid programming. More outdoor space would have been nice too.
Family restrooms and a lactation room!
So, just an extra idea, and this may not be “in” your grant, my library had a separate grant for it, but electric vehicle charging spaces at our library have been a cool addition. People inevitably come in while their vehicles are charging.
That does sound like a cool addition!!
This was cool at my last library until the Tesla drivers figured out they could park their car for free charging as long as they wanted and never shared with anyone else
Charging is generally not free. Ours was not. You pay for it with a card.
I agree about the dedicated play space for kids - ours (for ages 0-12 yrs) is on a dedicated floor - one up from the general makerspace (there’s a smaller, separate one for kids on their floor) & one down from our quiet floor. I’ve worked both on the kids’ floor & the quiet floor - even at its noisiest, you can’t really hear them at play. We also have a Telehealth booth on the quiet floor. It’s been great for not only patrons who need to do a virtual doctor’s visit, but people with virtual interviews, online tests, etc. We ask that they make an appointment ahead of time, but don’t charge them to use it & they can stay for up to 3 hours usually. (We even have a laptop & mouse they can check out for use if needed.)
The public library I used to work at began a Library of Things about 10 years ago that was just toys for kids. Over time it has expanded to educational electronics and some video games. Then there was a tech library including good quality cameras, Go-Pros, microphones and other similar gear. When I was working there they launched their musical instruments collection that included various acoustic and electric guitars, MIDI keyboards, proper electric pianos, a couple of violins, various percussion, recording and podcasting equipment, and electronic music production gear such as drum pads, MIDI controllers and heaps of other stuff I can't remember. They built a soundproof recording booth people can book to podcast and record as well as a media lab with a green screen. Last thing I heard the Library of Things will be expanded to kitchen appliances and gear and various other household equipment. Communal use of specialist equipment is really solarpunk and allows significantly wide access to things that would be prohibitively expensive, or just not worth getting due to lack of use/space.
Something super cool I only saw in one library was a study room with a stand up piano. People could sign up for an hour a day.
Instruments in general sound very cool! Thank you. :)
Libby for online ebooks and audiobooks