Archive for category Library Innovations
Do Bostonians Want 8 Pricey Suburban-style 20,000 Sq Ft Libraries or 26 Many-sized Walk-to Neighborhood Branches?
Posted by marleen in Library Innovations, Save our Libraries on April 5, 2010
BPL president Amy Ryan has proposed “transforming” Boston’s library system by preserving eight existing “lead” libraries that are 20,000 square feet or more at the expense of the remaining 18 smaller libraries anchoring Boston’s 26 neighborhoods. The question is, Why? New York City just opened its newest branch in Battery City. It is 10,000 square feet. (See FOSEL earlier post on Green libraries). Of Seattle’s 26 new libraries, 15 are 10,000 square feet or less; 10 are between 10,000 and 16,000 square feet. Apart from its downtown library, which measures 362,000 square feet, none of Seattle’s neighborhood libraries are as large as 20,000 square feet. Large-sized libraries are expensive to build. The Mattapan branch cost almost $17 million. Battery City park’s construction budget was under $7 million. Seattle’s new neighborhood libraries cost from less than $500,000 to $10 million. For more about Seattle’s library-renovation model, see libraries_for_all_report.
“Green” Public Library Opens in Battery Park, NYC, Following in Footsteps of “Green” Ballard Library in Seattle
Posted by marleen in Library Innovations on April 2, 2010
Amid the Orwellian approach by the BPL’s leadership to “transform” the Boston public library system by engaging in closures, layoffs and service reductions, there are examples of more enlightened visions. In New York City, a new green library just opened in Battery Park, with the assistance of a grant by their Wall Street neighbor Goldman Sachs (yes, the same guys who almost drove our economy into the ditch..never mind..life is complicated). Battery Park Public Library is only 10,000 square feet, only half the size BPL president Amy Ryan thinks is required to be a ‘lead library.” It was built where there had been none before, and, being located in NYC, is not likely to have parking. This is not the first green library in the country: when Seattle built, renovated and rebuilt its library system in the last ten years, it included an environmental marvel, the Ballard Library. It is only 15,000 square feet, twice the size it was before, but among its many environmentally responsive features, it has a roof planted with 18,000 low-water-use plants that can be viewed by periscope from the floor below. It is never to early to start dreaming about the libraries we deserve, especially since we are paying for them. Let’s start right now.
Scarsdale, NY, Public Library Offers 24/7 ATM-Style Library Kiosk at Train Station
Posted by marleen in Library Innovations on March 19, 2010
An ATM-style book-lending machine at the train station of Scarsdale, NY, allows library cardholders to take out and return books 24/7. In other words, the library is open when you need it. Card holders can scan the library collection, updated regularly by the library, and items selected are dispensed in a clear plastic container with a receipt. All returns are at the same kiosk, which is stocked with new popular fiction, non-fiction, children’s and teen books. Selections are made by the library staff and rotated frequently to appeal to a variety of readers. For more details. click here.