VIRGINIA ROAD TRIP (Including the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library in Henderson, NC, the County of Henrico Public Library in Virginia, the Chesterfield County Public Library)
Apart from a smoking bus, this trip went pretty well. Once again thanks to Sandra Sebbas and Sandra Lovely for doing a great job of organizing the trek up north. The meals were good and on time and the destinations interesting. I got quite a few good ideas. In this entry I’m going to concentrate on only one of them.
In my opinion, one of the major problems facing the downtown library is what to do about the homeless population. Everyday we see the same faces. They enter the building and stay most of the day in many cases. Most of the time they are quiet; they read or use the computer and it’s no problem. But all too often we find them lounged on the furniture asleep or engaging in loud profane bull sessions either inside or right outside the door. In rare cases there has been violence. We know that their behavior is scaring away patrons who do not want to go downtown and run the gauntlet of loiterers outside our doors.
Now I read Chip Ward’s article on the homeless in libraries (http://www.alternet.org/story/50023/) He seems to be resigned to downtown libraries assuming the role of day shelters and has gone out of his way to train himself and his staff to deal with the mentally ill who make up a large percentage of this population. We should already have boxes of rubber and vinyl gloves and bottles of hand sanitizer at every service point. And maybe we can devote a staff day to training us to deal with the mentally ill. Even with training, though, we’re not going to be professional social workers and there are going to be situations that are over our heads, and there is the potential for some of those situations to be dangerous or even deadly.
How do we keep those situations to a minimum? Well, we were all very impressed by the nice furniture and study spaces that we saw at many of the libraries we visited on both the tours. Unfortunately that sort of thing just isn’t going to work at Main. We’ve learned from hard experience that the study tables and the comfy chairs need to be placed under the direct line of sight of the staff. Anything else is just asking for trouble. We should leave the booths, fireplaces and lounges to the regionals. The Main Library needs to be nice but somewhat Spartan, with good sightlines from the service points, and we should probably invest in a security camera system.
I know that there has been some contact with the shelter people, but I don’t know how those talks are going. One thing I thought that we could propose was working with them to open a computer lab for the homeless. We would provide tech support and the shelter would man it and house it. This would give the homeless an additional resource to uplift themselves or to just hang out.
Another idea is one that I got from the library in Henderson. I don’t know if they did it on purpose or not, but they have placed all their outside seating away from the entrances. The homeless congregate where the seats are, while the entrances are clear.
We could do something similar here, while at the same time enhancing our facilities. We have that little courtyard just to the left of the parking lot entrance. The homeless like to hang out there because it’s secluded and sheltered from the weather. I propose that we build a wall to completely enclose the area. We could have a wrought iron gate, which would be locked from the outside, connecting to the entrance area. The courtyard could then be turned into a small garden where the Children’s department could hold storytimes in nice weather.
Then we could move the rest of the benches out onto the lawn and maybe buy a picnic table or two to go with them. Perhaps we could even erect a small shelter like you see at bus stops so they could get out of the elements. This would be a good way to gently nudge the homeless away from our main entrance, while still providing services to them.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF CHARLOTTE AND MECKLENBURGCOUNTY
First of all thanks to the two Sandras for arranging the trip. They planned every detail thoroughly and it went off without a hitch. The trip was well worth the long day.
The thing that struck me most about PLCMC is that the marketing, book store like strategies that we are considering were mostly confined to certain areas. The North County Regional that we visited is a good example. The main floor was like a Barnes & Noble, but once you got into adult services and children’s, it felt more like a traditional library.
Another thing was how new and uncluttered everything looked. Now granted, we only saw new or newly remodeled facilities, but everything looked very slick and that seemed to be their philosophy. Their computer room looked like Star Trek and their children’s library looked like the Wizard of Oz. I think, at the very least, we should resolve to do the same.
I saw a ton of good ideas, some of which we’re already considering. Others are new to me. Since there are so many of them, I’ve decided to divide them into three categories: Those that can be done immediately, those that can be done in the next fiscal year, and those that will have to wait until Main is remodeled.
Immediately
- Interfile the VHS and DVD’s. This would solve my short term space problems, nicely. I may just go ahead and do it.
- Play music in the AV department. We used to do this but there were complaints and problems. Maybe it’s time to try again. I’ll need to write a more detailed procedure.
- The War Against Clutter. In AV we need to clear our circ desk as much as possible. It will look more professional.
Next Fiscal Year
- Non-Fiction Audiobooks interfiled with books. This may not please our patrons at first, but the PLCMC librarians said it worked pretty well.
- Pass through security system. Think about how Blockbuster operates. You check out a patron, then step back and set the materials on a desk on the other side of the security gate where the patron picks them up. Nothing is ever desensitized so we don’t have to worry about accidentally erasing magnetic media or forgetting to resensitize items and leaving them on the shelf unprotected.
- E-Mail Express stations. These would be two or three computers at every location, programmed with fifteen minute sessions so that the people who just want to check their e-mail can do so quickly. I think this would take a lot of the pressure off the regular stations.
- Ceiling mounted LCD projectors. Everyone’s probably tired of hearing me go on about this, but it is a good idea. If we had these in every public meeting room, the patrons would be able to use them with minimal risk to the equipment.
- Accept Credit/Debit cards. We get asked about this everyday. According to the people at PLCMC it actually boosts revenue.
- Coffee Cart. Or some kind of small café that serves drinks and snacks. I debated about whether to put this in this category or the next. Whenever we do it, we will probably have to have a community partner; just commission someone to set it up and run it on our premises.
- Separate computer room with its own staff. This is such a large part of what we do now, that I think this is the best solution for the sanity of both reference and AV. Maybe they could sell discs there too. And of course we would have to have a few computers stay in Reference so people who need help doing resumes and homework can get it.
- Set up a small play area for kids in the computer room. This is so brilliant! I wish I could do it now, but there’s no room.
- PhoneReferenceCenter. I realize that this isn’t my bailiwick but it is a cool idea. Imagine working on the Reference desk and not having to worry about the phone or computers. The question is do we have the staff and the room to do it?
Main Remodeling
- Children’s library in a separate building. The ImaginOn at PLCMC was impressive. Obviously, if we want to do something like that, we’d have to do as they did and partner up with someone, the Arts Council or the Carolina Theatre or something like that, plus get a lot of corporate sponsorships.
- Movies & Music. DVD’s and CD’s are the only items that I circulate that can’t be logically integrated into the rest of the collection. PLCMC has given them their own space and it really looked nice. I’d love to house these things in a space that had posters and neon. Maybe we could make it look like a theatre lobby or something.
- Small Movie Theatre. I didn’t see this at PLCMC, but I thought it might be nice to have a small theatre with risers like you see at Wynnsong or Southpoint. Maybe we could even have tables between the seats so people could eat. It would have a really good LCD projector and surround sound system, plus a P.A. system for speakers. This might provide that something extra that would get people to come in to the library for movies.
Comments (6)
Deb Christie said
at 10:50 pm on Apr 18, 2007
For goodness sake do not file the books on tape and disc among the printed books - that will make it impossible to brouse only books on tape and disc - which I read almost exclusively. I have discovered books about which I had never heard (either author or title) by just browsing the shelves at the main library in particular! I would also like to be able to brouse by computer by books on tape and disc. As it is now, I can only brouse by tape or disc within an author or title category ...
Deb Christie said
at 10:51 pm on Apr 18, 2007
Correct spelling: "browse" not "brouse" - hey, ho.
Jennifer Lohmann said
at 8:49 am on Apr 30, 2007
Chuck, you had the same reaction to the VA trip that I had--nice, but what about the homeless at Main? I like your ideas, esp. the enclosed courtyard garden for the children's room and moving the benches out. We should also move the ashtrays further from the entrance.
carol passmore said
at 9:56 am on May 11, 2007
I thought that Imaginon in Charlotte was beautiful. But I also heard the staff at the Main Library, two blocks away, say that their circulation has dropped. If all parents of children from birth to teen are taking their kids to Imaginon they are probably not strolling up the street to the Main Library to check out materials. I wondered if Charlotte could come up with a system to pick up your adult requests at Imaganon, but I would prefer to see both services under the same roof.
louise said
at 12:57 pm on May 14, 2007
would also recommend that you talk to the soup kitchen staff to see what else can happen.
I agree, it is intimidating to have to walk through people at the entrance. yet there is no other place for them to go in inclement weather.
The main library is looking old, outdated, and shabby.
louise said
at 2:33 pm on Jul 12, 2007
Fantastic! The overdue book rate has gone done to $.25 per day. Thank you!!
Now what about the magazine and book swap starting again at North regional? A lot of folks I have talked to miss it and one of the librarians there told me she had had many requests for its return.
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