A Piece of My Mind: Whose Library Is It Anyway?
Whose Library Is It Anyway?
Our local branch of the county library system is the second oldest and second smallest of seven branches, but second busiest in the number of visitors. The Library Commission has announced intentions to “modernize the library, enhance accessibility, and improve functionality”. But what is meant by “Modernize”, “Accessibility”, and “Functionality”? Forty users responded to a survey about needs, but our library has more than 600 visitors daily.
Modernize – Does this mean new carpets? New furniture to replace the institutionally uncomfortable naugahyde and vinyl chairs? Does it mean replacing the heating/air conditioning system with efficient heat pump technologies? Does it mean providing modern DVD and video-streaming equipment so that researchers can take advantage of the library’s collections without having to take the materials from the library?
Accessibility – does this mean widening doors and the space between book shelves? Does it mean adding multi-lingual signage? Does it mean adding services and features to attract a more diverse cross-section of the community? Or do these get in the way of the library’s research and study purposes? Does the Passport Office really belong in the library?
Functionality – On a recent visit to the library, a friend and I passed through the lobby where a group of young women and children in strollers were sharing lunch and gossiping. “What do they think this is, a free day care center?” he fumed. “It’s a library. It’s supposed to be quiet.” Is the success of the library’s story hours and the availability of snacks in the lobby a detriment to other functions? Or is this addressing the needs of an underserved section of our community?
And how about the users of the library who bring their laptops, sit around a table, and conduct a business meeting at normal volumes? Is providing meeting space a library function? Do we need sound-proof study carrels where a small group can work on a project or hold a meeting together?
What space do we reserve for our chief fund-raisers, the Friends of the Library (FOL)? I’m personally addicted to checking out their 25-cent book cart, but I was surprised when a second book cart appeared recently, impeding access to the community bulletin board, the battery recycling container, and the free magazines. The FoL Sale bookshelves are expanding also, with a third book cart dedicated to teen lit, a table laden with puzzles, and additional tables for seasonal offerings or out-dated magazines. Is this a library benefit, or is it FOL mission creep?
The Orchard Room is the only large meeting space in the library, and it is booked months in advance. Do we need more large meeting spaces? Will the proposed patio enhancement funded by the Los Altos Library Endowment help satisfy the need for more meeting space? Or should we consign large meetings to the adjacent Los Altos Community Center and reserve our precious square footage for study and research?
The old-fashioned library lampooned in “The Music Man” where “the civilized world accepts as unforgivable sin/ any talking out LOUD to any librarian” is gone with the traveling salesman. But we need more than a survey of less than 1% of the library’s users to determine what the library should be today.
Allyson Johnson 