Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Here are the preliminary furniture floor plans. Remember this is early in the design phase. Besides having to get within budget, it is inevitable that things will change. The video fly-by is still linked in the blog post below this one, or directly on youtube. Meanwhile, enjoy what we've done and let us know what you think. Click on each image for a larger view.

First floor thoughts and comments by Library Director - a reorientation of the entrance to face Lafayette, along with a nice extended entrance canopy that identifies us. Stairway relocated adjacent to elevators, which are adjacent to circulation desk. Children's is on the first floor, as is the Teen Space. Children's adds a storytelling room (the pit must be removed for ADA reasons) and a crafts room. Study rooms and a larger group study room are in Children's and Teens. Currently we have NO study rooms in the library. The Friends of the Library will have space for collecting, sorting, and housing, and distributing used books. This is currently in the unfinished part of the 3rd floor. In the remodel, the Friends space has been moved to the first floor - where the garage currently is located. We hope to reclaim the garage space and allow the Friends to be more efficient in their volunteer efforts as they support the Library. Oh, and did I mention we hope to have the drive up book return and pick up window that we are putting at our new Regional Libraries. It was a challenge in the Main Library Renovation, but the Architects have come up with a solution.

 



Second floor thoughts and comments by Library Director - adult fiction, periodicals, biographies, large print, languages, and new books are on this floor, along with an information/help desk. The adult AV collections are on this floor. Currently we have DVDs, Videos, and CDs. The space and shelving will be flexible enough to accommodate whatever media (or downloadable media) are 'in' libraries in the future. You will notice that, in addition to the study rooms added on this floor, we've moved the meeting rooms up here. We are hoping to afford to remove the column that sits in the middle of our current meeting room - giving us a smaller, but much more usable space. Most of our meetings are for smaller groups (10-50) and the trade off of a smaller "large" meeting room - gaining a small meeting room, conference room, and many study rooms is advantageous. The Library Foundation, another one of our great support groups, will have office space on this floor.


 


Third floor
thoughts and comments by Library Director - finally, after over 30 years, we are planning to open the 3rd floor as a public area. We plan to move Adult Non-fiction, a quiet reading and study room, Genealogy space, and local history to this floor. The area will have an information/help desk, numerous study rooms and a classroom sized-space for distance learning. Of course there will be public computers, online catalog access, and wireless Internet access on all floors. Administrative offices and IT moves to the third floor.

 

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Preliminary Redesign

The Schematic Design was presented to the Library Board and Building Committee on August 22, 2007 by Allen Bacque and Hugh Stevens, MBSB Group. The preliminary floor/furniture plan was presented by Denelle Wrightson, PSA-Dewberry.

The design was well-received by the Board and Committee, with the only concern that of budget. A Summary Statement of probable costs was presented by Allen Bacque. Significant cost items include the required modifications to the elevators, sprinkler, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems to meet today's codes. An asbestos abatement project will also be required as part of the renovation. We are proceeding into Design Development with a focus on identifying and refining probable costs associated with spaces and components of the new design. Discussion will continue as we strive to meet budget given the recent significant increases in construction related costs.

The design: front entrance reoriented to face Lafayette Street, with an extended entrance canopy. First floor includes the checkout/help desk, children's department, and teen space, and a cafe/vending/informal reading area. Second floor includes an information/help desk, the adult fiction collection, the dvd and cd collection, and meeting rooms. The third floor will be open to the public and includes an information/help desk, the adult non-fiction collection, a technology lab, genealogy/local history, and quiet reading and study room. Administrative offices will move to the 3rd floor. All floors will have a variety of group study and small study rooms, public computers, seating, and wireless internet access. The stairway will be relocated adjacent to the elevators and will go up to the third floor (currently it stops at the 2nd floor). A drive through book return and book request pickup window has been added. The Friends of the Library will occupy space on the first floor allowing easy drop off and handling of donated books. The Library Foundation will have office space on the 2nd floor.

See the flyby animation of the schematic and give us your comments. Note, you may have to wait up to a minute for the video link to appear, depending on traffic at blogspot or at youtube.