Reflections on New Horizons

Rethinking Library Spaces….

Growing up, I was always amazed at the number of books in the local public library. In my hometown of Wisconsin Rapids, WI, there was a children’s library room and an adult library room. Talking aloud was not encouraged; everyone was to whisper. The rooms were decorated in dark colors and full of stacks. This is what my background in libraries entailed. (With all the library spaces changing, I wonder what my hometown library looks like today.)

I became the full-time librarian for Family of Faith Christian University 10 years ago, now. From Fall 2013 to Spring 2015, we had two interim librarians whom I assisted in making changes to the library. Each of the interim librarians put their mark on the library. The first interim pulled all the Library’s books from the K-12 school classrooms, where the school teachers were loaning the books out, rather than the classes using the school library. The second interim went through all the stacked boxes of books that the first permanent librarian had accumulated in the backlog, and decided which books to keep and add to the library, and which ones were to be sold or donated. I had the privilege of being part of both of these big undertakings prior to my taking over the library in 2015. Change was in the air.

When I started as the full-time librarian for the K-12 school and university, we had a lot of older books, but we had students using the library. The university only had in-person courses, so we had a student body using the library.  When we went to fully online courses in 2018, we no longer had the local university student base. Yes, we had some local university students who would use the library, but the majority were online. The school at that time still used the library weekly for their class reading times and for their course research work, but I started to see rooms full of unused old books. I started to get an itch to make a change. I started to imagine a library where it was fun to come to the library. I did not at that time have an outlet for my imagination.

https://library.oru.edu/library

In 2022, I visited the Oral Roberts University J.D. McKean Library in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a library tour. My eyes were open to the vast possibilities. The J.D. McKean Library was relocated and rebuilt in 2019. The library was built for the people, not the resources. Just like the NMC Horizon Report stated, libraries were being redesigned to support “academic learning activities with collaboration, individual study, and point of need services” (2017). The physical space had been redesigned and imagined to house more space and areas for their patrons than for the books. The spaces became hybrid spaces to be used for many different kinds of activities. The J.D. McKean library has soundproof rooms for students to meet in and study where the stacks would have gone. There was a green room, an audio room, a digital room, a broadcasting room, and so many more. They had a flight simulator, a 3D printer, and a keyboard for recording and creating music, as well as VR for viewing the anatomy and other aspects learned in courses. They had charging stations throughout the library for resources rather than a designated computer room. There was one double-sided row of computers for use, but it was designed not to take up space. The library had gone to BYOD (bring your own device) (2017). The library had rooms where the walls could be written on for collaboration. There were all kinds of study areas, ones that were open and for many people, ones that were enclosed with doors, and then the single pods for one person with soundproof walls. The way the whole library was laid out, every inch was used to maximize the space for the people. It was amazing. The lack of books was also amazing. Yes, they had books, but the stacks were minimized and localized. The majority of the books were on one floor, it seemed. The area did not look that big, but it houses thousands of books.
(I am frustrated to find that my pictures from my tour of the J. D. McKean Library have been lost. So, this is the next best thing: click the link for a virtual tour of the first two floors of the library. The third floor is not included in the virtual tour, but it has the Holy Spirit Resource Center in a completely glass-enclosed room and a beautiful conference room facing the campus with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=8EW1pnDcw77)

After my visit to the J.D. McKean Library, my mind really started to think of all the possibilities for our little library.  I started looking for opportunities to make changes. I started with getting rid of all the serials we had stored, just like the NMC Horizon Report talked about doing (2014). I moved our stacks to make a space specific for our little kids who love visiting the library weekly. I stocked the kids’ area with colorful seating. Then, in the Fall of 2023, I was informed I would be losing one of my library rooms to the school for a classroom. I chose to take that as an opportunity rather than a hardship and spent a whole year weeding and moving books in my spare time. I weeded out 7,000 + resources and made space for the kids as well as space for fun activities. I started a shelf with games for anyone to use. We now have a yearly ongoing puzzle activity table with puzzles brought in by faculty and students.

I have not been able to do all I have in mind, which would require a new building, but it is a start. I have no budget for change, so change is slow going at times as I look for ways to fund the ideas I have for our library. I want our library to house people who want to be there, not books that are not getting used.

Interesting facts about the J.D. McKean library rebuild:

• The librarians had the undertaking of downsizing by two-thirds of their former book population for the move to the new building and they were on a time schedule to get it all done.
• The rooms designated for the write-on walls had white walls. Other walls in the building were also white, and the students assumed they were write-on walls too, but they were not. Several walls needed to be repainted and furniture was put up against those walls to stop it from happening again.
• The library now has three outer walls that are completely glass. This becomes a problem in severe storms.

Resources

(2017).  Rethinking Library Spaces. NMC Horizon Report – 2017 Library Edition.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hxs7kuv54vwew0cpg6570/2017nmchorizonreportlibraryEN.pdf?rlkey=h978y9r0bnmnylqbdcmfmud4s&e=1&st=nycjhcpg&dl=0

(2015) Rethinking Library Spaces. NMC Horizon Report – 2017 Library Edition.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kwzttbfglptse37l975zy/2015nmchorizonreportlibraryEN.pdf?rlkey=aoes51gtacxx5ytxsrps487sb&e=1&st=c7cj0e81&dl=0