Today's Connecticut section of the New York Times features an article about Darien Library's hybrid parking spots.  The article references the feedback on our website about the spots and the confusion surrounding the types of vehicles that our users are encouraged to park in them.

After considering the feedback we've received, we'd like to clarify several issues and make you aware of some of the changes we've made in response.

• The preferred parking spots are not exclusively for hybrid cars, even though the sign says so.  They are meant to be used by environmentally-friendly vehicles.  Please see the list of 474 cars that are LEED certified for eligibility for preferred parking.
• No punitive action is taken when a non-preferred vehicle parks in a preferred spot.
• Our staff will not ask anyone to move their car from a preferred spot.
• If no other parking space is available, we invite visitors to park in those spots, regardless of the type of vehicle they're driving.
• The preferred parking spaces are part of a larger "green building" initiative that includes a number of proactive steps that the library has taken to benefit the environment.  Dot Kelly, one of our board members, recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Darien News that explains the LEED gold certification process.

In response to comments and feedback, we have already moved three preferred parking spaces away form the building into the middle of the parking lot.  Additionally, because of the confusion caused by the wording of our current signs ("Preferred parking for hybrid vehicles"), we have ordered new signs that will simply say "Preferred Parking" and feature a car with a green leaf (see image).  The signs are designed to allow our visitors to make the determination as to whether they are entitled to park in those spots.  Though we hope that our users will respect the preferred parking, we want everyone who comes to the library to feel welcomed and apologize if our current signs sent a message to the contrary.

Our new signs will be installed before the end of the month.

Even though we don’t move into the new building until January, we have a new look now and it’s on the web! Today, while many people were vacationing, and most offices and businesses were closed, we quietly launched our new web site and made a loud splash in the library world. Take a look!

The new design and software has integrated the Library’s web site with its online catalog which will improve the experience for its users (that means you…that means us…that means everyone!). This will allow you to participate in the social aspects of the catalog, by tagging, writing reviews, and managing your own account (it’s so easy and intuitive!). We’ve been having a blast tagging and writing reviews. Try it! We think you’ll agree that it’s fun. We also think you’ll agree that the new web site looks really good. We are proud of our new look.

John Blyberg, our Head of Technology & Digital Initiatives planned and designed the new site. He is considered an expert and an innovator in library technology development; his development of SOPAC 2.0 as “open source” software makes this a much-anticipated development for libraries. In fact, it is very big news and will cause a stir and lots of talk in the library field nationally and internationally. John is known to do that, you know…case in point…there I was, researching to write the publicity piece about the new web site -- SOPAC 2.0? SOPAC 1.0? open-source?…Huh? … library web innovations?…Google kept leading me back to one name…Blyberg. Obviously, John is not just our go-to guy…he’s THE go-to guy and everyone in the blogosphere uses the same word when talking about John…awesome.

So now you know why we look so, um, awesome. To use a back-to-school term (since it's that time of year), John has just moved us up to the next grade. And we’ve all gotten in on the act. Everyone on staff has been working hard (are we bleary-eyed?) to get the new web site ready for launch. The goal, as always, is to provide great service. Here’s how John explains it: “We’re of the mind that the success of this project will be reflected in the improved quality of online customer service we provide. When approaching this project, we did not consider it in terms of how we would measure its success; we based our decision to proceed on whether there was anything else available that we could use that measured up to our standards.” He adds, “This project reflects the sensibilities and philosophy of Darien Library.”

I didn’t realize how big this was and what it meant to the library world in general until Louise explained it like this: “Although some library vendors have been moving in this general direction, no one has done what John has done.  Furthermore, he has created this software using “open source” software which allows any other library to use it as well.  He has made a really significant contribution to the whole library field. We are redefining the public library for the 21st century, with our new building, our changing services, and this new online presence”

Awesome.

Uh oh.

It looks like you stumbled across a link to a page that is for staff eyes only. Please ask for help!

Ooops!

It looks like you stumbled across a page that doesn't actually exist on our web site. Please ask for help!