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December 26, 2006
Telling Our Story
We're going to be making a presentation about the architectural and technology elements of our new building, at the Computers in Libraries Conference in Arlington, VA in April 2007.
Here's the blurb in the schedule outlining our talk:
Session D304 — The Library of the Future 3:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Louise Parker Berry, Director, & Alan Kirk Gray, Darien Library
Peter Gisolfi, Managing Partner, Peter Gisolfi Associates, Architects and Planners
What if you were building a completely new library—at a time of accelerating technological change—and had to make decisions about what successful libraries will embody in 10 or 20 years? What are the current trends that will have staying power, and what are fads that will wash away? How do you design a building that will have physical presence and architectural significance and still plan for services and technology uses that library patrons haven’t even begun to think about? After planning for 4 years for a 55,000 square foot library, the staff changed their thinking about important elements of the building after watching technology greatly affect the future of libraries. They are betting on RFID, opting for no circulation or reference desk, predicting most reference activity will be provided online in 5 years and 7x24 online reference services in 10 years, much of it done remotely from the staff members’ homes. Hear their strategies for enhancing customer service and having the library continue its role as the cultural center of the community.
I've attended most of the Computers in Libraries conferences in the past 6 years, and find that I bring home more detailed and useful information from these sessions than from any other conference I attend. In this case, we hope that by discussing our plans, we'll get some feedback along the lines of, "Have you thought about doing __________ ?" That will be useful information if it helps us improve our thinking about some of the ways we will use technology in the new library -- and there are some really bright and experienced participants at the conference whose thoughts are worth considering.
Of course, we're also pretty sure we've made some interesting and possibly innovative decisions about how to use technology in the new building, and we hope that our planning can inform the thinking of others who are in an earlier stage of new construction or expansion.
Posted by Alan Kirk Gray at December 26, 2006 12:03 PM