We have spent most of the last two weeks working in small groups with Sam McBane Mulford, Rob Cameron, and Monique Wood, all of Anderson Brule Architects. After sorting through a wealth of information from the various community meetings and the literature available about libraries and information delivery, our charge has been to develop a cohesive plan to deliver library services through the year 2030.
The exercises designed by ABA have been fun and rewarding for staff. They certainly have tested our ability to look that far into the future. Some staff members involved in the process have been with the library for many years, and there are brand new librarians involved as well. We tried to include fulltime and part-time staff from various types of positions, too. One participant, Juanita Harris, has been a librarian at Sunnyvale Public Library for nearly 40 years. So, I would say that she has seen some changes in library services! Juanita tried to describe to me some sort of onion skin paper that made copies as you wrote. It sounded like magic from the way she described it. A few of the other long-time staffers talked about the EDP (electronic data processing) or keypunch cards that recorded the loan of materials on the “state-of-the-art” computer. Sunnyvale and the library business have come a long way since then!
One thing that is still consistent in terms of community need from its library is the book. Although not many people said this in our community meetings, there are some people who believe the book will soon be passé. Others are very sentimental about books and believe that books are here to stay because of the look, feel, smell and longevity of that format. There’s still a comfort that derives from reading a book. The reality is probably some combination of books as well as electronic information delivery to a variety of devices at or by means of the library. Our biggest challenge for the Sunnyvale Library of the Future is to do the research, read the signs of what is likely to come, and to be forward thinking about what the information delivery systems could be in future years. We have to plan accordingly, keeping our plans flexible enough to allow the library to be what it must be in the future in order to be relevant to the community.
In our brainstorming with ABA, one of our tasks was to create a new mission statement. After a lot of discussion, the following morning one of our staff members, Joyce Hanson, was burning to tell us what she had dreamed up. After hearing it, we all agreed it fits us now and hopefully, from now on.
Sunnyvale Public Library
Your Gateway to Knowledge, Enrichment and Enjoyment
Today, Tomorrow and in the Future!
The exercises designed by ABA have been fun and rewarding for staff. They certainly have tested our ability to look that far into the future. Some staff members involved in the process have been with the library for many years, and there are brand new librarians involved as well. We tried to include fulltime and part-time staff from various types of positions, too. One participant, Juanita Harris, has been a librarian at Sunnyvale Public Library for nearly 40 years. So, I would say that she has seen some changes in library services! Juanita tried to describe to me some sort of onion skin paper that made copies as you wrote. It sounded like magic from the way she described it. A few of the other long-time staffers talked about the EDP (electronic data processing) or keypunch cards that recorded the loan of materials on the “state-of-the-art” computer. Sunnyvale and the library business have come a long way since then!
One thing that is still consistent in terms of community need from its library is the book. Although not many people said this in our community meetings, there are some people who believe the book will soon be passé. Others are very sentimental about books and believe that books are here to stay because of the look, feel, smell and longevity of that format. There’s still a comfort that derives from reading a book. The reality is probably some combination of books as well as electronic information delivery to a variety of devices at or by means of the library. Our biggest challenge for the Sunnyvale Library of the Future is to do the research, read the signs of what is likely to come, and to be forward thinking about what the information delivery systems could be in future years. We have to plan accordingly, keeping our plans flexible enough to allow the library to be what it must be in the future in order to be relevant to the community.
In our brainstorming with ABA, one of our tasks was to create a new mission statement. After a lot of discussion, the following morning one of our staff members, Joyce Hanson, was burning to tell us what she had dreamed up. After hearing it, we all agreed it fits us now and hopefully, from now on.
Sunnyvale Public Library
Your Gateway to Knowledge, Enrichment and Enjoyment
Today, Tomorrow and in the Future!
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