We’ll do anything to get this job done on time! No, seriously, we will. Sam and I needed to attend the California Library Association conference this past weekend because of prior commitments, and to obtain important information we knew would be available at the conference. Even though it’s essential to go, attending a conference under normal circumstances would have meant taking time away from completing tasks for the Library of the Future project. However, in our case it just meant more multitasking! While at the conference, Sam and I would have meetings about the Library of the Future (LOF) between the conference sessions and we would strategize which sessions to attend for the best value to the project. Our deadline for the first draft of the study of the LOF could not be adjusted, so the work went on - doubletime. And, we worked while we were sick - Sam the previous week and now me this week. (I know that's not a good thing to do and I do not recommend it.)

The conference provided some crucial information though, including an answer to a question that one of the members of the Library Board of Trustees had asked of us. I was able to get a copy of a report that was delivered at the conference, a survey of costs, benefits and staffing needs related to the implementation of RFID in libraries in California. Librarians are great, we always share information. I owe a debt of gratitude to Elena Engel, the Branch Library Improvement Program Director for the Friends of San Francisco Public Library. In a show of true librarian sisterhood, Elena understood my plight when I told her I was writing a report that very day and really needed the information she was just making available at the conference. She was very gracious and went out of her way to help me.

Sam and I worked through the conference and then went on to complete our reports on Tuesday. I am very pleased to say the draft documents for the Sunnyvale Library of the Future - the Needs Assessment, Plan of Service, Building Program, and Existing Facility Assessment are complete for review by our various internal reviewers. What a relief! With a lot of help we got the job done and it’s pretty doggone good!

There are many steps still to go. What we have just completed in draft form is the study that will be delivered to our Board in December and the Council in January. We think there’s some compelling information to help determine a future direction. We’ll see what the Council thinks in January. In the meantime, there’s still plenty of work to be done on the next phase of preparation. It’s a good thing we have great people like Sam, the folks at ABA, my fabulous library and City colleagues, and the other wonderful that people we run into along the way, like Elena. Couldn’t get the job done without ‘em!