Awesome, awesome meeting tonight! We could not have asked for a better turnout – approximately 108 people came to the library to share their ideas about Sunnyvale’s future library. The room was crowded but not uncomfortable. The food, lasagna, salad and garlic bread along with soft drinks and dessert, was provided by the Friends of the Sunnyvale Library and we thank them heartily.


The best part was that people from different segments of the community were here, and they participated. We had people who have lived in Sunnyvale for decades and have raised their families here. There were newcomers, young parents with their children, business people, and the youth. We had a powerhouse group of young people from Homestead High School’s Future Business Leaders of America. And let me tell you, they are indeed leaders! They were thoughtful, articulate and caring about of their community – it was just wonderful to listen to them.

When you open the door and ask what people think, there will be times when you hear things that are not so flattering. The Sunnyvale Public Library is not perfect and we certainly have community members who know we could do a better job. Their feedback is important if we are going to improve in a meaningful way. So, we heard a lot of praise and some criticism as well. But, the purpose of the meeting tonight was to look to the future and that’s what we did. The comments made at the meeting tonight will be posted on the Web site at libraryofthefuture.inSunnyvale.com.

We’ll see what tomorrow holds with our focus group meetings. If tonight’s meeting is any indication, it will be lively!

Tonight’s the night for the Library! This evening we have the first big meeting on the Sunnyvale Library of the Future. We're expecting about 80 or more participants after having sent over 2,000 notiifications, emails, and posting notices at the Library and other locations. I hope everybody shows up, we really need to hear new ideas and find out what the public wants from its future library.

It’s taken weeks to get started on this blog. It’s a bit scary - the blend of professional perspective and personal voice, or vice versa. The idea of a blog came up because we are experimenting with new ways of communicating with the public and I thought it would be “fun” to share what’s involved in this type of project from the beginning stages to the end. Having worked on teams developing new community libraries in the past, I’ve experienced the ups and downs, moments of disappointment and the sheer excitement of a new library for the community. Looking back though, the anguish and problems that occurred in the process are swept away and everything looks so-o-o, so-o-o easy now. Gone are the budget problems, the fits and starts and restarts, collaborations gone bad, etc.

So, this time around, with the possibility of blogging, it seems fitting to share as well as commemorate what it’s really like to examine long-term community library needs and work toward a solution. What the results of the process will be are unknown - will there be a new library? Maybe, maybe not. This is going to be all about the journey, and this evening is the start. We’ll see what folks from the community have to say tonight… If you're not going to be here with us, please at least wish us luck, or maybe send in a comment :-)