Visiting members is always fun! Literally there is always something interesting and new to see in any library you visit. And when we are visiting members, getting to know people and admiring the programs and collections, it is particularly fun!!
Yes, it’s always exciting to see a sign letting me know I’m in the right place for the library! (Yes, I’m a massive library nerd; that should have been clear a long time ago here!) And check out this signage – on the wall and on the ceiling. Information literacy is a huge contribution of a library to the students; demonstrating this is valuable by at least having good signage is excellent!
I love to see signs and the ideas they share. (I’m a librarian – we like to see things organized.) Of course, any library needs to have some rules for effective use; but I like to see them phrased in a cheerful way. Look – we are way, way past the bad old days of libraries, where we were better known for shushing people than providing outstanding service. Seeing cheerful service is lovely here!
Printers, and other hardware, are one of the big services provided in libraries. Sure, it doesn’t sound so very exciting; but without printers we are adding some unnecessary barriers to patrons who need to use our services. Thumbs up to all libraries who provide tech services to patrons, even the less-glamorous-but-vital ones!
And while we are on that – good seating is just crucial in any library!! (Note: it was nearly impossible to find some empty areas of this library to take pictures – there were tons of students and teachers using it. That is a fantastic problem! As you know, we are pretty fervent about privacy rights; and we never include pictures of patrons on our site.) Check out these seats!! The adorable, rocking stubby chairs are great for temporary seating – attractive and comfy. The longer benches are likewise comfortable, and gives students the back support for a longer visit. Providing movable seating is going to be a service to your patrons – let them decide how they want to sit and to work. (We, as a profession, are moving steadily away from our micromanaging past – and I could not be more pleased!)
Look how nicely organized this area is! The circ desk is next to the front door, so everyone can be seen, and everyone can be helped on their way in and out of the library. And it’s a little hard to tell from the pictures (sorry – photography is not my gift!), this is a beautiful area! The ceiling is really high, and open so that it all feels wonderfully open and welcoming. The nice pops of bright red color around the library feels very cheering!
See? This decorative wall looks so good, and helps to set apart the rest of the room from the smaller study room just to the right of this wall. I love to see a library that has clearly had thought given to the way it looks.
I love to see these nice shelves! And check out the graphic rug – so nice! Again, thinking about the design of libraries may seem like a frivolous “extra” but design is key to usability. We need to make our libraries and our collections (paper and otherwise) attractive to our communities, so they want to use them. Our whole purpose as library people is to connect information with our community members; design is one tool we use to make that connection.
Sorry – this picture is awful, and does not at all show how cool this looks; but this glass wall and huge window is just beautiful! As a note: we never include pictures of any patrons here; and it was SO hard to get any pictures around the big crowd in the library that day!! So this shot of an enormous window overlooking a lovely outdoor area looks very small – but is really long and so nice!
Check out how nice and handy this chart is for students! Sure, we are library people, and probably know tons of useful stuff about books – and most of us are here because we like books and we like reading. So right there, we are not the usual. Patrons in general do not immediately or easily grasp the Dewey Decimal system; so anything we can do to make our collections accessible is one more tool we give patrons to connect them to information and resources.
I love that collections are set up to draw people’s attention to books they might not know about, and that may be cool. And of course – Dr. Who books hit that lovely spot of “excellent pop culture” and “fun stuff you might not even know exists” in a collection! (And if you want to guess how many of these books are also in my personal collection, the answer is probably any random number you might guess, +1.)
We do love to visit our members – it really is the highlight of our jobs!! So if we have not been to YOUR library yet, you know that we are just waiting for the chance. Send us an email today at admin@cmle.org and let’s set up a visit!!