Dear Mister Architect,

While we are all thrilled, really, at how proud you are of your creation, and how "light and airy" it is, and so on...when you go so far as to say that you "just want to live here" our first reaction, as a group, is "well, how about you move in to this building...and build us a REAL library, hm?" In matters of practical use of space, something which you should have studied in architect school, form should follow--or at least work with--function, not the other way around. Making a building tall and full of unusable space=/=effective use of public funds. Particularly when you then claim that part of the reason all our shelves are only waist-high is because "there just wasn't enough money".

While we're at it, having access to the internet does NOT in any way negate the need for a reference section. Where were you when the middle school English teachers told the class that they had to use non-internet sources?

In case you either didn't get the numbers, or chose to ignore them...we serve an average of 200-300 patrons a day, many of them consisting of young families. With 4.5 staff members. Why in the name of Dewey would you give us two public restrooms with only one stall/toilet each, no staff bathroom, and no changing area? I invite you, sir, to try using the restrooms some day...I get maybe one trip in a week that I actually get in and out without someone trying to force their way in because they don't understand that there's only one toilet in a well-used public restroom and the door is locked.

Yours disrespectfully,
Me

"...public libraries need to place as high of an importance on the technology that they do on the social and physical aspects of their organization. A lot of effort goes into speaker series, story time, game nights, and movie nights. A lot of planning. A lot of investment. If that investment is not given, nobody will come to them. The web presence is no different. If the web tools are an afterthought, a haphazard, sloppy collection of off-the-shelf tools that neither help the user achieve their goals nor captures their interest, the public will write the library off. Just as a speakers series is a combination public service and library marketing tool, the web site must be more so, as it is more public than any event."

"This report examines the recent trends in collaboration and cooperation between public libraries, archives and museums. In many cases, the shared or similar missions of the institutions reviewed make them ideal partners in collaborative ventures. Different types of collaborative projects are examined, including exhibits, community programs, digital resources and joint-use facilities. Examples come from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom (UK), as well as from Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The report concludes with a guide to collaborations, including examples of best practices in the field, a guide to a successful collaboration, a discussion of the benefit and risks of collaboration, and a list of resources consulted."