Pat Holloway, Director of the West Hartford Public Library, sure knows how to run a good staff development workshop. About 50 staff were on hand April 10th for the West Hartford Public Library’s half-staff day, an event that addressed aspects of the ongoing Long Range Planning process as well as the construction project underway on West Main Street’s main library. The meeting was held at the lovely St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield (just over the West Hartford line) complete with photos of attendees. Coffee, snacks, and free lunch didn’t hurt either.
After Library Board Chair Richard Marone welcomed the staff and performed introductions, special guest Marshall Keys presented Today’s Libraries and Tomorrow’s Users: What’s Coming and What do We Need to Do About it? This presentation from the former Executive Director of NELINET and present head of MDA Consulting provoked the staff into thinking about the future of libraries generally - and West Hartford specifically.
The meeting showed these engaged staff really thinking about the library, with much collegiality and thoughtful comments amid group exercises. While this isn’t too surprising given the friendliness and caring of the staff (during registration and coffee talk some staff were hugging others they hadn’t seen in a while), it’s certainly refreshing.
Librarian Martha Church clearly explained the current Long Range Planning effort, a process that incorporates all 17 of New Planning for Results’ service responses as well as bits from the Urban Library Council’s ‘Engaged Libraries’ project. Church’s speech dished out some pats on the head to key players and even incorporated a visual tie-in – all the attendees received a little paper person that they stuck onto a bulletin board to help hold up a little paper library.
Director Pat Holloway then spoke a bit on the process she calls “Expanding Excellence,” which encapsulates long range planning as well as the 17,000 sf expansion of the main library. The new building will feature increased space for children, a teen room, and adults, and related programming, a computer lab, a gallery for art and cultural exhibits, and a climate controlled local history room. New community meeting space and conference rooms, wireless throughout, and self-checkout are also important additions.
Holloway also presented a few library ‘fast facts’ that tied into Keys’ presentation: Library visits have increased about 13% while circ is down about 17% over the past five years; reference questions are down about 25%, but searches have tripled. Holloway also noted that the per-capita tax appropriation for one year of library service – $58.94 – was about enough for two tanks of gasoline or one month of basic cable, further putting things into perspective. Library services, currently squeezed into the two smaller branches, still circulate 88% of last year’s circ. Holloway finally encouraged her staff to come to her with their “crazy ideas,” knowing full well that the talented folks on the front service lines are the ones who know what needs to be done.
In addition to soliciting community feedback from an online survey, the library’s recently shot video and photographschronicling the renovation and expansion of the Noah Webster Main Library, a project that used $6.8 in town funding, $.325M in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, $.5M in state bonding funds, private grants of $170,000 and a Friends pledge of $50,000.
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