Storefront Library » library outposts

Start small, aim big: Express Library, Mesa AZ

Leslie — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:41:34 +0000

We just read with interest about a newly launched “Express Library” in Mesa Arizona: 2500 square feet, open three days a week, funded by impact fees from real estate developers. Less than 7% of the start-up costs were used to renovate the storefront—the rest was spent on materials. Ongoing operating costs will be covered by the library system’s ongoing book sale.

The goal is to lay the groundwork for a future, larger scale branch in the neighborhood.

Southeast Mesa will have its first city library by May after the idea won enthusiastic endorsement Thursday from the City Council.

“This is a ‘Wow!’ moment for me,” Councilman Alex Finter told library director Heather Wolf after she outlined how her thin, money-starved staff has found a way to stretch services to the growing area.It won’t be a full library for at least several years, but it’s a start similar to the one that launched the Red Mountain branch library in 1987.
…
Staffers would be rotated into the new library from other facilities. Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh joined others in praising Wolf and her staff. “It’s ironic,” he said. “I was part of the council in 2002 that approved the library master plan that called for five additional libraries. At that time I had no idea that it would take eight years to get one of the five additional libraries.”

We are not alone.

Sam — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:22:29 +0000

On Sept. 17, 2009, a temporary branch of the North Park Library was opened in a Kmart Plaza storefront in North Buffalo, NY. The library is 4000 sq. feet and includes a computer lab and children’s area.

We appreciate how the planners created a timeline describing the steps they took in developing this project, including a list and cost analysis of considered sites. For more information about the storefront library in Buffalo visit the branch home page, blog, or facebook page.

Locating Libraries in Metro Stations, Stockholm.

Sam — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:59:30 +0000

Inauguration day of “T-Sture”, the new Metro Library at Stureplan, Stockholm from Åke Nygren.

Here’s a glimpse of what appears to be the opening of a new library in a Metro Station in Stockholm. (Note the fresh flowers, cafe area, and acrobats.)

We’ve been exploring the concept of “library outposts,” a term which we trace to Nate Hill, Head Librarian of the Greenpoint Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and advisor to the Storefront Library Project. In Sweden, the library outpost idea seems to be well underway in the form of mini-branch libraries in Metro stations, and also in the form of “Bookomatics,” which are ATM-like devices which distribute books to library card holders. A version of these machines has arrived in California, under the catchy name “Library-a-Go-Go.”

As we think about how a public library program can be adapted to a vacant storefront in Boston, we’re keeping an eye on other adaptations already underway. In the case of the Stockholm’s Metro Libraries, we’re intrigued by the emphasis on the traditional core of the library program—the circulation of books. More on Sweden’s “underground” libraries from intelligentnaivety.com and monocle.com.

Nate Hill—library outposts

Sam — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:00:11 +0000

The concept of a storefront library is not unique to this moment in Boston. There is a gentleman who has been thinking about library outposts for some time. Boston Street Lab is thrilled that Nate Hill, currently heading up the Greenpoint branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, has agreed to sign on as a Project Advisor to the Storefront Library.

Today we journeyed to Greenpoint to meet Nate, tour his Greenpoint branch, and gather his advice about developing the Storefront Library program. Nate’s enthusiasm for our project was deeply appreciated—it was great to connect with an experienced librarian who clearly has an appetite for the idea of putting a library in a storefront.