2016-17 Construction Grant Round-Up

By Library Building Consultant Rosemary Waltos

Congratulations to all the applicants in the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP) 2016-17 Construction Grant Round. On July 13, the MBLC approved a total of $66,905,603 for provisional construction grant awards to nine libraries in the grant round. At the same time a new construction waiting list was established of libraries slated to receive provisional construction grant awards as funds become available through the program’s annual capital budget. For a list of libraries approved for provisional awards and placement on the waiting list, visit our website via the link at the end of this post.

It often takes years, or sometimes decades, to plan, design, fund and construct a new library building or complete an addition/renovation on an existing one. We know from experience that it is never too early to start the process.

If you are in a library that wants to explore the possibility of initiating a state-funded major capital improvement project, we are here to help. MBLC’s Library Building Specialists are happy to meet with you to see your library building, and talk about your current and future space needs and how MPLCP may be able to help.  To schedule a meeting contact:

  • Lauren Stara, 1-800-952-7403 x245

lauren.stara@state.ma.us

  • Rosemary Waltos, 1-800-952-7403 x246

rosemary.waltos@state.ma.us

For more information about the program, please visit the MBLC’s website: http://mblc.state.ma.us/programs-and-support/construction.

Design Thinking Across the Nation

By Lauren Stara, Library Building Specialist at the MBLC

For the last few weeks I have been spending part of my time with OCLC and WebJunction, helping with a IMLS-funded course. Small Libraries Create Smart Spaces is a program that is supporting 15 small and rural public libraries from across the country as they reimagine and reconfigure their libraries into smart spaces. Most are looking at creating “active learning” spaces from underused or newly reclaimed space (from weeding collections, for example) in their existing libraries.

My particular role has been as a champion of Design Thinking – I was brought on board to help with the Ideation and Prototyping modules. These concepts are two of the components outlined in the Design Thinking for Libraries toolkit by IDEO. It’s an approach I’ve been teaching and using in my work for a couple of years.

The course is completely online, so talking about physical space and especially building prototypes was a bit of a challenge! However, with lots of help from the amazing Betha Gutsche and Brianna Hoffman of OCLC and some pretty amazing tech tools, we made it work. We even had real-time sessions for brainstorming ideas and creating personas.

One of the things I love about my job is the opportunity to share my passion about library design and new ways of thinking and working. It’s especially fun to expand the reach of the agency beyond the borders of Massachusetts and share these ideas with a larger audience. None of this would have been possible even ten years ago. Online collaboration tools are way beyond what they were, and they make it fun.

If you want to know more, take a look at this LibGuide that I wrote for the participating libraries: