Week 3 Readings

The Quiet Plug

Michael Kelley talks about the problem that libraries are having with electrical outlets in this modern age.

This article was interesting to read because it is a topic that I have not thought of the library having, though I have experience this problem before in find a place to work near a plug so that I may be able to plug in my computer when I have the need. I feel that it should be comforting to a library to have this problem because it means more people are coming to the library to use it. If more people come to the library to use internet, they may find their ways into other areas and use more of the library besides the broadband. On the flip side of having so many people using the plugs, it means a more expensive electrical bill and the need for more plugs.

Shifting Spaces

In this article, Raya Kuzyk and Francine Fialkoff talk about staying relevant to all peoples by creating new spaces, keeping up with technology, and reaching out to partner with other parts of the community.

In an ever changing world, the library too must be ever changing to stay relevant to the world. Sometimes, just rearranging the layout of the floor is all a library needs but if it has a chance for updating and really changing a space, it is good to get everybody involved and having many different ideas about how the space should look and how it can improve the efficiency of the building. Last Wednesday, my class went to MCPL to listen to Josh Wolf and he told us when they changed the children’s department they rearranged the layout to better suit the librarian’s and user’s needs, such as creating one main desks for librarians that can see all the computers and has a straight shot for seeing down the center aisle of the floor.

A Whole Systems Approach

This article talks about incorporating everyone as a team from the very beginning of the project.

This article is interesting and enlightening because it would conceivably be better to integrate all the different components of the project easier at the beginning of the project. It would mean a new way of thinking about the project, but in the long run it could mean a more efficiently run library. Incorporating the different components in the beginning of a project would make changes to the project simpler and more cost efficient in opposition to changing parts of a project right before they are suppose to go in.  I will remember the whole system approach to bring up when whatever library I am working at in the future is planning to remodel or build a new building.