Download Space Planning - Administering Better Libraries

Space Planning
ABLE: Administering Better
Libraries – Educate
Module 3
Space Planning
Overview of Workshop
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Needs Assessment
Remodel/Expand/Convert/Build New?
Feasibility Studies
Fund Raising Consultants
Capital Campaigns
Library Construction Finance Alternatives
The Library Consultant
Selecting the Architect
Marketing the Building Project
Library Construction Skills
Moving
Needs Assessment
• A Library Board should not implement a
building program without a good
understanding of the community it serves.
• Early planning efforts will provide the
information a library must have in order to
proceed with a building project.
Needs Assessment
Planning involves asking the following
questions:
1. Where are we now and what are the
current conditions?
2. Where do we want to go?
3. How will we get to where we want to go?
4. How will we measure our success?
Needs Assessment
Includes gathering information about the
community such as:
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Community Survey
Demographic Information
Economic Information
Local organizations
Library Use Statistics
Assessment of Current Facility
Accessibility
What’s a Library to Do?
• Remodel?
• Expand?
• Convert?
• Build New?
Remodeling
• Remodeling is usually the first alternative
considered.
• Remodeling isn’t a cost effective option if it
only offers a short term solution to the
library’s space problems.
Expansion
• Expansion requires careful planning.
• The current design and arrangement
of the existing building should not be
allowed to drive the project.
Conversion
• Converting an existing building is
another alternative.
• Some libraries have successfully
moved into former supermarkets, strip
malls, or stores.
Building A New Library
• Can be expensive.
• Offers benefits such as:
Maximum efficiency of space utilization
High energy efficiency
Flexible wiring
Adequate storage space
A design/plan for future expansion
Feasibility Studies/
Fund-Raising Consultants
• Hire a professional fund-raising consultant
to conduct a feasibility study: can the
community financially support a capital
campaign?
• Consultant should be hired for campaigns
of $500,000 or more.
What services can a fund-raising
consultant provide?
Conduct a feasibility study that would include:
• Interviewing 30+ community leaders to find out how likely they
think the community will give to a capital campaign.
• Asking the community leaders questions such as:
How do you feel about the library?
Is the library meeting your needs and/or the needs of the
community?
Could it do a better job?
If so, what could it improve?
How much money can be raised?
Who is most likely to give?
Who would be the most effective chairperson of the capital
campaign?
Being able to tell the Library Board how much money can be
raised from the community.
A Fund-raising Consultant
Can Also:
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Select a campaign leader.
Set realistic goals for the project.
Write and prepare a case statement.
Formulate gift brackets to reach the goal.
Train leaders to recruit volunteers.
Train volunteers to solicit gifts.
Prepare a campaign calendar.
Provide guidance for large gift cultivation.
What is a Capital Campaign?
• A capital campaign is an intensive fundraising effort on the part of a library to
secure extraordinary gifts for a specific
purpose (such as building construction,
renovation, equipment acquisition, or
endowment funds) during a specified
period of time.
(Glen Gilbert. Blueprint for a Library Capital Campaign)
Prerequisites to Success
The successful campaign must have:
• Strategic Plan
• Support
• Campaign Objectives
• Case Statement
• Feasibility Study
• Leadership
• Major Donors
Library Construction
Finance Alternatives
Major Capital Projects Financing Options for
Libraries in New York State include:
• Use of Capital Reserve Funds
• Obtaining a Mortgage
• Selling Municipal Bonds by Using Services of
Regional IDA
• Selling Tax-Exempt Bonds Through Local
School District
• Dormitory Authority
(Gerald D. Nichols, Library Construction Finance Alternatives)
A Reminder
It is essential that the library
seek qualified professional
guidance whatever course is
followed.
(Gerald D. Nichols, Library Construction Finance Alternatives)
Use Capital Reserve Funds
• Pay for the library construction out of
available capital reserve funds and/or the
library’s annual operating budget. This
approach is permitted for all libraries.
(Gerald D. Nichols, Library Construction Finance Alternatives)
Obtain a Mortgage
• Bank
• Other Qualified Institutions
(Gerald D. Nichols, Library Construction Finance Alternatives)
Sell Municipal Bonds
• Association Libraries may also access the
financial services of their regional
Industrial Development Agencies (IDA),
which, under state and local law, is
authorized to sell municipal bonds on
behalf of such institutions.
(Gerald D. Nichols, Library Construction Finance Alternatives)
Sell Tax-Exempt Bonds
• The most common method of school
district public library construction finance is
to sell tax-exempt municipal bonds
through the local school district as
stipulated in Education Law Sec. 260.
(Gerald D. Nichols, Library Construction Finance Alternatives)
Another Reminder
It is essential that the library seek
qualified professional guidance,
whatever course is followed.
(Gerald D. Nichols, Library Construction Finance Alternatives)
The Role of the
Library Consultant
• Library Boards and the Library Director
may not have the experience, expertise, or
time to carry out a building project.
• A library consultant could provide
assistance to the Board and the Director in
a number of areas.
Finding a Library Consultant
• Ask your Public Library System for
suggestions.
• Issue an RFP. An example of an RFP can
be found in Determining Your Public
Library’s Future Size by Lee B. Brawner.
• Contact the American Library Association
for a list of building consultants.
Selecting An Architect
• List of architects who have managed
building projects in the region.
• Architectural firms at trade show at the
New York Library Association’s annual
conference.
Interviewing the Architect
• Once a list of potential architects is drawn up,
the building committee will want to conduct
interviews.
• During the interview process, members of the
committee will have an opportunity to get a
sense of whether or not the architect is a good
listener.
• Does the architect respond to the building
committee’s questions carefully and understand
the special needs of library construction?
Possible Interview Questions
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Experience?
Library Clients?
Local Firm?
Priorities?
Issues/Challenges?
Interest Level?
Firm’s Experience Obtaining Local
Governmental Approvals?
• Models?
Marketing the Building Project
The need for a building project cannot be
marketed to the community until the staff,
the Board, and the local government officials
can all speak with one voice on what is
needed and why.
Ways to Market a
Building Project
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Media Coverage
Website
Brochures
Getting community leaders on board
Presentations
Mail Campaigns
Groundbreaking Festivities
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Festive occasion
Publicity
Important Dignitaries
Giveaways
Food
Library Construction Skills
Communication:
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With Architect
With “Clerk of the Works”
With Local Media
With Staff and Board
Survival Skills
• So you’re finally ready to move forward.
• The groundbreaking has occurred.
• Construction workers are swarming over
the site.
• The foundation has been poured and walls
are going up.
• As library director, how will you cope?
How will you manage? How will you
survive?
Survival Skills
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Be Prepared
Be Clear and Communicative
Be Informed
Be Firm
Be Timely
Be Well
Library Building Program
Checklist
Teaching Aid #3 – “Library Building Program
Checklist”
Adapted from
• Designing a Fine Library by Shannon Roy
and Roy Bird
• “Library Needs Assessment and Building
Process Sequence” from Lee Brawner’s
Determining Your Public Library’s Future
Size