From the Suggestion Box: Non-Fiction AV Interfiled with Books

"Why are non-fiction DVDs and audiobooks on the shelves with the non-fiction books?"

Several users commented on the non-fiction audiovisual materials, like DVDs and audiobooks, being on the regular non-fiction shelves with the books. Interfiling these collections saves shelf space. For every separate collection at the Library, there are unused shelves before and after the collection to allow for materials to be returned and to show the divide where one collection stops and another begins. In a space crunch like ours, with a Library building housing more than twice the number of materials it was designed for, every inch of shelf space counts.

Most of our customers who browse the shelves for non-fiction titles are looking for a specific topic, like home improvements or a period in history. They're satisfied to find materials on that subject regardless of format. Finding a book and a DVD on that topic side-by-side while browsing meets their needs. Fewer customers are looking at a specific format in non-fiction, but some do. Balancing the needs of these types of customers is difficult in our situation, where space is at a premium.

It was not an easy decision to interfile these and one we struggled with making. However, the hard choices like these, to maximize every bit of shelving we have, are the reality of our undersized building. Ideally, the Library would have a more bookstore-like layout, with face-out displays by subject and multiple copies of items to satisfy all of our customers' different browsing habits. For now, the Library is working to meet customers needs within the limits of our space and funds.

Crunch! New Shelving Brings Lack of Space into Public View

Since the installation of the new shelving, we've received some comments and criticisms from library users about the lack of space. The reality of the Library's situation is that, given the current funding and building size, some needs will go unmet. The balance between room for books and room for people is a difficult one in a building that is 1/3 the size needed to serve the community.

Users have noticed the lack of space for studying, particularly in quieter areas of the Library. Quiet spaces are few in the Library. Tables are close together and too few to seat all those who would like to study, read or work here. Though one small group study room will return to service in a few weeks, that room will regularly be in use to house literacy volunteer tutors and small programs.

In a recent Youth Services department meeting, it was noted that the Jump and Jive storytime program is so successful that the Storytime Room, where it is currently held, is not large enough to meet the demand. However, the Large Meeting Room is not available at that time to allow the program to expand. This is just one example of many.

Without more space, the Library will continue to struggle with the balance between the resources you need and the a place for you to use them.

How to Put 10 Gallons in a 5 Gallon Bucket

I've stated it before: the Library's building was designed to hold a maximum collection of 67,830 items, plus all of the required seating for library users and staff, according to Serving Our Public: Standards for Illinois Public Libraries. Today, the Library houses over 134,000 physical items.

To maintain services through the next 4-5 years without more space, Library Trustees and staff are once more figuring out how to squeeze more into the precious space we have today. Something's got to give. We're looking at each room, each area, each use of each room to determine how we can reallocate the space to maximize every inch, from increasing shelving height to removing interior walls to eliminating built in desks. The reality is that this project will be choosing priorities and lesser evils - trading seating for shelf space and accessibility for collection growth. There will be tough trade-offs. Not everyone will be happy with the choices.

But we'll make the best decisions we can to balance cost vs. demand to continue to provide the best possible service for you.

From the Suggestion Box: Why are audiobooks on the bottom shelves? I can't reach them.

I am sorry that you had difficulty reaching the items you wanted. Library staff are available to help you access items. Just ask at any service desk or any staffer who is in the stacks!

In a perfect world, everything in the Library would be shelved at a height between the knees and eye level of the average adult. But we do not live in a perfect world. Our reality is that the Library building here in Plainfield was designed to house a maximum of 65,000 items. The Library currently owns over 125,000 items. This means that we have to use the bottom shelves and the top shelves, and every shelf in between.

When any new library is built, the top and bottom shelves are generally unused, providing space for the growth of that library's collection. As the collection grows, those shelves are filled until there are no unused shelves. This is the situation that the Plainfield Library is in today. Some of you may remember when the Fiction collection was divided by genres, with things like Romance and Mystery in separate sections. Because that requires space between collections, the decision was made to interfile the Fiction collections, reclaiming the shelves that used to separate the genre collections to maximize the amount of items shelved.

The shelving project slated to begin in September will continue to add shelves for our collections at the expense of accessibility. The new shelving will be the tallest available. Keeping up with the recreational and informational needs of the community is our goal. To do that, the collection must continue to grow. As it does, space is at a premium. Every inch of shelf space will continue to be used at the Plainfield Library for the foreseeable future.

Change is coming!

Over 4,200 signed up for Summer Reading so far. Over 20% more use of the library this year than last year. How is the Plainfield Library going to keep up with the demand?

Well, the Library Board of Trustees approved a plan in June that will move things around, streamline some operations and generally allow the Library to continue meeting the community's needs as best we can with what we have. This spring, the Trustees and I challenged the staff: give us ideas that will improve our services to the community but will not cost a lot of money to implement. We asked for your suggestions too - here, on the Library's web site, and in the local press. From those ideas, the management team crafted the plan that was presented in June. Housing additional materials was the #1 priority in the development of this plan. With more demand than ever, the Library cannot meet the needs of the community without shelves to hold more stuff!

With a $50,000 project budget approved for the upcoming fiscal year from the Special Reserve Fund (the Library's sole fund for capital and emergency monies), the Library will add six additional ranges of shelving that is 90" tall. Those are the tall ones upstairs. Currently there are six shorter ranges of shelving in the center of the Adult collections - 4 on the Fiction side and 2 on the Non-Fiction side. The replacement of those shorter shelving ranges with the taller ones will not only provide additional shelf space in the Adult Fiction and Non-Fiction areas, they begin a domino effect of moves for the collections that will result in:

1. Relocation of the Local History and Genealogy collections to the Original Library (formerly called the Adult Quiet Room), as well as the newspapers, dictionaries and atlas stands.
2. An additional shelving range for the Foreign Language collections, allowing for the growth of the Spanish, Polish, and Hindi collections.
3. Replacement and relocation of the Young Adult & Teen collection shelving, increasing the height of the ranges to 66" for all, for a net increase in shelf space.
4. The former Local History Room will become a group study room.
5. The former Study Room will become an office for the Youth Services Department.
6. Telephone reception and some other Circulation duties will move from the Registration Desk to the Circulation Workroom.
7. Holiday books for kids will get a new home using one of the shorter shelving ranges being replaced elsewhere.
8. YS Reference books will move to the center aisle of the YS Non-Fiction side.
9. Two shelving ranges being replaced on the YA/Teen side will be relocated to the center aisle of the YS Fiction side for additional shelf space.
10. All tables for the YS department will be relocated to the Bay Window Area behind the YS Desk.
11. The YS Desk will be reconfigured to better serve the department.

Overall, the shelving will be taller and closer together, but still meets ADA requirements. Tables will be closer together, clustered, and fewer of them. The one remaining "quiet" area will be the Study Room.

So when will all of this happen? We are targeting a fall date, possibly September, for the shelving shift. The Library will remain open during he project, so staff will need your understanding as the collections, furnishings, etc. shift. The shelving/relocation proposals will go before the Board on July 15. Exact dates of the internal shifting will be determined by the delivery of the shelving - something notorious for taking longer than the vendor initially promises.

Question of the Day: Can the Library Board scale the project back? Can't you wait?

The short answer: they already did both.

The long answer: Generally, libraries use a 20-year planning horizon, as set forth in Serving Our Public: Standards for Illinois Libraries. Most building bonds are 20 year duration and that's about how often libraries propose referenda to their constituency. Despite outstripping all population projections for the Library District's service area by 2003, the Library's Board of Trustees chose to wait while the school and fire districts ran referenda to ensure they could keep up with the demand for service. They examined the existing building and made renovations in 2004 within it to get by for several more years.

From the beginning of the expansion planning process in 2006, the Library Board targeted 2010, the year the 1990 building bonds are paid off and the Library District is contracted to purchase a piece of property owned by the Village of Plainfield adjacent to the downtown Library. One of the first activities of the planning process was development of a Space Needs Analysis, based on population projections and Illinois library standards.

When the Space Needs Analysis showed a need of 135,000 square feet of library space to serve a population of over 124,000 by 2030, the Library Board considered both the potential impact to the taxpayers and the fulfillment of the need for library service. They chose to scale back the project to 100,000 square feet of library space that would serve a population of up to 95,000. Anticipating 2 years from groundbreaking to opening day, a significant wait is included in this timeline even if the referendum passes in April.

The Library Board waited from 2003, when the Library was only 35% too small, until 2009, when the building is now 60% too small according to Illinois library standards and local demand for service. The Library Board scaled back from the 20-year planning standard and 135,000 square feet of space to a 12-15 year planning horizon and 100,000 square feet of space.