The Parking Question

The parking question arises quickly when talking to those who live in the downtown area or who frequent downtown businesses. It comes in several variations:

• Is the Library going to build a parking deck?
• Is the Village going to build a parking deck?
• Couldn't the Library put in underground parking?
• Can the Library buy (insert property name/address here) to build more parking?
• Can the Village buy (insert property name/address here) to build more parking?

Now, I cannot speak for the Village beyond reporting what was said at the Site Feasibility Committee meetings. Those meeting notes are linked on this page, so it's not a secret. Both Library and Village representatives indicated that they cannot commit to funding a parking deck at this time.

All plans to date do include additional parking to meet zoning requirements of the Village. The Village of Plainfield is working with the Library to ensure that shared parking makes the most effective use of the property owned by each.

The bottom line is that decks and underground parking are EXPENSIVE! More than 10 times the cost per space than at-grade parking. That is a hefty investment for any government entity, but particularly for the Library, which only receives 2.4% of the average homeowner's property tax.

With cost as the biggest concern of the Telephone Town Hall meeting participants, the Library's Board of Trustees is committed to a no-frills plan of solid construction that will meet the district's needs into the next decade, without overburdening the taxpayers today. So far, a parking deck does not fit that commitment.

How many square feet does it take to make a functional public restroom?

As the library staff and building consultant are working on the draft of the building program, I am learning all sorts of new things - like how many square feet to allot for public restrooms in an expanded library building lobby! (640 total for mens/womens/family, in case you were wondering)



The building program sets the parameters for the architect's design, including everything from allotments for study rooms of various sizes to how big the janitor's closet needs to be. In the process, one discovers that there are standard sizes for things like shelving, seating, and workstations. But you also discover that you have to make allowances for everything from the interior walls (a standard percentage calculation for "nonassignable" space, as it turns out) to the storage of tables for the meeting rooms.

Going beyond the standard calculations is where things get more difficult. Your library staff is wracking their brains to try to remember all the good ideas they have heard from you about space. For example: including a second chair to accomodate both parent and child at the Children's area PCs. Staff have made notes for months on this, compiling them into lists of items that require a space allotment, interior design notes, exterior design notes, and ideas for green design.

The draft of the building program will be posted here as it nears completion. In the meantime, you can help by submitting your idea here: http://plainfield.lib.il.us/contact/index.asp or jotting it down on a suggestion box slip at the library! It's your library, so let us know what you want. What spaces/features would make your library experience better?

Frequently Asked Questions

Now available on the website - a list of frequently asked questions about the library's expansion planning, including those asked during the telephone town hall meeting: http://plainfield.lib.il.us/general/ExpansionFAQ.pdf

This FAQ will be updated throughout the planning process, as more answers become available and as we hear from you what your questions are. Comment here, email through the general contact on the website, jot down your question on a suggestion box slip next time you are in the library, call me and ask - whatever is most convenient for you!

Telephone Town Hall MP3 file now available

The recording of the full Telephone Town Hall Meeting from 7/29/08 is available here:

http://plainfield.lib.il.us/general/trustees.asp#teletown

The recording begins as soon as the auto-dialer began making outgoing calls, so the first minute or two are near silent while we wait for people to begin to connect.

Thanks for listening!

Thanks for participating!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the telephone town hall event Monday night! It was a great opportunity to share information and answer questions as we move further into planning for library expansion. 2,193 residents connected to the call, with over 200 remaining on the line for the majority of the meeting.


Questions ranged from partnering with other government entities to possible locations for a secondary site to whether public libraries are necessary. (Answers: yes, we are exploring partnerships, no secondary location has been selected but the high volume of comments about north of town are duly noted, and USA Today has an article today: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-28-library-evolution_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip about why libraries are necessary.)

The group was polled three times during the event. First, they responded 3-to-1 in favor of supporting two library referenda, one to build and one to operate expanded library facilities, based on preliminary information. Next, over two-thirds of participants would like to be contacted about future planning input events. Last, 30 participants are interested in volunteering for a citizens' referendum committee.

There were some technical difficulties in the beginning of the meeting that delayed the start. Caller ID displays showed "Hyattsville, MD 240-696-7345" instead of the intended "Plainfield Library" and a local number. Apologies to any who missed participating because of this error. The vendor has assured the library that it would not happen again if we choose to do another event like this one. The negative feedback regarding this format was far exceeded by the positive feedback. This format will be considered for future events.

The Library Board and staff are committed to a planning process that includes community input as we move through the steps in the planning process. Look for an input session on location of a secondary site once the Board of Trustees determines how to go about the site selection process.

The recording of the Telephone Town Hall Meeting will be available on the library website in the near future. I will place a link here when it is up.

A time and place for your questions

I am really looking forward to tonight telephone town hall meeting! It's an exciting first for the library district. In the past, the best information came from the costliest method - the survey. This telephone town hall meeting turns the survey concept on its head, for about one tenth the cost.

Instead of calling residents and asking a set of predetermined questions, the library will be calling to let you ask questions. The calls will begin to go out tonight at 7pm. The call list is based on voter registration rolls, so if you aren't registered to vote, you will not be called. Residents will be called in a random order and may join the meeting already in progress. Participants can press zero to ask a question at any time during the meeting. Other than a brief history of the library's building and some statistics on current use, the meeting will be entirely question-and-answer with me and Board President Sharon Kinley to respond. Even if we do not get to all of the questions, participants will be able to leave a voicemail at the end of the call to ask their question.

In the next few days, the recorded meeting and an FAQ will be posted here and on the library's website.

For myself, the Board of Trustees and the staff, finding out what your concerns are will help us to make sure the planning process not only addresses space needs but also answers the questions of the community during the process.

It's your library. Tell me what you think. Ask me a question.

After all, I am a librarian. Answering questions is what librarians do.

Planning for expansion - now what?

The next step in planning for library expansion is to create a building program. This is an elaborate set of instructions to the architect about exactly what the library needs in terms of sizes, adjacencies, etc. The Space Needs Analysis will provide the basis of gross square footage for each area.

The development of the building program will be accomplished in 3 site visits with building consultant Anders Dahlgren. Representatives of Healy Bender Architects will participate in these visits to gather information on the needs and priorities of each department.

In the first visit, the library's management team will meet with the building consultant for a global overview of the needs and to review collection development goals and distribution of collections.

In the second visit, staff from each department will meet with the building consultant to focus on the needs of their department. Space Needs worksheets will be completed to reflect the results of those discussions.

In the third and final visit, staff from each department will review the Space Needs worksheets and discuss any additional needs or concerns for the space. At the end of the final visit, the management team will review the physical relationships among library departments and their needs.

When the final building program is complete, schematic design will begin. The next opportunities for community input will occur during the design phase.