Kimberly Bolan and Associates and Year in Architecture 2015

Overview of the Tiverton (RI) Public Library

Very excited to see this year's Year in Architecture published by Library Journal. KBA was fortunate to have a 2015 filled with many fun and inspirational facility projects. Thanks to all our fabulous clients who partnered with us to produce some pretty wonderful things. Tiverton (RI) Public Library with it's brand new 21st century facility, the revamp of the Orion (MI) Public Library's Family Place Library, Monroe County (IN) Public Library's new teen area and digital media center (for all ages), a new 20-something collaboration space at the Sachem (NY) Public Library, Plainfield-Guilford Township (IN) Public Library's 7,000 SF renovated interactive children's area, and South Hill (VA) - R.T. Arnold Public Library's new teen room. Congratulations to you all!

"Refreshovations" and More

Since Rob and I have been talking so much about reinventing libraries and our concept of "refreshovating" (rethinking, restructuring and rejuvenating), I thought it would be fun to post a few good examples of both new spaces and "refreshovated" ones for everyone to check out. Thanks to Library Furniture International, we had the opportunity to visit several great Chicago-area public libraries at the end of February. As always, we learned a lot and took away a ton of great and forward-thinking ideas. And, of course, I just needed to share with you.

And, a special thanks to all the terrific library staff who toured us through their buildings!

Barrington Area Library - "Refreshovated" their library by incorporating a supported self-service area, wonderful merchandising with terrific bookstore-like shelving units and fantastic signage, a digital media lab (that once was a small meeting room), interactive children's space and much more. Stay tuned because they're just getting started!

Ela Area Public Library - Revamped and "refreshovated" entrance and first floor with new streamlined service points, supported self-serve, a cafe area, great bookstore-like shelving, and a new teen area.

Arlington Heights Memorial Library's Kids' World - Opened January 2011. This "refreshovated" children's area is an exciting and colorful space. Several interactive elements for the very young have been incorporated including an "I Can Read" area which attracts beginning readers with fun activities and preschool literacy computers to help build skills.

Gail Borden Public Library District, Rakow Branch - Opened August 2009. Features a popular collection, gardens, an external 24/7 DVD and video game dispenser, and is an environmentally friendly LEED registered building.

Gail Borden Public Library District's Studio 270 Teen Area - Opened January 2011. This teen area features a small meeting room with white board wall, highly merchandised popular collection, computers and technology, a slew of soft seating options, and a variety of interactive spaces such as a craft area, small stage and more.

The Transformation Lab - Prototyping the Future

A vision for library space...

See more about the "transformational library" model and the Aarhus Library in Denmark. There's a great 7 minute video overview to watch.

Music and Video Production Spaces on a Budget

A friend and colleague Kent Barnard, currently working on his MLIS (focusing on youth and children's services) at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, recently shared some great tips with me for libraries who are interested in creating a music and video production space on a budget. Here's what he has to say:

- Depending on the budget, there are lots of ways to do this inexpensively. The most important element is to be able to eliminate background noise for the audio. In this respect, it would be best to have a separate room, or a way to separate the area from noise. In many instances, a meeting room could double as this space.

- In order to use a green screen for video production, the subject needs to be at least 4' in front, and there needs to be room for lighting. One solution for lighting, if an area is under construction, would be to install a couple of sets of track lighting spots, one to illuminate the green screen, and one set to illuminate the subject. If only one track is used, it should be to light the green screen, to prevent shadows.

- Another way to illuminate is through simple work lights (the kind on stands at any hardware store). Inexpensive cloth can be used to soften the light, but these have the advantage of being portable, and only about $40 apiece.

- For the green screen itself, there are several inexpensive ways to do it. The important thing to remember is that the green (or blue) needs to be a flat color, it cannot be glossy. Dark Lime green is the color of choice.
Here are some options:
1. special chroma key paint @$30 gallon
2. special chroma key fabrics (lots of choices, lots of websites)
3. green bed sheets
4. green flat paint
5. a pull down, or portable screen can be purchased or made

Other components:
- A computer (Mac would probably be the best choice, but a PC can be used with the right software. A laptop set up with the right software could also be used elsewhere in the library.)

- A microphone (USB is the new technology)

- A video camera (If you get one with a microphone, that much the better for video production.)

- Software (There are a lot. Adobe may already be available in the library.)

Feel free to contact Kent with questions. Visit him at Large Librarian-at-Large. Thanks, Kent!