Cleveland Heights - University Heights: A 21st Century Library Model

I recently had the opportunity to visit the newly revamped Cleveland Heights – University Heights (OH) Library. Associate Director, Cathy Hakala-Ausperk gave the grand tour around their progressive and customer-friendly facility. Here are just a few of the terrific things they are doing:

• self-check center – fairly small footprint, very customer service oriented, no barriers between staff and customers
• self-serve holds pick-up behind self-check
• new retail model of roaming reference – no reference desks within the facility only reference “rover” stations; reference staff are cross-trained and do not do other library work on the floor
• reference staff are cross-trained and do not do other library work on the floor
  staff wear large lanyards that say “May I Help You?” so customers can easily identify them
• good signage – appropriate scale, user-friendly wording, simple and attractive design, and it gets the customers where they want to go
• all furniture was purchased with portability and flexibility in mind, including the shelving in the children’s area
• terrific teen area (designed with direct teen input) including vibrant colors, durable flooring and furnishings with unique design elements, portable and durable furnishings including soft seating, computers designated for teens only, a homework/gaming counter, effective merchandising space, portable wall to create flexibility for programming
  healthy vending throughout public side of facility
• forward thinking staff area with vending, comfortable seating, and a separate quiet room
• nice use of indirect lighting throughout the facility
• creative design element used on the walls of the story room in the children’s area
• use of direct customer feedback in design of space
• integration of digital signage that automatically pulls from their events and room reserve software from Evanced Solutions
• community collaborations

See CHUH Library for more information.