Pewaukee Public Library (last Pewaukee post-I swear)

OK, so in the interest of time and all the other things I have to get done I'm going to have to condense the rest of my Pewaukee comments into one post. So here are the highlights and you can find all the other pictures in the Pewaukee Public Library folder on the Z drive.

The number one thing you notice when you enter the library and really one of the only art pieces there is this ceramic tile wall.

The tiles were created by community members of all ages but compiled by a local artist. It spans both floors and is an aqua green-to-blue color, though that's hard to see in this pic. It is gorgeous and truly impressive.

The second coolest thing in the Pewaukee Library is their shelf lighting. It is by far the most harmonious lighting I've ever seen in a library, though this picture isn't the greatest.

There are metal frames that span the bookshelves and suspend the lights between the shelves which helps to make sure no shelf is left in shadow. It was very aesthetically appealing and incredibly expensive. Oh well.

So you already saw Pewaukee's check out desk--well this is their reference desk which is located downstairs. They don't do checkout or checkin, just reference and work on projects.

At the reference desk you can also buy coffee and tea for the coffee/tea bar (there is a picture of this in the folder but it doesn't really show you anything since the "bar" is actually just a hot water machine). If I remember correctly, it was $1 for each.

The last thing I want to mention is their magazine display. They have the same shelves as we do but they have two signage ideas that I think would be very useful here.

They use, what appears to be, Do Not Circulate tape/stickers that go on the clear binders they put their magazines in. Putting the newest magazine in a binder like that makes it more difficult to steel and the sticker cuts down on the number of people trying to check them out. They also have labels behind each new magazine that says to lift the shelf to find back issues.

So, that's all I have for Pewaukee. Like I said, feel free to check out the other pictures in the folder and comment on them as you like but these were the attributes that stood out the most. Let me know if you have any questions. On to the next library!

Suggestions For Banding Books for the Van

Motto: Haste Makes Waste

Overriding Objective:
Mike, (our Van-Man), picks up our bins and takes them to his van to resort into other bins. He should be able to grab each item/group of items from our bins in one hand - whether a single book, stacked and banded books, or a double column of books (two stacks of smaller books on a larger bottom book). Bundles of books should be stacked no higher than a man can reasonably grip in one hand.

Mike should be able to do this without the banded books shifting about, routing slips or rubber bands coming loose, and/or slips or books falling out of the bundles.

1. Check through books you have taken off the CircWork shelves for a particular location - and make sure they are actually all for that location.
2. Fasten Routing Slips securely to the single item or item on top of a bundle of appropriate height, placing tape on the top and bottom of the Routing Slip.
3. Fasten bundle with rubber bands of size corresponding to the heft of the book/bundle of books.
4. Don't hesitate to band a single book if it is large, awkward or unusually heavy.
5. If you have enough books for one location to stack smaller books in double columns on top of a sufficiently large/substantial book(s), make sure you fasten with enough suitably-sized rubber bands (4 minimum) to keep all items in the bundle stable and reasonable to lift with one hand.
6. Make sure you are putting white-slipped items in the white-slip bin, blue in blue-slip bin, Racine in Racine, etc.
7. Ensure that items fall flat in the bins. Carelessly tossed items will cause someone else to remove all books on top of the tilted item and straighten the whole bin out. Mike stacks the bins one on top of the other on his dolly, and uneven stacks can topple the whole lot.

This is my first blog. Thanks to Sue for the nudge.

Myrna

New Berlin Public Library Tour by Sandi

The New Berlin Public Library, with its Frank Lloyd Wright style, was awesome architecturally -- to me. Since Delavan lake has several Frank Lloyd Wright homes, this style would be a great compliment to Delavan, but maybe not right downtown in its present location.

On entry, the whole atmosphere screamed LIBRARY to me -- I loved it! The quotes in large lettering on the high walls throughout the building gave me a feeling of being someplace special -- reminded me of similar lettering in the Vatican -- but way too expensive for a Delavan project. The dark wood, including the library tables, did not distract because of all the windows, indirect and halogen lighting, and vastness of the areas. The "Artist of the Month" displays were nice, as well as the huge meeting room and screen, and the Veterans Room.

We all liked the idea of the small carryable shopping baskets and the push models! The express checkouts seemed very practical near the doors, but I'm not sure why the circ desk was located where it is. While we were there, people were using the small study rooms and were also sitting in the "quiet area."

Behind the scenes areas were equally amazing with the brightness of natural and artificial light. The movable and adjustable cubicles seemed very practical for these work areas. Staff lockers and mail slots were nice -- close to the bit staff lounge. The drive-up window was interesting and not manned at all times. The "e-lockers" were something new to me and seemed like a great service for after-hours pickup. The ILL area was right there also, and I liked the idea of putting the ILL items in special nylon/canvas bags! The MATERIALS MANAGEMENT sorting machine (RFD/BARCODE reader) was truly amazing to me and would eliminate lots of staff time. But at $193,000 this doesn't seem feasible. The WIRELESS CHARGING STATION was something I had never seen or heard of before. It seemed to be a very important part of their tech area.

The computer lab area was surprisingly far from close staff monitoring. They say they've not had a problem and have a change machine in the lab. There was no noise, no one running through the stacks, talking or laughing loudly or swearing, throwing things and just the general daily mayhem we usually experience.

The teen and children's areas seemed small and much to sterile. The teen series were grouped together and labeled appearing to be very helpful. The story room also was small, but I did think the under-window counter for doing crafts was good. The small room off the story hour area, which held the craft supplies and sink was a much needed place. The children's room did offer sliding patio doors to the outside in the event of nice weather for programs and stories. This was a very nice feature!

The shelving units with the sliding bookends were nicely wider for oversized books. Nothing was hanging out! The slats on the shelving unit ends were very useful and looked very nice. There were no books standing on top of the shelves either.

This was a place I would WANT to come to. It commanded reverence and respect. The New Berlin Public Library made me FEEL like I was in an old-fashioned LIBRARY, but with subtle modern technology.

Sandi Ballman

New Berlin Public Library by Kate

The library is an impressive spacious structure and appears to have been designed in a Frank Lloyd Wright mode. The designers were Plunkett Raysich Architects of Milwaukee.

The main entrance is off the very large parking area, with a long hallway to the left. In that hallway there are several lighted, glassed-in display cases, and a setup for hanging art works of local artists. On the right are public restrooms, and further down is a Local History/Veterans' Room, which is kept locked when there is no volunteer attendance (usually a veteran) there. It's great, but could probably use more glassed-in displays of the old uniforms and other objects, for their protection from dust and other damage.

Across the hall is the gift store, run by the Friends group, which, besides books, sells cards and other items. Next to that is the entrance to the large community room, with a capacity of 182. At one end, it has a kitchenette an area for coats, and an ample storage room for the tables, which are light weight but sturdy. In the front is a large projection screen. This room is at one end of the library, and is accessible for events while the rest of the library is closed. there is a charge for its use.

Back to the main area, there is a circulation and information desk, an express checkout, new arrivals space, with carts and bar-coded baskets for public use. The tech room is spacious, with plenty of countertop area, several cubicles and lots of storage. The office is large, but the administrator would like it to have stairs directly to the basement, instead of the necessity of going out to the public area for stairs or elevator. In another area, there are plenty of lockers with combination locks, and little mailboxes for staff. There is a staff lunchroom with kitchenette.

The ILL drop off area is adjacent to a door, so easily accessible for driver and staff. There are E-lockers for pickup of materials after hours. There is a drive-up book return and a drive-up service window. The sorting machine is fabulous, in that it puts all returns in the correct bin, so items can just be returned to their place. In the main desk area, each station is adjustable for the height of the person using it, but the administrator wanted no sit-down stations.

There is a table with seating on both sides, and a plug-in port for laptop computers at each place. Throughout the library, there is comfortable seating for patrons, and there is an abundance of storage for staff. There is a lack of signage for most areas.

The slat walls on the ends of the stacks are capable of holding all sorts of materials, such as pamphlets, books, posters and etc. There are "card catalog" computers for the convenience of patrons on the ends of many of the stacks.

The center of the ground floor holds all the media for adults, and at the end is the Youth Dept. with desk. That large area is divided up according to reading age, with an open area in the middle for children to sprawl out, and a parenting section. The Youth Dept. has a large office, and much storage space. There is a separate room for children's programs, part carpeted for sitting and part tile floor, by the built-in table area, for crafts, plus a storage closet and sink. There are wide shelves that allow for oversize books.

The 2nd floor has the reference desk, a conference room, the computer lab with money machine, a business room (which is apparently never used,) a large quiet reading room with fireplace, and several one and two person study rooms. The usual limit for these rooms is two hours, unless there is no one waiting for their use.

There is a separate young adult area on one side, between the 1st and 2nd floors. It needs more color, or something to liven it up, to attract teens. It's just a sedate as the adult quiet area. If a teen has some serious studying to do, there are the study rooms. Tables and seating are available everywhere.

Outside light from the huge number of windows in the entire building and the views they afford is very impressive. There is a great deal of indirect lighting indoors also.

The basement is immense, with a huge amount of metal shelving, used by the Friends for storing books for the two book sales they hold each year. They do all their sorting down there. The microfilm is stored in the basement too, though the microfilm reader is on the 2nd floor. Extra copies of items, for future use, are also kept down there.

Not large enough is the room that holds the main control computer. In a new library that would have to be a better size.

The conveyor belt that carries the returned items, dumps them (although softly) onto the floor in the little room upstairs. Even though the floor looked very clean, the items really should go into some sort of container, rather than having to be picked up by staff from down on the floor.

These are my impressions of the New Berlin Library, and the ideas which could or could not be used for a new library.

Kate

New Berlin PL has a facebook page that contains many pictures of the library for anyone who wants a look. -Sue

***

Right next to the circulation desk is the children's area. When building the building they decided that they didn't want kids running up and down the stairs (safety hazzard) from the lower level (where the children's area would have been) to the upper level (presumably where their parents would be) however the kids run up the stairs anyway so now they had the children's room more out of the way downstairs and didn't have the adult areas split in two. Anyway, this is the doorway to the children's room. The whole room has a nautical theme to it.

(book display area)

When you first walk in there is the children's desk to the right.

Kids' Opacs to the left. There were 4 other kids computers that had filtered internet on them.

This is the family bathroom in the kids room that is set up with lower fixtures for kids (almost every library I know has this), it is also nice and close to prevent accidents.

This is the area like we have that is more for reading and playing. Notice all the fun toys and beautiful mural.

Here we have the kitchen that is used solely for kids programs. It is set right into the kids program room for easy and convienient set up and clean up. The program room itself is off the children's area so families go through the kids library to get to storytime which I think is nice advertising if maybe a little loud at times.

Other than the theme (not my favorite) this was a beautiful example of a children's room and programing space. I'm very envious.

So, once you walk into the library the first thing you see is the circulation desk which is the only adult circ desk. This desk is also used by kids and families even though the children's desk is just around the corner.

This is also where the main book drop is. The best part about these book drops are that the bins underneath them are at waist level so that you don't need to bend over much to get the books out.

Another good idea I thought Pewaukee had was to offer "shopping" baskets for people to carry their books around in. Very helpful for elderly and parents with kids.

Last but not least was the signage when we first walked in. It was very easy to tell exactly where everything was. (Sorry that they are a little hard to read.)

And we're walking, we're walking...

Pewaukee Public Library Foyer

Hi all,

I've got lots of pictures of the Pewaukee Library here and I'm not sure what the best way to organize them are so bear with me.

When you first walk into the library there is a foyer with public bathrooms, the entrance to the meeting room, a flyer display and a donor apprecation area.

The public bathrooms are power washed 2x a year which helps them look and smell clean.

They put the meeting room entrance in this foyer so that it could be used by organizations after the library hours. You would give the group a key to the outside door and meeting room but the library itself would still stay locked. A librarian wouldn't have to be present and nothing would happen to the materials.

And now...into the library!

Staff Meeting 2/20/09

1. Missing DVDs - We will begin tracking the number of DVDs found missing from the shelf or discs missing from the cases. If you find an empty case on the shelf, mark the item missing and store the case in the galley closet. We should be able to run a report each month that shows the number of DVDs marked missing. With this information, Amber will do a cost analysis to determine if we should begin using security cases.

2. We may be getting a recording device for our security cameras.

3. Patron Behavior Policy is being reviewed by the Library Board. "No loitering" signs have been posted on the doors. Policy changes we can expect to see are:

No food allowed in the library except in designated areas (meeting room).

Drinks allowed in covered containers only.

No smoking within 20 feet of the building.

4. Patron Registration Policy - The registration form is being redone, combining the adult, child, and Spanish forms into one. Because the State of Wisconsin protects the library records of children 16 and older, our policy and procedure will be revised to lower the age for an adult card to 16 (with appropriate ID and proof of residence). The policy will also include a procedure and form for parents/guardians to request information about their child's library record.

5. Library Visits - Our goal is to have each staff member participate in one library visit. We have two visits scheduled (Pewaukee and New Berlin) and one in the works (Menomonee Falls). Look for things you would like in a new building; ask about what works and what doesn't -- what they would change if they could start over.

6. Reminder: After you respond to a voice mail message, be sure to delete it. We have started keeping a log book at the phone to record messages received, what action was taken, and who responded.

7. Guidelines for binding van items together - Myrna will write instructions. The van drivers need to be able to life and stack the bundles easily. Guidelines include binding like-sized items together, using enough rubber bands to hold them in place, and making the stacks small enough to lift with one hand.

8. Desk Reorganization Committee - Sandi and Janice will work to reorganize the supplies and equipment at the circulation desk. Amber would like them to make room for a second printer, find an alternative way to store items on hold, and make workflow as efficient as possible.

9. Multitasking - Patrons must be our first priority at the circulation desk. Both sides of the desk should be monitored, and only simple jobs that will not distract us from our public service responsibilities should be undertaken at the circ desk. Whenever possible, discharging should be done in the Circ Workroom. Amber is aware that we need more staff to have enough off-desk time to accomplish all our tasks. When it is quiet, one staff member can be "on call" away from the desk doing shelf reading, shelving or discharging. Rather than calling across the room, we will use a bell to signal when we need help at the desk.

10. Book Sale Shelf - Maintenance of the book sale shelf will be taken over by the Friends group.

11. Desk checklists will be created for routine jobs to insure they are done on a regular basis (i.e., pick list, discharging book drop, filing, shelf reading, etc.)

If I forgot anything, please let me know.
Sue