The third roundtable will be an online community chat available via www.bpl.org/compass on Monday, October 21, at 6:00 p.m. A fourth roundtable will be held on Thursday, November 14, at 6:00 p.m. in the Boston Room at the Central Library in Copley Square.

Download and share the PDF flyer about the meetings.

The first roundtable in the series was held on August 15. Read the August roundtable recap and the original July announcement of all four roundtables in the series. The second roundtable was held on September 25 and included an overview of library services during the first phase of construction, which begins in December 2013.

If you are not able to join the October online roundtable, you are welcome to leave a comment on this blog, send an email to compass@bpl.org with your ideas, visit the project display at the Central Library, or mail a letter via U.S. Post to Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116.

The second floor will be closed to the public in October in order to facilitate the necessary moves. The book collections will either be temporarily relocated elsewhere at the Central Library or transferred to the Archival Center, remaining available to circulate by request. There will be a brief period during the move when some of the second-floor collections may be unavailable.

Planned locations are as follows:

• the second-floor nonfiction collection will be moved to the first floor with a pair of exceptions:
  • second-floor nonfiction business books are now located in the Central Library’s Kirstein Business Library, located on the concourse level of the Johnson Building
  • second-floor nonfiction arts books will be moved to the Arts Department, located on the third floor of the McKim Building
• smaller collections already on the first floor — such as travel, romance, DVDs and CDs, and new fiction — will be shifted to new first-floor locations
• the second-floor Johnson reference desk service and reference collection will be relocated to the Boylston Room on the second floor of the McKim Building
• the microtext desk and service, currently on the second floor of the Johnson Building, will be moved to the Washington Room, on the second floor of the McKim Building.

One special note: the microtext department and the reference desk may be unavailable on the day they move.

We will continue to post continuing updates to this blog, on our project display, and during our public roundtable meetings. Most importantly, staff at the library are available to answer questions and provide directions during this transition. The Central Library’s comprehensive wayfinding system is also nearing its installation phase, which will provide additional assistance in finding materials.

The first phase of construction is scheduled to be complete in the fall of 2014. Subsequent phases are still in the early planning stages.

A few things have changed since the summer, mainly the orientation of the Children’s Library which is now planned to occupy two quadrants of the second floor along Exeter Street. This will allow for dedicated space for toddlers, school-age kids, and tweens; a large program space within the room, stroller parking, and collections and computers for all ages.

The Teen Room is also progressing in the design stage as we look at different options for the shape of the room as well as developing ideas for a digital makerspace for teens. The Teen Room will be on the second floor of the Johnson Building as well.

Over the summer, library administration met with youth services staff and gathered feedback from teens who use current Central Library Teen Room. We have also used the recommendations from our system-wide programming report to help inform decisions.

You can be part of the conversation in a number of ways: post comments on this post, visit the project exhibition now at the Central Library in Copley Square, attend a roundtable meeting, send an email at compass@bpl.org, or mail a letter to Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116.

A new display in the atrium section of the Johnson Building — known as Deferrari Hall — was installed last week. Thank you to those who have already added comments and questions to the interactive boards. On one side of the display, sample second-floor layouts of the children’s and teen areas are posted with some questions about future programming. The questions are:

• What kind of teen programs and activities would you like to see in the new teen zone?
• What kind of children’s programs and activities would you like to see in the new children’s library?

On the other side of the display, information gathered from the public during the springtime is shared (review that information here and here). Also posted is a depiction of what the entrance of the Johnson Building might look like without the granite screens in front of it along with the schedule of public roundtables. The second side of the display includes these two questions:

• What great experiences have you had in public buildings?
• What questions do you have for us?

If you are not able to visit the Central Library this fall or attend the one of the upcoming roundtables, please feel free to share your ideas on these questions by commenting on this blog, sending an email to compass@bpl.org, or mailing a letter to Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116.

The next roundtable will feature an overview of library services during the first phase of construction. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 25, at 6:00 p.m. in the Mezzanine Conference Room at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.

Additional roundtables will be held:

• Monday, October 21, at 6:00 p.m. as an online community chat via www.bpl.org/compass.
• Thursday, November 14, at 6:00 p.m. in the Boston Room at the Central Library in Copley Square.

Download and share the PDF flyer about the meetings.

The first roundtable was held on August 15. Read the August roundtable recap and the original July announcement of all four roundtables in the series.

If you are not able to join the September roundtable, you are always welcome to leave a comment on this blog or send an email to compass@bpl.org with your ideas.

While visiting the roof, I was able to enjoy a different perspective of Copley Square, one that we don’t get to enjoy that often.  I quickly snapped a few photo with my phone, of the streetscape, and the lovely griffins adorning the roof of the McKim Building.  I hope you enjoy this unique perspective, taken from the section of the Johnson Building that connects to the McKim Building.

View of Boylston St. from the BPL Roof

Ornate Griffins keep guard of the McKim Room with the John Hancock Tower in the background

The roof of the Johnson Building with a view of the Prudential Tower in the background

The first in a series of public roundtables on the Johnson Building Improvement Project was held on August 15 (pictured at right). Members of the public joined Boston Public Library staff to review recommendations from the master plan. David Leonard, Director of Administration and Technology, led the discussion and walked the group through each area of the four floors (concourse, first floor, mezzanine, second floor) slated for improvements. The group was also shown a series of interior and exterior computer renderings that depict what the library might look like after the renovation. David discussed the project timeline with the first major milestone being the closure of the second floor of the Johnson Building planned for this coming October in preparation for the first phase of construction.

Discussion followed with questions related to the optimal location for the children’s library, the prominence of public art, plans for quiet spaces, technology, spaces for tutoring sessions, and the size of the collection. Attendees also discussed the best use for the enterprise area on the first floor, which has been planned as a possible café or retail space.

Thank you to all who attended the August 15 meeting. The next roundtable is scheduled for Wednesday, September 25, at 6 p.m. Topics will include library services during the first phase of construction.

In July 2012, the Boston Public Library Foundation put out a request for proposals to assist the BPL in reviewing systemwide youth programming, program spaces, and gathering best practices from peer libraries across the country. The team from Wondercabinet Interpretive Design process included a staff survey, site visits, staff meetings and a public survey. Hundreds of comments were gathered over several months and the final report (PDF), published in June 2013, is now available.