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Roundtable on October 21: Johnson Building Improvement Project

Posted on October 1st, 2013 by Gina Perille in Johnson Building Study, Major Projects

2013BPLOctober21roundtableBoston Public Library continues its series of roundtable discussions to update library users and interested residents on the Johnson Building Improvement Project.

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.

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Timetable for Phase 1: Johnson Building Improvement Project

Posted on September 16th, 2013 by Eamon Shelton in Johnson Building Study, Library Services, Major Projects

As noted in summertime posts (here and here), construction of the initial phase of the Johnson Improvement Project is set to begin in December 2013. This phase will include the renovation of the second floor of the Johnson building. In preparation, all of the services and collections on the second floor will be relocated prior to construction.

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.

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Children’s Library & Teen Room: Johnson Building Improvement Project

Posted on September 12th, 2013 by Christine Schonhart in Johnson Building Study, Library Services, Major Projects

Since our last update on the Children’s Library and Teen Room, library staff and users have been hard at work in the design stage of these spaces.

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.

BPL 130816 Children's LibraryThe 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.

BPL 130816 Teen AreaOver 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.

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New Display in Atrium: Johnson Building Improvement Project

Posted on September 3rd, 2013 by Gina Perille in Johnson Building Study, Major Projects

 

JohnsonDisplay2

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.

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Roundtable on September 25: Johnson Building Improvement Project

Posted on August 30th, 2013 by Gina Perille in Johnson Building Study, Major Projects

2013BPLSeptember25johnsonroundtableBoston Public Library continues its series of roundtable discussions to update library users and interested residents on the Johnson Building Improvement Project.

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.

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