After reviewing the RFPs and interviewing respondents, Wondercabinet Interpretive Design, Inc. was selected to lead this process. During the months of January and February, BPL youth services staff were surveyed to help determine current practices in BPL programming, space availability and options, best practices from other libraries and to gather feedback on what works best and what needs work. In the coming weeks, the public will be invited to participate in a survey to help determine their favorite programs, ideas for new programs, and feedback on what they think works best and what needs work.

In the meantime, do you have a favorite children’s or teen program at the Library or elsewhere? What are your favorite places for youth programming and what makes them special? Please share in the comments.

This year, we have added 320 motion sensors to the book stacks in the Central Library’s Johnson Building along with the 540 installed last year, automating light switches to ensure lights are only used when staff are actually working in those areas.

We replaced a large percentage of high energy-consuming lighting fixtures at three locations with energy efficient fixtures:

• Jamaica Plain Branch – 111 fixtures with a 30% reduction in watts consumed
• Dudley Branch – 367 fixtures with over 50% reduction in watts consumed
• Central Library at Copley Square – 545 fixtures with over 45% reduction in watts consumed

Additionally, Bates Hall in the McKim Building at the Central Library is now illuminated with 100% LED bulbs that were received under a state-funded program, and at no cost to the BPL.

On the plumbing front, we have  been installing “low-flow” faucets and fixtures in many Central Library locations, cutting down on water use and costs. We have added water meters for cooling towers and lawn sprinklers at multiple locations to reduce sewer costs.

We have also begun the process of upgrading our centralized building management system and added an initial set of locations to the new system. The system can now be controlled remotely, improving gas and electric efficiencies and providing a more efficient and responsive system to staff and public needs. We hope to add locations to the the centralized building management system over next couple of years.

Funding for these improvements is drawn from the “Johnson Building Energy Improvements” capital projects and City of Boston Energy Department and Mass. green communities.

“Compass” is the name of the Boston Public Library’s strategic plan. Community Gathering is the seventh of eight principles that staff from the BPL have discussed with the public following the unanimous approval of the strategic plan by the BPL Board of Trustees in November 2011. The Boston Public Library engaged its stakeholders in a two-year, three-phase planning process prior to that Board approval. The final Compass principle to be discussed is the User-Centered Institution principle, which will be covered in March 2013.

Download and share the January 30 Roundtable flyer (PDF).

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

The next Compass Roundtable will take place on Wednesday, January 30, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Join a conversation about the Community Gathering principle with David Leonard, Boston Public Library’s Director of Administration & Technology, and Mary Frances O’Brien, the BPL’s Chief of Public Services .

“Compass” is the name of the Boston Public Library’s strategic plan. The Community Gathering principle in the Compass states: The BPL exists to serve and sustain communities that foster discovery, reading, thinking, conversing, teaching, and learning, in accessible, sustainable, and welcoming facilities throughout the City, as well as with an engaging online presence. The stated outcomes under the Community Gathering Principles are:

• Provide library spaces that are inviting, stimulating, comfortable, clean, and safe.
• Reimagine and redesign the BPL website to create a single location for connecting users with resources and with each other.
• Link community members to library programs and services within the BPL system and beyond.
• Minimize the library’s environmental impact.

Community Gathering is the seventh of eight principles that staff from the BPL have discussed with the public following the unanimous approval of the strategic plan by the BPL Board of Trustees in November 2011. The Boston Public Library engaged its stakeholders in a two-year, three-phase planning process prior to that Board approval. The final Compass principle to be discussed is the User-Centered Institution principle, which will be covered in March 2013.

Download and share the January flyer (PDF).

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

1. Enriched library services and user experience

• Improved user services through better access and adjacencies
• Collections thoughtfully presented and accessible to meet demand
• Expanded and improved youth services through reimagined children’s library and teen room
• Expanded engagement opportunities through new functional spaces such as a conference center, “living room,” and potential commercial-use space

2. Improved visitor first impression

• Improved exterior transparency and engagement, with clear paths and intuitive wayfinding
• Reinvigorated entrance and lobby, and connection to the streetscape

3. Positive financial impact for BPL

• Leveraging of public investment with private investment
• Optimal and maximum use of the existing physical asset
• Revenue generation and cost sharing from commercial tenants
• Leveraging benefit of previously-deferred maintenance projects to support library service improvements

As the director of branch libraries, Christine juggles a host of responsibilities, from hiring staff and developing new programming to overseeing operations and budgets. “It’s an interesting job every day,” she says.

To do her job, she also is mindful of the need for each local branch to evolve with its community. “Neighborhoods change and grow more diverse,” she points out. “I want to hire staff who know the neighborhoods, and at the same time provide consistent, quality programming throughout the city.”

To keep her finger on the pulse of each neighborhood, Christine makes customer feedback a priority, through surveys, online forums, social media, and outreach programs. “I want each branch to be seen as a fun, engaging, welcoming, friendly space where people can come no matter what’s going on in their lives,” she says.

Now an Associate with Nixon Peabody LLP, a Global 100 law firm, Ronaldo also served as a member of the Boston Public Library’s Strategic Planning Committee. He sees this initiative as a way for the library and local communities to build a future together. “It’s a way to sit down and think about a systematic approach for where the library should be,” he says.

He also recognizes that, in this era of limited resources, creative strategies are needed. “We need to keep changing to meet the needs of the communities on a day-to-day basis,” he says. “I’m more than honored to be a part of it. The library is a special place.”

The branch at which Uma serves is the Brighton Branch, which is housed in a building that was recently extensively renovated according to U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Commercial Interiors guidelines. “People come to see it and ask how we’re saving money,” Uma reports. More than that, the building design invites the community in. “It has big double doors and very good lighting,” she says. “It’s very welcoming.”

The branch’s programs and resources also draw people in—from books and technology resources to active children’s and adults’ programming, including book clubs, English as a Second Language classes, support groups, and more, depending on the current needs of the community.

The branch’s two librarians also often reach beyond the building walls to drop off pamphlets at local colleges, restaurants, and the YMCA. “We want to let our friends and neighbors know we’re here,” says Uma.