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Facilities Tour – Mid-Continent Public Library, Excelsior Springs Branch Brian Whitmer – 805xs – September 25, 2017

Author’s Note For my library facilities tour, I chose the Excelsior Springs, Clay County, Missouri branch of the Mid-Continent Public Library (MCPL) System which consists of 31 branches in a three-county library district. The Excelsior Springs branch was opened in 1986 and has had at least one recent interior update. According to material from the Mid-Continent website, the building is 10,133 square feet and has 46 parking spaces with 3 handicap spaces (Mid-Continent, 2017). It serves a community of roughly eleven thousand persons in Excelsior Springs proper but is also the closest library for many persons in the more rural parts of eastern Clay County (Wikipedia, 2017). I conducted my facilities tour on a Monday morning (September 18, 2017) to get a good sense of a typical weekday experience of the facility.

Tour and Observations Exterior observations The library is tucked in space close to retail stores and a major highway artery for convenient access by car. A bus stop is nearby to serve patrons without a car. The lot was about 30% full when I arrived in the morning. The parking lot was clean from trash and the front exterior of the building featured a trimmed lawn, an outdoor book return box (located away from the curb – making an in-car return impracticable). A park bench is provided in the front for patrons waiting for their rides. A brilliant blue awning adds visual snap to what is otherwise a very ordinary cinderblock wall construction building with exterior brick veneer.The concrete was free from major cracking and chipping.

Interior observations The main entrance glass was clean and a manual press button system is used to provide assisted door-opening for patrons in wheelchairs or other assistive technology. The main entrance opens into an open floor plan space. The main service desk is visible from a cut-away window in the lobby as patrons enter the library.

Scanning from the main entrance, a patron would note clear signage to guide them to various areas of the space. Going from left to right – the first area is the main service desk. Its space is tucked in a nook of the building and houses returns, checkout station, and seating for several librarians. The space was extensively utilized but organized and tidy. Library offices and a single wall mounted video monitor displaying marketing communications are next - followed by the 6 bay computer station. Behind the computer stations are three rows of shelves housing the reserved titles and video collection. Behind these shelves, a yellow sign mounted high on the wall calls out the Laptop area which features seating for six and numerous wall mounted plugins in a horizontal bar running the length of the space.

Continuing right, there is a teen space with comfortable seating and a small gallery of teen patron’s artistic works. From there the main collection stacks begin with a ceiling sign noting the non-fiction collection, audiobooks, fiction, large print, and new materials. The reference collection is not denoted with a sign, however, and is tucked in the far corner of the collection stack area.

Next to the new materials, there is a large area devoted to periodicals and audiobooks, numerous four-person study tables, and a comfy chair reading/conversation space.

Continuing to the left, the children's collection begins and features age-appropriate seating as well as stations for craft activities. A space for children’s storytelling and library events is along the wall and a curtain can be deployed to minimize noise for other patrons.

There is a short hallway leading to the bathrooms and then we have returned to the main entrance. A drinking fountain is available and the public restrooms were clean and ADA accessible. Finally, in the center space, starting from the main entrance, there are three book display tables along with a bank of four self-checkout kiosks. Sprinkled throughout the library space are online catalog terminals to access the MCPL catalog as well as online databases.

Main service desk observation While observing the main desk I observed five staff-patron interactions. Two involved patrons requesting laptops to use while in the library, one involved a new patron who was patiently and professionally told all about the various aspects of the library and services offered by the library, and two involved patrons returning books. Two librarians were staffing the desk and both were friendly, patient and had pleasant demeanors when assisting patrons. Dress was casual with one of the staff wearing an MCPL themed t-shirt which seemed in keeping with the informality that is common in the Excelsior Springs community. Also, patrons using the computer station were able to easily ask for assistance from the service desk which is only a few feet away.

Breakout questions

• • Is it easy to see the entrance from the parking lot or street? The library building is nestled in the nook of a hill and visibility of the building is limited from the front due to commercial buildings and the curved nature of the road leading to the library. A blue “L” library traffic sign is located on the street but should be placed a few hundred yards further back to caution drivers they are near the library. In its current location, it is positioned directly across from the library street access entrance.
• • Upon entering can you find signs that explain the layout? Large, visible hanging signage is used throughout the design of the library space to guide patrons to main points of access to the library services including returns, reserved titles, video, non-fiction, fiction, audio books, new books, computer stations, magazines, and audio CDs.
• • What is located near the entrance? A book display is the first element a patron will notice upon entering the main entrance. Currently, it features books on the American Civil War. And immediately behind it is a bank of self-checkout kiosks.
• • Does the library have exhibit space? The library has a “storytelling area” that has posters and display materials on the wall and there is a small collection of teen patron’s artwork in the teen nook. There are blank wall spaces near the periodical reading area that could be repurposed to display a limited collection of artworks near the faux fireplace setting.
• • Is there a single service point or several? There is one service point staffed with people - the service desk to the immediate left upon entering the main entrance. A bank of self-checkout kiosks is also provided. Numerous catalog terminals are scattered throughout the building.
• • What collections are located near the entrance? The collections closest to the entrance are the patron’s reserved titles and the video collection. But given the open floor plan, most resources are a very short distance away from each other. The only exception is the reference section which is located in the furthermost corner from the main entrance. The reference section itself is very up-to-date and has current encyclopedias and other materials.
• • Does the library have meeting rooms or group study rooms? There are not formal meeting rooms or group study rooms. There is an area in the children’s section which has no furniture and can be enclosed by a curtain and used as an impromptu meeting space.
• • What is the availability of technology? The library has the standard Windows computers that deployed through the MCPL system with both wired access and wi-fi. Laptops are available for in-library use upon request to extend the availability of computers for patrons.
• • Is there enough storage space in staff areas? Space is clearly at a premium in the facility and the wall behind the main service desk is used for storage. The staff office areas weren’t visible so no determination was made.
• • Is there sufficient shelf space for the print books and journal collections? The various collection takes up probably 45% of the available space and there is a collection of fifty-plus periodicals available. The collection is augmented by access to the entire Mid-Continent collection through requests and regular book delivery service between branches.
• • What is the ambiance of the space? The space is comfortable, a bit noisy given the open floor plan but well-lit with fluorescent lighting. The library is functional with a color palette consisting of brown, mocha, and taupe. The carpet is a dark brown and in good condition. The bookshelf end panels looked like wooden columns and added a handsome look to what would have been bare metal end panels.
• • Is there a mix of types of furniture such as tables, carrels, soft seating? The space offers a teen nook with a couch and comfy chairs, an adult reading space with overstuffed chairs as well as numerous study tables with tables, and a children’s area with age-appropriate seating. Is the furniture comfortable? Generally, the seating was comfortable with the exception of the seating in the laptop station area which consisted of low-backed, hard plastic chairs which were probably selected to conserve space. How is the lighting? There are few windows, so the majority of the lighting is provided by the overhead bank of fluorescent lights which provide steady and adequate illumination throughout the space.
• • Are there rooms or spaces for special functions such as children’s programming, film showings, or special collections? There is a nook for teens and an area that can be used for children’s programming including storytelling hours and films. Otherwise, the space is not really designed to accommodate special programming or collections.

Conclusions and Recommendations I would begin by rating this library a very solid B. It makes good use of limited interior space and has a collection quite adequate for the size of the community being served. The space is comfortable and clean. The staff is friendly and professional.

The shortcomings of this location are dictated most directly by the age of the building design. Electrical outlets are not sufficient for the increasing numbers of laptop and other device users. The open floor plan coupled with the cinder block walls make the space a bit louder than other libraries I’ve been in. Patron voices carry throughout the space and I can imagine during children’s activities it could become difficult to concentrate without the use of headphones.

If funding were not an issue, I would suggest the following interventions to improve the library space. I would create an enclosed space (glass enclosed) where the children’s storytelling/film area is and increase the number of electrical outlets available in that space. The exterior wall of this space could be used a gallery space to display community artwork or special programming messaging. To maintain maximum flexibility in the space, I would install wall-mounted folding tables (think Murphy bed) that could be unfolded during activities and folded back during other activities needing the open floor space. The space could be used for kids activities during the mornings and used as a quiet space or meeting space during afternoon and evening hours. Elsewhere, I would replace a few of the study tables with individual study carrels equipped with electrical outlets to enable more private study. I would move the library dropbox so that it could be accessed from an automobile to avoid making patrons with physical disabilities exit their vehicles to return books.

For smaller main and branch libraries with limited space and resources, I would emulate the use of the dedicated laptop area to concentrate laptop users into a shared space with ample electrical plugins. I would also emulate the program to allow patrons to use a library-provided laptop to address issues with overcrowded computer station resources. However, security would be an issue to address before their deployment. I also would emulate the use of an outdoor bench to allow patrons to sit outside comfortably while waiting for a ride.

Final Thoughts A single observation can reveal a great deal of data regarding a facility and is a good first step toward benchmarking the performance constraints of a facility. It should be augmented by surveys and focus groups to reveal issues that may not be readily visible. Another possible source of data would be to recruit community members from various community segments (parents with small children, teenagers, students, working adults, retired patrons and older users) to perform a similar observation tour to correct for potential observational bias from a single person.