{"id":26125,"date":"2021-11-30T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=26125"},"modified":"2025-04-15T11:14:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T15:14:27","slug":"whats-your-dream-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2021\/11\/whats-your-dream-library\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Your Dream Library?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My library is currently undergoing a top-to-bottom renovation, and it’s gotten me thinking: if money were no object, what would your dream library look like? Do you have one specific creative project you’d love to do? Or have you been yearning for a completely new youth space? Here are my top four library design dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

1. A Sensory Space<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A quiet, chill-out space for families on the spectrum, patrons with sensory processing needs, or anyone who needs to break away from the overwhelm of a chaotic family storytime. Ideally this would be a separate room with a door that closes to block out noise, with lights that can be dimmed and good sensory tools. Check out this amazing example<\/a> from the Louisville (Ohio) Public Library, which includes both a calm, relaxing area to decompress as well as an engaging space for sensory-seekers. This Sensory Space is designed for everyone from autistic patrons to older adults with dementia. It’s a multi-generational dream!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. An Outdoor Performance Space<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I live in California, where outdoor programs can happen through most of the year (depending on the wildfire smoke, that is). But I’ve never worked for a library that had a really thriving outdoor space. A stage, an amphitheater, a big grassy field – anywhere we could host performers, put on giant storytimes, and get lots of physical play outside would be perfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Getting Rid of That One Thing <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Every library has one. That One Thing makes you wonder what the powers-that-be were thinking. It might be a safety hazard, like the gigantic metal beam that ran at a diagonal right through my children’s section and looked exactly like a slide, but definitely was not a slide<\/em> (it lead directly into a floor-to-ceiling window). It might be a play feature that seemed cool at first, but has since become a staff nightmare (that life-size pirate ship was awesome until staff were constantly policing kids taking a running leap off of it and onto the cement floors). Maybe you have miles of shelving blocking your line of sight, or a beloved stuffed animal the size of a small horse that hasn’t been cleaned since 1981. Whatever it is, let’s wave a magic wand and make it disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The Biggest Storage Closet You’ve Ever Seen<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Crafts. Storytime manipulatives. Play spaces. Maker activities. All of these are limited if you don’t have the space to store your supplies. I’d like a Room of Requirement, please, with a giant table to cut out craft pieces, room for every building supply under the sun, and an alphabetized filing cabinet of puppets.<\/p>\n\n\n

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And over here you’ll see our collection of flannel boards, dating back to 1973.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Of course, money is an object. When my library reopens, I probably won’t have an infinite puppet space or a rollicking amphitheater. Hopefully we’ll have a functioning elevator!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would your dream renovation be? Do you have That One Thing you’d like to get rid of? You might inspire somebody’s next grant!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Today\u2019s blogger is <\/em>Chelsey Roos<\/em><\/strong>. Chelsey has been a member of ALSC\u2019s Advocacy and Legislation committee, and is a children’s librarian for Santa Clara County Library.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog relates to ALSC Core Competencies of I. Commitment to Client Group<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My library is currently undergoing a top-to-bottom renovation, and it’s gotten me thinking: if money were no object, what would your dream library look like? Do you have one specific creative project you’d love to do? Or have you been yearning for a completely new youth space? Here are my top four library design dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":337,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[2079,1605,42],"tags":[479,1663],"class_list":["post-26125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-chelsey-roos","category-commitment-to-client-group","category-library-design-and-accessibility","tag-library-design","tag-sensory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}