I love starting a work week with a new book delivery. Just arrived are the advance copies of Managing Your Library Construction Project: A Step-by-Step Guide.

As you might imagine, we usually pull author talent from the library profession. Sometimes, though, a topic calls for outside expertise. Such is the case with library construction. For this topic, we’re pleased to have as author Richard C. McCarthy, an experienced architect with numerous library projects to his credit.

Rick did a great job of summarizing his approach and the content coverage in his preface:

In this book I describe the process of a building project. I take the point of view of an architect—but tempered by the fact that, as of this writing, I am serving my eighteenth year as a library trustee. I try to balance these two roles and present you with as objective a view as is possible. We look at methods that can be used by library boards and directors to aid them in selecting, hiring, and working with architects and other design professionals. I cover what you can expect from an architect in terms of services, offer assistance to help you determine what services you need, and provide examples of documents and graphic presentations. Subjects covered include the parts of a typical architectural project, the evaluation of architectural firms, guidelines for interviewing architects, and advice on coping with common problems and procedures during construction. An understanding of the process boosts the chances of a successful project and helps ensure that you get your money’s worth for the professional services for which you pay.

The book is full of information that you definitely didn’t learn in library school or even in more general management training, and yet is critically important to a successful construction project. For example, try making a list of questions to ask the client references your future short-listed architects have provided. I tried it and came up with five or six pretty good ones. Rick lays out seventeen, just for starters:

1. Did the architect provide all the services specified in the contract?
2. During the programming phase, was the data collected efficiently and were the program requirements met in the end product?
3. Did the architect make appropriate use of materials provided by the library building consultant (if any)?
4. Was the architect responsive when you had questions or needed clarifications?
5. Was the architect willing to modify the design when requested to do so by the board?
6. Was the building produced on a budget and in time? If not, was this attributable to the architect?
7. Did change orders during construction increase the cost of the building by a significant amount? If so, were the changes caused by errors or oversights by the architect?
8. Did the architect provide leadership in the design and build process?
9. Were the architect’s budget estimates realistic?
10. Were the architect’s estimates of the time required for construction realistic?
11. Did the architect adequately represent the library in negotiations with civil and municipal authorities?
12. Did the architect adequately represent the library in negotiations with the contractor?
13. Was the architect easy to work with? Did the architect give due attention to your needs?
14. Was the total of the professional fees paid to the architect consistent with what you were led to expect?
15. Do you feel that you received good value for the money you spent for professional services?
16. Is the building, considering necessary compromises, what you wanted?
17. Would you use this architect again?

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I’m not likely to manage a library construction project in my own career, but next time I hire a residential architect, I’m going to use his list, not mine.

I have space allocation on the brain these days. My husband and I are in the process of modifying the layout of the condo we are purchasing. Square footage is a premium in highrise apartment living, and modifying the space to suit the needs of our lifestyle (heavy kitchen use, multiple computers and other tech, a boisterous two-year-old, overnight guests, etc.) has been a complex process of analysis and design.

Libraries everywhere are in similar situations. Chances are your library has added or modified services in recent memory in order to meet the changing needs of those served. How were those services handled in terms of physical space and furnishings? Was the space altered to suit the new service, or was the service modified or limited because of spatial constraints?

If your library has a habit of implementing workaround solutions when it comes to facilities management, I encourage you to take advantage of the advice that Cheryl Bryan delivers in our newest PLA Results Series book, Managing Facilities for Results: Optimizing Space for Services. Starting with the fiscally sound premise that library space is a valuable asset, not to be neglected or misused, Bryan walks through the processes of

• project definition and planning,
• committee organization and data collection,
• resource requirement determination and allocation,
• gap analysis and recommendations, and (perhaps most critically)
• recommendation presentations and reports.

The 23 workforms will give you and your committees a running start in assessing needs and implementing changes to best support your library’s services, and can be included in your recommendation presentation as evidence of preparedness for the project ahead. And my personal favorite feature, the Toolkit for Calculating Square Footage, offers a host of quick reference information, such as

• a comprehensive list of square footage requirements for public-use furniture and equipment
• typical square footage needs for staff office and cubicle layouts, and
• guidelines for calculating shelving space allocation.

I’ll let you know how my space planning turns out. If you have success stories that you want to share, I’d love to link to some before and after Flickr pics as inspiration for others.

I’m working on a building design process at home, and it has been slow going. Careful and thorough in our decision-making, my wife and I reminded each other, “We’re only going to do this once; we better get it right.” We have never done it before either, which can make the process stressful. What struck me about Rolf Erikson and Carolyn Markuson, authors of Designing a School Library Media Center for the Future, is the number of design projects, they have have been involved with. I looked back to the proposal for the first edition, and it was an even 100 between them. He had 35. She had 65. He claimed several more in the proposal for the revision. Together, 107 projects, at least, but who’s counting?

Those Parisians are just so hip. Residents have been asked to submit their own garden plans for Les Halles. The top five plans will be created on a Second Life island. The BBC News article doesn’t say what the island name is, but the sponsor of the island is a residents’ association named Accomplir. The submission deadline is June 1, so things should be looking lush by then.

This seems like a great way to get patron (especially student) feedback on a planned library renovation, or a way to create good PR for an ongoing project: Take a sneak peek at your future First Life through Second Life! I don’t know much about terraforming in Second Life, so I don’t know how literal the representation could be. Anyone more knowledgeable out there who can comment?