At the library, we try to make it as easy as possible to find the books. And DVDs, and audiobooks, and magazines, and games…and so forth. We organize things using methods people expect, like alphabetization and the Dewey Decimal System, and we try not to change things too often and not without a good reason. So last Fall, when I got a bee in my bonnet to rearrange parts of the adult collection at the Ashland branch, I knew I would have to explain my reasoning. I convinced my Branch Manager and Circulation Supervisor that my plan made sense, and now that we’ve moved things around, I want to explain myself to you, my beloved patrons.
When libraries are designed, a lot of thought goes into how to make them useful, welcoming spaces for the long term. Library buildings go a long time between remodels, so choices are made for durability as well as aesthetics, and designers and library staff try to anticipate the needs of the future as well as the present. But nobody has a crystal ball, and things like changes in how people use technology have a way of taking everyone by surprise.
The “new” wing of the Ashland Library opened in 2002, which (don’t look now) was 24 years ago. Think back to 2002, and how you interacted with libraries and technology then. Did you have a cell phone? Maybe you had a Blackberry! Apple iPhones didn’t come out until 2007. If you wanted to look something up, you might have booted up your home computer, but a lot of people brought their questions and computer needs to the library.
Many people still rely on the library for computer access, but my point is that the way we use public libraries has changed a lot, and quickly, over the last few decades. Libraries that had been designed before computers became part of how we interact with information had to improvise to make space for them in the 90s. Then, just a couple of decades later, most people had computers in their pockets! Institutional architecture and user design just wasn’t built to keep up!
There are ripple effects on other parts of the library, too. As time goes by and the nature of how the public interacts with information changes, so do the needs of the library’s physical collection. This provides libraries with an opportunity to adjust how we use our space and how much shelving we dedicate to each collection.
Across Jackson County Libraries, staff have been hard at work refreshing our collections, ensuring that we have a balance of current, popular titles and enduring works, that our nonfiction collections are composed of accurate, up-to-date information, and that all our materials are in good condition. At Ashland, that has inspired us to think about how to use our shelf space most efficiently and make the experience of browsing the shelves as easy and enjoyable as possible.
With those goals in mind, this Spring the Ashland Adult Services and Circulation Departments teamed up to make the following changes:
- The Biographies, which had been housed separately from the rest of Nonfiction, have been moved back into their place in sequence with the rest of the Dewey Decimal System. Their numbers are 920-921, for those who are looking for them.
- The Audiobooks, a very popular collection at Ashland, have moved upstairs, into the space that used to house the Biographies. This gives them more room, and raises them farther off the floor, which helps make them more accessible to anyone who might have trouble bending low to the ground.
- The Spanish and World Language materials are now shelved on the Main Floor, where they are easy to spot. Their placement also communicates that library patrons looking for materials in those languages are welcome here.
- The Graphic Novels, a collection that continues to grow, has been given twice as much space as before, but is very close to its former home.
- The Oregon Shakespeare Festival Collection has moved upstairs to shelving near the windows, where it can spread out. This allows us to celebrate our long-standing connection to that local cultural institution.
- New Books have three times as much space, making it easy to shelve these books with their covers on display. This creates an attractive, easily browsable section for patrons to enjoy as soon as they walk into the library.
Taken together, all these changes make for a library space that is more pleasant to look at and easier to use. We’ve gotten positive feedback from staff and library users, even those who were skeptical at first. We have signs that direct people to the collections’ new locations, and we will keep those up for a while. If you’re an Ashland Library patron, I hope you find the changes helpful. I’m not planning on making any more big changes anytime soon, though you never know. As the world changes, libraries will do our best to keep providing useful, pleasant spaces, as well as technology and collections that meet our communities’ needs.