Talking Points

On the morning of December 4, 2008, some 140 librarians, architects, and vendors wended their way through the Connecticut Legislative Office Building and State Capitol's hallways, atria, escalators, and spiral stairwells for LJ's fourth Design Institute (DI East), in Hartford. The day's events included two panel discussions, six “design challenge” breakout sessions in which preselected libraries took part (see p. 12–13 for coverage of the breakout sessions), a green product showcase, and a networking reception at the Connecticut State Library's Museum of Connecticut History.

While the libraries faced unique challenges, they also shared a common goal: implementing realistic green solutions affordably. Seven dominant themes emerged in the panel discussions, which participants repeatedly touched on throughout the day.

“To all of you worried about planning a library in this economy,” said Darien Library, CT, director Louise Berry, “don't worry—it won't be [built] for another eight to ten years.” (It took Darien ten.) Berry, along with assistant director, operations, Alan Kirk Gray, described the new Darien Library's design and construction (see “State of the Art in Darien,” p. 1).

Architect Denelle Wrightson, PSA-Dewberry, advised that it's never too early to start gathering information on your library's energy use, while Cheryl Bryan, Southeastern Massachusetts Library System, cited stakeholder identification as a smart kickoff point. “Start a database now of people who will donate to the building,” she said. “These people are the lifeblood of your fundraising.”

The earlier you begin the planning process, the better, and no step forward is too small, especially where sustainability is concerned.

“If you're in the middle of a renovation project,” said New Canaan Library, CT, director Alice Knapp, “there are plenty of things you can do right away to make your building more green.” Among the sustainable practices she and other panelists proposed were responsibly recycling computers, mandating double-sided copying, offering incentives for mass transit, and replacing incandescent exit sign bulbs with LED lamps.

“It's such a short payback on some of these green features,” said Barbara Joslin of JCJ Architecture. The Corvallis–Benton County Public Library, OR, for example, Bryan said, recently adjusted its faucets to run for only three seconds and always at the same temperature; it also reduced the run time on its automatic sprinkler irrigation system from 20 minutes to under ten minutes per station. These seemingly minor adjustments resulted in a savings of 440,000 gallons of water.

“Let people know what you're doing, and why,” said JCJ's Joslin. There has to be a vision, and that vision should involve an extensive conversation with patrons, staff, and community leaders. Bryan urged those wanting to build or renovate their library to increase their visibility in the community, because “no one's going to support this kind of expenditure if they don't see the library as being relevant to them.”

PSA-Dewberry's Wrightson said a library's web site is a good forum through which to keep the community updated on building plans and initiatives and encourage green awareness. Bryan gave the example of Michigan's Canton Public Library's extensive online listing of local recycling opportunities (www.cantonpl.org/resource/green/recycle.html). Another exemplary education initiative is Maricopa County Library, AZ, which turned scrap pieces of its roofing material into bookmarks with green information. There's no telling the impact of a library's sustainable practices. As Peter Gisolfi of Peter Gisolfi Associates (PGA) said, “When people started hearing about the techniques we were employing in [one] library, they wanted to know if they could employ those techniques in their own homes.”

“I believe there are extraordinarily positive benefits from the LEED [Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design] process,” said Gisolfi, “but there's also a lot of room for creativity outside the margins.” Connecticut State Librarian Kendall Wiggin, who moderated a panel on sustainable library design, noted, however, that because LEED is a nationwide standard, it's “a good tool to help move a public project forward.” (The Connecticut State Library, which has instituted LEED incentives for small projects and LEED requirements for large ones, is the first state library to create a mandate for green building.)

Regardless of whether you choose to pursue LEED certification or not, several speakers concurred, commissioning, the process of testing and fine-tuning a building's features for optimal performance, can be an invaluable tool. Jeffrey Hoover of Tappé Associates said he views commissioning as “an opportunity to bring a third party into the pool, to get the benefit of oversight.” Such a check on systems, he added, “can save money and help prevent mistakes.”

Sustainability has become integrated into mainstream thinking, said Todd Harvey of Beatty, Harvey & Associates (BH&A), “to the point where most of the furniture companies now use recyclable materials.” Increased demand has opened up a sea of options, so green design has become essentially “invisible to the eye,” said JCJ's Joslin. Gisolfi further argued that, with proper planning, green design can be more than invisible—it can be attractive. “If we use these materials and energy systems intelligently,” he said, “that helps us aesthetically.”

Sean Wagner of Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle (MS&R) cited Davis Langdon's update to his study of green building costs, in which he concluded that “reasonable levels of sustainable design can be incorporated into most building types at little or no additional cost.” Indeed, with sustainable materials and systems increasingly becoming the norm in project design, “cost is no longer the driving factor in terms of not doing LEED or not doing sustainable design,” said BH&A's Harvey.

Still, said Wiggin, “it's not just initial costs libraries should be considering but long-time operational costs, and more libraries are going to need to see that if they're successfully going to advocate for green features.”

Saving money and reducing energy use are two aspects of sustainable design to consider. Another, more important consideration, said BH&A's Harvey, is creating a healthier environment for your community, “something you can't put a [monetary] value on.” JCJ's Joslin encouraged libraries to “build for economic advantage over time,” noting that “rising energy costs are the big costs.” And PGA's Gisolfi suggested that libraries think in terms of buildings being permanent, predicting that, “in the next decade or so, we'll be figuring out how to do heating and cooling on an energy-neutral building.”

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Granby Public Library CT

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Architect: Peter Gisolfi Associates
THE PROBLEM Double the space of the current 10,000 square foot library (already expanded in 2002 when it took over an adjacent senior center) without dominating the town green, which hosts the town hall, police department, board of ed, and senior center. Mandates include growing the children's room by two, adding a meeting room, reinforcing the “campus” as the center of town, incorporating green principles—and keeping the library open during the renovation!
THE BRAINSTORM Poke holes in five options presented by the architects, moving ever closer to an acceptable solution. The architects showed a solar aspect diagram to track the sun's path in this northern Connecticut suburb and discussed using glass to take advantage of good light. Among the options rejected: a two-story building that would overpower the green; a one-story building with the new construction tied by an “umbilical cord” to the adult section; a building with two entrances (from the green and the parking lot) with adults and children on opposite sides and a separate meeting room; and flip-flopping the children's and meeting rooms so kids and adults are closer together. The best solution was a single entrance, with administration and circulation separating children's and adult sections and a meeting room at one end so it could be used even when the library is closed.

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Gwinnett County Public Library GA

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Architect: PSA-Dewberry
THE PROBLEM Which of two sites would work best for a new 22,000 square foot mixed-use facility to replace Gwinnett's existing 10,000 square foot branch in Duluth's recently redeveloped, high-traffic downtown area—one within a planned redevelopment of the old city hall block, featuring a mix of residential, retail, and office spaces, or a three-acre stand-alone site situated beside the town green and behind the new city hall?
THE BRAINSTORM While acknowledging that placing the library in the redevelopment project would serve as a catalyst for the project, the group preferred the stand-alone site for its proximity to the town green and its potential for future expansion. This site would also give the library a “stronger visual presence in the community,” said PSA-Dewberry's Denelle Wrightson, who saw further opportunities there for daylighting, clerestories, and light wells in addition to the integration of a green roof and rainwater harvesting features. Owing to the urban setting, PSA-Dewberry proposed subgrade parking as making the most sense. Other ideas bandied about: a new space for seniors and plantings to augment further Duluth's significant outdoor presence.

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Hauppauge Public Library NY

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Architect: Beatty, Harvey & Associates
THE PROBLEM The library will be relocating from an 11,000 square foot space into a LEED-certified, 25,000 square foot facility to be built within Hidden Pond Park. The allotted acre of land is situated in an “industrial area” of the park, one surrounded by parking fields and a 24-hour ice-skating rink. How to build a functional green space that also enhances both the natural and physical environments, promotes community participation, and serves as an anchor within the park?
THE BRAINSTORM Consider the library's potential to serve as a boon to the Town of Islip. As BH&A's Todd Harvey asked, “Could the library's placement in the park be the impetus for the town bringing transportation to the area?” Incorporate senior, teen, and regional literacy centers; make it a people space, an obvious amenity for park-goers, and think about the opportunities to draw patrons of all ages (e.g., hockey moms will regularly be dropping their kids off at the rink). Redefine the library space and mission, really taking advantage of the park. One participant envisioned art and Tai Chi classes outside. Maybe a green roof, or a white, light-reflecting roof? Director Judith Berry: “I love the idea of a trellis over the parking area.”

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Kingsport Public Library TN

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Architect: Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd.
THE PROBLEM Renovate the current 37,000 square foot facility, which opened in 1931 as the town's post office and which has been home to the library since 1961, along with a 40,000 square foot retail building across the street, creating a seamless relationship between the two structures through both visual and physical connections. One challenge: softening the “modern box” of the retail store.
THE BRAINSTORM The “new building” should complement elements of the existing historic facility. “Should they be fraternal or identical twins?” asked MS&R's Jeff Scherer. He suggested connecting the buildings on the second floor—perhaps with a bridge—so people don't leave one and never come back, and making both red brick. Other suggestions were to bring the archive library, which needs more processing and public research space, out of the basement, and create more areas for teens (computer lab, study rooms). Consider expanding the sidewalks and implementing exterior Wi-Fi. A green space, said Cheryl Bryan of the Southeastern Massachusetts Library System, would join the two buildings as well as bring the spirit of the nearby park closer to the library.

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Norfolk Public Library VA

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Architect: Tappé Associates
THE PROBLEM Build the most technologically advanced library in the country—that was the caveat that came with a $20 million donation for a new main, which would combine the existing Seaboard Building (1899) into which the library had recently moved and an adjacent, linked (via a recessed glass atrium) building, to be constructed. One concern was that the new structure's design should mimic the Seaboard's Renaissance Revival style while remaining distinguishable.
THE BRAINSTORM “If you design a building today to store a lot of books, you'll never be a community center but a book warehouse,” said Tappé architect Jeff Hoover, proposing robotic shelving. The library could use the extra space to have a tech lab and a business center, as well as be a hub for a digitized collection and a place for literature and mixed media. The group had some concerns about the suggested atrium: Would it be wasted space? Not if the library used it as an instructional showcase for green initiatives. Other ideas included a glazed façade for the library lab, to prevent glare, and a green roof for the addition to divert and collect rainwater for the toilets. As for the dual façades, Hoover suggested thinking of them as “friendly stepchildren.”

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Salve Regina University, McKillop Library RI

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Architect: JCJ Architecture
THE PROBLEM As part of two separate grant-funded projects, the 18-year-old library will be transforming its main floor into a learning commons and a section of its second floor into a center for teaching and learning. How best to reconfigure the vast, brightly lit interior space into an experimental classroom where faculty can test new software and technology products?
THE BRAINSTORM JCJ's Peter Litman emphasized the importance of collaborative spaces in fostering group discussion—“once people start talking, there's greater distribution of knowledge”—and suggested that spaces on the ground floor segue from public to semipublic to semiprivate. To that end, Director Kathy Boyd envisioned a technology-enabled collaborative space; a multipurpose area for meetings, multimedia presentations, and library instruction classes; a central conference tract; and workstations around the room's periphery. JCJ's Barbara Joslin noted that the elevator in the northeast corner makes for a natural gathering place. Upstairs, a classroom, a reading lounge, and two offices for library staff would give the 150 faculty members plenty of room for experimentation.

For a list or resources and materialsfrom the Design Institute, go to www.libraryjournal.com/DIeast