Goshen Public Library & Historical Society | 203 Main St Goshen, NY 10924 | Phone: 845.294.6606 | Fax: 845.294.7158 | RCLS Member
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A library is…
By plnkh | December 11, 2006
In April 1992 there was an article in American Libraries titled “Ten Ways to Look at a Library.” [author Joe Rizzo of the Hillier Group, Princeton, NJ architectural firm]. His premise is that as your library’s mission is to serve everyone in the community regardless of age, ethnicity, profession, economic circumstances, religion, political affiliation (have I forgotten something?) the library building must reflect the choices that residents will make when using it.
To borrow from Rizzo, the library is a study hall, a workplace, a distribution center, a cost center, a community center, a museum, a child care center, a store, a cultural center, an evolving organism - something for everybody. And each of these concepts of a library is as individual as the person coming to it for that purpose.
Take a study hall. Some people like to study in isolation needing quiet and solitude to concentrate; others prefer to study in groups where information is shared; some like to listen to music; some study with books, others use computer files. So the library needs secluded individual spaces, group spaces, proximity to the reference section and connectivity for computers. It needs good lighting, comfortable seating and space for each student to spread out. The student may be a third grader writing a report on an animal of choice, a college student rearching a thesis or a doctor studying for a board certification.
Or take a cultural center. This encompasses wall space for art and photography, display cases for collections of objects, space for performances , storage for local history materials (which might overlap the museum application); gathering space to learn arts, crafts, hold cooking demonstrations, watch movies, hear lectures.
In planning Goshen’s new building, the library architect and Board must envision the library through the eyes of patrons (using comments from th focus groups and community meetings that lead to our strategic plan) and staff to design a building that will work effectively and “look like Goshen.” We expect to have a plan to present by late winter. We don’t expect it will be perfect, but it will reflect our best effort to provide the community what it has said it wants.
