Why does building a new, presumeably more efficient, building, with
persumably state of the art technology, result in a higher operating costs.
This sounds like the conversation I had this summer with the library
director. She had no idea that technology could be used to reduce staff
load--thought more computers resulted in more staff work.
Some possiblitities:
Self service check-out--like Hennepin County libraries have.
Computerized card catalogs that are easy to use, with easy to use
help menus.
More books available tothe public, less need for librarians to go
to the stacks
Some non-tech things;
Shelving books in an easy to find order.
Signs and maps that actually help people find what they need.
A building designed to be energy efficient (save operating costs)
A building designed to be easy to clean and maintain.
And if you want really high tech;
Using e-publishing, on-site printing on demand, and e-books.
Now, a new library can also provide some interesting earned income options:
Coffee shop rental
Renting a good, centrally located computer lab for training (maybe
get the Science Museum of Minnesota to run classes?
Provide video conferencing for local small businesses.
More fee for service research services (e.g. pay for faster service)
Some of these ideas are far out and some will probably not work. The point
though is that the current staff and board have not been at all creative in
thinking about new and improved libraries.
>There is more to do than just build the building--though the building is way
>important. It takes something like $100,000 a year more to run Hosmer
>than the
>library has a budget to afford. ...snip...
>
...
The problem is that we have not been voting on an entire package. The library
staff recommended at first just doing the new Central Library. The reason was
that the negative cash flow in the libraries own projections after
remodelling the branch libraries approaches $2,000,000 per year. The library
board was aware of this unfunded negative cash flow and made ...snip...
>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>.>
sheldon mains seward neighborhood minneapolis [EMAIL PROTECTED]
the shameless agitator in the electronic town square
