Dream Renovation of the James Memorial Library

Renovation of James Memorial Library
Name: The James Memorial Library
Location: St. James, MO
Students Served: 400+public
Library Personnel: 1 Librarian, 3 Full-Time Aides
The James Memorial Library is what many would consider St. James’ public library, but in fact, it is not. It is privately ran and operated by the James Foundation. The land and business were donated by the namesake of our library, town, and even school, Lucy Wortham James, and her father. However, they are no longer ran publicly, instead a board of trustees from New York make all of the financial decisions when it comes not only to the library, but to the park (where the library is) as well.
The 4 Sections I would like to Renovate:
-YA section; its in a small corner with 2 shelves behind a wall.
- Local Information and History Section; there are artifacts spread throughout the building, but they’re never on rotation or have any real highlight to them, the place where the actual resources for this is also in a small darkly lit corner opposite the YA section
-Technology Space; there are 4 computers available for internet use all in a small area right behind the circulation desk, thee computers available for card catalog searching only.
-Children’s Section; is at the front of the library, where the kids are encouraged to be quiet, with a table available for toddlers, but zero furniture that’s welcoming for any older children.
Goals for Renovation: Overall, bringing this library to the 21st Century.
- YA section; provide a more welcoming space for teenaged students, where it doesn’t feel like their being constantly monitored because of their age, comfortable seating that encourages students to sit and interact, possibly one of the computers from the main section in this area as well. The main goal is to get kids to use this free resource in our community. I have students that refuse to go here because they don’t even know where the YA section is (a lot of my 5th graders are reading this genre, and there’s a lot of inappropriately aged materials in this section as well, that should be in the children’s section)
-Local Information and History Section; My goal is to have this information all in one section. Also, it would be nice to have some kind of technology that constantly shows local history, facts, and pictures that aren’t available through physical artifacts any longer.
-Technology Space; is right now right next to the Circulation Desk. The areas are cramped, and hardly allow any social interaction whatsoever. Also, with the lack of computers each person is limited to an hour a day on the computers, I understand this, but believe something should be done about it since it’s been this way for years.
-Children’s Section- make the kids feel welcome here just like the YA section. Make it a kid friendly atmosphere, add comfortable furniture, have recommendations on the walls, and if needed provide an aide for strictly this section.
How does my proposal change the concept of the Learning Center?
My proposal changes the entirety of the library by making it a more collaborative friendly environment. The use of space is changed to make sure appropriate age groups are together to ensure maximum interaction. I put the Children’s Section in the back, this way they don’t feel obligated to be quiet, a space in the center allows families or older children to come together to share a book, and this space can also be the new area where all the presentations are made.

The picture below was done in PowerPoint. The top slide is the 'Before' shot, and the second slide is the 'After' shot.
MemLib