Central Library At 500 McKinney St.

[sevfiv]

New features include a more open lobby area off the parking garage. The escalators have been replaced by elevators and a grand staircase, with the concourse area reconfigured for a large meeting room, computer training center and staff work space.

Other floors will feature a world languages center, an art museum-like gallery, an area for career research and spaces for children and teens.

There will also be a drive-through book drop-off via the Bagby Street entrance.

The library is having a preview for donors on May 17 and a public grand opening May 31 and June 1.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...63&ana=e_du

[gto250us]

Will the library have a new bum section? That was a real problem with the old library. It is tough tying to study while sitting next to a smelly bum.

[houstonmacbro]

No bum section that I am aware of, but they need a coffee shop. Really ... libraries have got to keep up with Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, and Borders.

[musicman]

No bum section that I am aware of, but they need a coffee shop.

yeah let's damage the books/furniture/rugs of a public library.

[houstonmacbro]

yeah let's damage the books/furniture/rugs of a public library.

Hey, if Barnes and Noble can have a coffee section, along with available WiFi, why can't the library?

[musicman]

Hey, if Barnes and Noble can have a coffee section, along with available WiFi, why can't the library?

WIFI is already in most Houston libraries paid for by taxes and hopefully used for education purposes. coffee shop paid for at taxpayer expense doesn't quite fit the bill IMO. Even more importantly, the possibility of damaging documents with liquids, etc isn't something I would want for a public library.

B&N can do what they want with their money.

How often do you frequently the downtown library?

[houstonmacbro]

WIFI is already in most Houston libraries paid for by taxes and hopefully used for education purposes. coffee shop paid for at taxpayer expense doesn't quite fit the bill IMO. Even more importantly, the possibility of damaging documents with liquids, etc isn't something I would want for a public library.

B&N can do what they want with their money.

How often do you frequently the downtown library?

Since I've been back to Houston in 2004 about 7 times. However it's been closed for a couple of years.

Nevertheless, libraries must change with the times. There is little to attract me there and I'm sure others share that opinion.

This is closed.

If you want to see a library, go check out Seattle's.

And the main library in Los Angeles. Wonderful.

[musicman]

Nevertheless, libraries must change with the times. There is little to attract me there and I'm sure others share that opinion.

yeah i guess some people go to drink coffee instead of reading or researching.

[houstonmacbro]

yeah i guess some people go to drink coffee instead of reading or researching.

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Let's see...

Seattle has a coffee cart:

http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=bran...d=1180653776339

Chicago has complimentary WiFi:

http://www.chipublib.org/aboutcpl/wifi.php

... and they're doing an RFP for a (private?) coffee shop:

http://www.chipublib.org/rfp/

NYPL has free Wifi:

http://www.nypl.org/branch/services/wifi.html

[musicman]

you mentioned wifi and i don't have a problem with that as i said earlier.

if they can separate liquids and reading materials then it would work. with the number of children that access the libraries here, not sure how successful the limits could be maintained.

for you to be going to a library and say "there is little to attract me there" unless there is a coffee shop seems odd to me.

[sevfiv]

UH has vending but it is strictly outside of the stacks, which is important for a collection.

IF the downtown library were to allow food/drink around the books, it should probably be in a confined section.

Fwiw, Rice is building a coffee "pavilion" just outside of the library.

[Jax]

I wonder if that pavilion will be done before the end of the semester, and if it will have better food than the cafeteria in the RMC. I sure hope so!

[N Judah]

People 30 years from now will use libraries in a completely different way. Assuming this renovation is intended to last that long, I think a cafe and all of these other extra things are definitely appropriate. As someone else pointed out, it's not abnormal to find such amenities in a public library.

Edited March 15, 2008 by N Judah

[Subdude]

I don't object actually to the idea of cafes in libraries, but that said, America is hardly lacking for coffee joints. Libraries shouldn't feel as if they need to replicate the Starbucks experience. "Would you like a pastry with that?"

[houstonmacbro]

you mentioned wifi and i don't have a problem with that as i said earlier.

if they can separate liquids and reading materials then it would work. with the number of children that access the libraries here, not sure how successful the limits could be maintained.

for you to be going to a library and say "there is little to attract me there" unless there is a coffee shop seems odd to me.

My quote: " Nevertheless, libraries must change with the times. There is little to attract me there"

I am just saying that libraries, just like any industry must change with the times. People expect a different experience than the ones I had growing up ... I can remember the sun-filled skylights at my little community library down on Orem. Folks these days want a decidedly different experience.

At least I do.

[musicman]

they are changing with the times IMO but its primary purpose remains fairly evident by the defintion. if its primary purpose evokes the words "there is little to attract me there" from you, then you're looking for something else, not a library.

Definitions of library on the Web:

a room where books are kept;

a collection of literary documents or records kept for reference or borrowing

a depository built to contain books and other materials for reading and study

(computing) a collection of standard programs and subroutines that are stored and available for immediate use

a building that houses a collection of books and other materials

[houstonmacbro]

they are changing with the times IMO but its primary purpose remains fairly evident by the defintion. if its primary purpose evokes the words "there is little to attract me there" from you, then you're looking for something else, not a library.

Definitions of library on the Web:

a room where books are kept;

a collection of literary documents or records kept for reference or borrowing

a depository built to contain books and other materials for reading and study

(computing) a collection of standard programs and subroutines that are stored and available for immediate use

a building that houses a collection of books and other materials

Alright, you win the war of definition, but I am hoping for a modern library with modern conveniences.

[GovernorAggie]

Count me in supporting a coffee/cafe-type facility in a library. It could easily work in leased space inside the library or attached to it--purposefully away from the kids' collections. I also trust adults not to be so clumsy and spill liquids on priceless writings--which area and should be kept and not allowed out of specific areas anyway. A general collection book that has coffee spilled on it can be billed to that person--or maybe I trust people too much.

Edited March 15, 2008 by GovernorAggie

[Jax]

The Montrose public library has a cafe just outside of it, near the Black Lab. People go into the library check out books, go next door, and read them while sipping on coffee. The library doesn't have its own cafe, but the cafe next door works very well, and could also work downtown.

The new coffee pavilion at Rice is going to be really nice. It sucks going in on the weekend when you can't get much to eat or drink anywhere (besides maybe Valhalla).

[houstonmacbro]

Count me in supporting a coffee/cafe-type facility in a library. It could easily work in leased space inside the library or attached to it--purposefully away from the kids' collections. I also trust adults not to be so clumsy and spill liquids on priceless writings--which area and should be kept and not allowed out of specific areas anyway. A general collection book that has coffee spilled on it can be billed to that person--or maybe I trust people too much.

Yeah, it could easily be an area for refreshments and other areas would be no food/drink allowed.

[N Judah]

I don't understand the paranoia about spilling things. If someone wanted to ruin a book, all they'd have to do is use their library card to check it out, bring it home, and then they could spill onto it whatever they wanted. I think library computers would be more at risk, but spill-proof keyboards do exist.

Edited March 15, 2008 by N Judah

[houstonmacbro]

I don't understand the paranoia about spilling things. If someone wanted to ruin a book, all they'd have to do is use their library card to check it out, bring it home, and then they could spill onto it whatever they wanted. I think library computers would be more at risk, but spill-proof keyboards do exist.

I don't spill things at Barnes and Noble. But perhaps I'd get the urge to at the Library.

LOL

[Houston19514]

NEWS FLASH: Like it or not, the renovated Central Library will include a cafe. It's right there in the linked article, which is all of 7 sentences long. ;-)

FWIW, it will also include wireless internet.

Edited March 17, 2008 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

The library boasts a high volume count and calls itself "world class," but statistics like that are misleading. In terms of the depth of serious reading you can do there, it is roughly the equivalent of a good high school library. Someone should take the Modern Library's poll of the 100 best fiction and 100 best nonfiction books of the twentieth century and see how many show up in a card catalog search. I bet only a small portion, and the ones they do have are probably scattered all around the branch libraries.

At some point very early on, somebody in the library decided that building a serious collection of volumes was not a priority. I'm not sure where the money goes - probably technology and interactive crap. Luckily the Fondren library at Rice is open to non-students, so that is usually where I go if I am looking for a book in Houston.

I once saw a website that overviewed the serious libraries in the United States, and the only two in Texas were located in Austin and in College Station. It's sad - Houston is probably the largest city in America without a great research library.

Yes, everything in Houston: Bad. Everything in Austin: Good. ;-)

How many of the serious research libraries on the website you "once saw" do you suppose were city libraries as opposed to libraries at major research universities? Kind of comparing apples and oranges there.

I just did a search of HPL's card catalog of 12 randomly chosen books from the Modern Library list of 100 Best Novels and HPL had all 12 of them... 100%. That rather strongly suggests that, rather than a "small portion" as you assumed, they have a huge portion, if not all of them. And so what if they are "scattered all around the branch libraries? That is the way library systems are supposed to work... make the books available to the largest number and widest variety of people.

Edited March 17, 2008 by Houston19514

[houstonmacbro]

NEWS FLASH: Like it or not, the renovated Central Library will include a cafe. It's right there in the linked article, which is all of 7 sentences long. ;-)

FWIW, it will also include wireless internet.

Yah!

[musicman]

A new chapter for downtown Houston library

The flagship facility will reopen in late May with a 21st century upgrade, secret surprise

Librarians' lips this week were sealed tighter than a teen romance novel whose pages are globbed together with bubble gum. But you could tell by their unvarnished glee, the tantalizing air of mystery, that something dramatic is going to happen in May when the ribbon is cut on Houston's renovated downtown central library.

How much pop, sizzle and heart-stopping drama the ceremony offers may be open to question, but it's almost certain that the really big surprises will come from the library itself.

After a two-year, $17 million renovation, the 32-year-old downtown landmark will emerge ready for the 21st century with a host of high-tech components and 34,000 square feet of additional usable space.

With Wi-Fi throughout the building, the central library will feature more than 100 computer stations and provide a score of laptops for use by patrons. Teen and children's departments will be significantly enlarged. A world language room will mirror the city's diversity with books, recordings and computers communicating in 20 different languages.

full article

[crunchtastic]

so what's the secret surprise? Any speculation? If librarians are excited , it must be good

[N Judah]

The stuff mentioned in the article (a "customer centered" approach) is pretty interesting, and surprised me when I read it. That's the first I've heard of a library like that.

[musicman]

If librarians are excited , it must be good

but are they excited enough to raise their voice?

[JLWM8609]

so what's the secret surprise? Any speculation? If librarians are excited , it must be good

A copy of the "Urban Dictionary" from urbandictionary.com?

Maybe it's like The Simpsons, they'll replace a section with a "Build Your Own Sundae Bar" or turn the "Young Adult" section into a red light "Adult" section, complete with pervs in trenchcoats.