Community Meeting October 30, 2013
Who We Are The mission of Falmouth Memorial Library is to enrich the community by providing resources and services that foster a love of reading and inspire imagination, curiosity, and an open exchange of ideas and information. Falmouth Memorial Library Association purchased the Iverson home in 1951. The Library opened in 1952 to honor all Falmouth veterans. The Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Library Usage We are busy
Circulation Per Capita Usage 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Source: MSL-2011 data Falmouth Gorham Windham Cumberland Scarborough Gray Kennebunk Falmouth (in purple) and Yarmouth have the highest per capita circulation, 16.3, of our neighboring towns. This means that, every Falmouth resident takes out an average of 16 books each year. Merrill Memorial Library in Yarmouth is approximately two and a half times the size of Falmouth Memorial Library and their citizens just approved a renovation and addition. A per capita rate of 16.3 is higher than the six largest cities in Maine, including Portland that serves all Cumberland County.
Circulation vs Falmouth Population 200,000 200,000 180,000 180,000 160,000 160,000 140,000 140,000 120,000 120,000 100,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 The increase in circulation is shown in blue. The growth of the town is shown in red. Population growth has not increased at the same rate as circulation. People are using the library more. In 2007, Amazon launched Kindle and people started saying e-books would take over print books. However, Falmouth Memorial Library s circulation continues to grow. In 2013, Pew research published a study stating that nearly 90% of e-book readers also read print books.
Interlibrary Loan 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 95 1 96 2 97 3 98 4 5 99 6 00 7 01 8 02 03 9 10 04 11 05 12 06 13 07 14 08 15 09 16 10 17 11 18 12 13 19 Interlibrary loans (ILL) are books borrowed by our library for our patrons from other libraries and requests for our materials by other libraries. When the 1995 addition was opened, there were only 338 ILL exchanges. In 2003, the Library joined the statewide Minerva consortium which provides a collaborative, more productive sharing of library resources. At that point, requests for ILL began to increase dramatically. In 2013, there were 26,783 ILL transactions. The increase in this service has placed unanticipated demands on staff and space for processing requested materials.
Computer Use Compared to Peers Municipality Population Number of Internet Computers Used by Public Source: MSL 2011 data Number of Internet Uses (Sessions) per Year New Gloucester 5,542 2 937 Cape Elizabeth 9,015 14 3,538 Yarmouth 8,349 9 5,400 Gray 7,761 12 6,546 Freeport 7,879 12 6,710 Gorham 16,381 13 7,539 Falmouth 11,185 6 8,042 Cumberland 10,776 10 10,000 Scarborough 18,919 18 10,705 Kennebunk 14,820 15 10,924 Windham 17,001 10 12,087 Relative to our peer communities we have few computers. This graphic shows our low public access computer availability among our peer libraries (2 nd lowest ), but high use (5 th out of 11). Experts suggest at least.8 public access computers per 1,000 municipal population or 9 computers for meeting a basic grade or 20 for an excellent score (American Library Association Standards). Even with so few computers we still have high use. We have people waiting to use computers. People who own computers come in and use our computers. We cannot add more computers as there is no place for additional work spaces.
Use Per Square Foot Town Sq Footage of Building Circulation Circulation/S q. Foot Patron Visits Visits/ Sq Foot Falmouth 10,700 182,387 17 135,575 12.7 Scarborough 12,500 160,156 12.8 118,089 9.4 Windham 10,620 113,967 10.7 41,600 3.9 Cape Elizabeth 13,244 133,351 10.1 87,684 6.6 Freeport 17,000 120,725 7.1 101,088 5.9 Westbrook 17,000 118,906 7 86,824 5.1 Cumberland 13,042 81,915 6.3 46,815 3.6 Gorham 15,588 96,985 6.2 60,253 3.9 Yarmouth 25,000 136,500 5.5 N/A Source: MSL 2011 data Per square foot, Falmouth Memorial Library has the highest number of circulated items when compared to eight of the surrounding communities. The Library also has more people visiting per square foot than any of our neighboring libraries. Overall, Falmouth Memorial Library is one of the two smallest libraries in the surrounding area, yet it has the highest circulation and highest number of patron visits.
Current Building Challenges are cause for concern and need remedy
Older Section Is Deteriorating The original section of the library presents problems associated with an old house. Currently, the basement is unusable because of standing water. Materials that were stored in the basement can no longer be stored there. This resulted in a loss of much needed storage space. Standing water may cause future problems such as mold. The old section has a roof that is no longer up to code, insulation is inadequate, windows are not energy efficient, and the sprinkler system has begun to deteriorate. (ADP Engineering, 2010). While all these concerns can be fixed at a cost, there will still remain the problem of an inflexible space with small rooms, designed as a house and not as a library.
Technology Constraints There was only one computer in the Library when the 1995 addition opened. There are not enough electrical outlets now to meet the needs of current use, including the upswing in Wi-Fi usage in the library. Current outlets are placed in hallways and along walls where patron use for laptops causes safety issues. People plug in and sit in the hallways or attempt to stretch their cords across walkways Even if we bought more computers, there is nowhere to put them. One computer work area takes up 35 to 40 sq. ft. There is minimal flexibility to reconfigure work stations.
Lack of Large Programming Space The Russell Room is a well-designed, much loved, and much used part of the library. The Russell Room can seat up to 85 people and can be broken down into two smaller rooms. Library programming needs have outgrown this space. Library programming has increased over the past two years in response to requests from the community in surveys and library patrons input. This increase has pointed out the limitations of the current space, sometimes too small, sometimes too large. 75% of the Russell Room use is library related, with 50% of these for children s programs.
Lack of Small/Flexible Spaces The library also lacks small meeting spaces, meeting rooms designed to accommodate two to eight people. This is the Serber Room, a room designed in the 1995 addition for small group meetings. Unfortunately, this space is not available for patrons. With increased hours, the number of staff has also increased, requiring that the Serber room be turned into a staff workroom.
Lack of Storage Now that the basement is off limits, the Library literally has no storage space. This file cabinet containing the library s financial records is blocked because there is no other place to park book carts. This causes inefficiencies in work flow.
Adjacency Issues The circulation desk area after a children s program is busy. It is filled with exuberant children and their parents excited to be together. The sound travels and we regularly receive complaints about noise from people trying to work and study.
In Summary The community s demand for library services exceeds the capacity of the existing building. The Library s older section is deteriorating. The Library has spent much time and energy trying to find a way to expand over the past 10 years, including looking at options on-site and options at other locations in town. Many Library boards have looked at this question, wanting to expand onsite, but deciding it was unwise to do so because it would require a significant investment in a parcel that could not be expanded on nor adapted in the future. Now with an option to buy an adjacent parcel, we have begun a process to reach our goal of an expanded Library building to meet the long-term needs of our community.
Expansion Process Where do we stand in the process?
Expansion Timeline Summer 2013 Fall 2013 Winter 2013 Spring 2014 Summer 2014 Fall 2014 Winter 2014 2015 Option for Adjacent Property Conceptual Study Fundraising Study Financing Plan Library and Town Fundraising Phase Final Design and Build We are close to completing the preliminary design phase of the process. The final community meeting of that phase occurred on October 30. The final presentation will be made to the Town Council on November 13. The Library recently hired a well-respected company to complete our Fundraising Study. We are moving right along, but we still have ahead approximately a year or more of work before we can design and build the library expansion.
Objectives of the Preliminary Design Phase 1. Determine current and future library space needs. 2. Determine if those needs could be met on this site. In other words, could we secure a long-term solution to our space needs?
Scott Simons Architects SSA was hired to complete the preliminary conceptual drawings for the first phase of the expansion. SSA is based in Portland, ME and understands Maine. They have extensive experience designing and renovating libraries, having designed or renovated 20 libraries, with 15 of these being public libraries. As a result, they understand library trends and challenges. They have received regional and national awards for designing elegant and high performing buildings and spaces, including the Borsage Education Center at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. SSA uses a collaborative approach that produces buildings that add lasting value to their clients and communities. SSA invited, welcomed, and incorporated feedback from a broad range of stakeholders. Their proposal indicated they would hold 8 meetings, but they far surpassed that, having conducted 22 meetings.