Opening Plenary: Cynthia Nikitin on the Place of Libraries in Changing Times

• libraries are good at change / doing more with less
• need to become public spaces / destinations
• have a big role in community building
• are about serving needs, not *just* eye-catching buildings
• PPS (check out www.pps.org) Cynthia's non-profit organization
• William Whyte = mentor of pps...has written a few books...check them out
• a not-so-nice physical building will disappear if the stuff going on inside is fab
• start with your community and place and work on solutions together...don't start with the solution...use a storied/organic approach as opposed to a structured / bureaucratic approach
• ensure your buildings have "active edges"...if people hang around outside, give them somewhere to sit
• cooperate with local transit so bus stops right at front door (Wave and MJ good...CPark and Brodie need improvement)
• co-program with other outdoor activities close by
• "library square" idea
• access + linkages
• if you focus on creating a PLACE then you do everything else differently
• contemplation: I wonder if you can apply the same principles to the Virtual Library?...hmmm...