Lauren Stara, "Planning Library Spaces: A Practical Guide for Library Building Projects" (Bloomsbury, 2025)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: New Books Network

Episode: Lauren Stara, Planning Library Spaces: A Practical Guide for Library Building Projects (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Date: August 12, 2026
Host: Michael Lamagna
Guest: Lauren Stara

Episode Overview

This episode features Lauren Stara, architect, librarian, and author of the newly published book Planning Library Spaces: A Practical Guide for Library Building Projects. Host Michael Lamagna interviews Lauren about the essential principles, trends, and real-world challenges of designing, renovating, and building libraries for today and for the future. With experience across architecture, librarianship, and consulting, Lauren provides actionable insights for anyone involved in planning library spaces—emphasizing mission-driven, flexible, and inclusive design.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Lauren Stara’s Unusual Career Path

• Started in architecture (Bronx Zoo, Bishop Museum, Disney Imagineering), focusing on user experience design.
• Midlife career change: Became a librarian, eventually serving as a library director in Washington and British Columbia.
• Realized her unique skill set bridged architecture and librarianship, culminating in her role as a library building consultant in Massachusetts.
• “I realized that I could combine my two careers into one.” (05:02, Lauren)

The Evolving Role of Libraries

• Historic Function: Libraries were originally repositories for information, “storehouses for protection and collection of information…from clay tablets to books” (06:13, Lauren).
• Transformation Point: The 1990s digital pivot—shift from print to technology and community-oriented services.
• Modern Role: Libraries as hubs for gathering, identity exploration, and hands-on activities rather than just information retrieval.
• Quote: “We’ve gone from shelves and shelves and shelves of books into places where people can explore who they are and where they want to go in their life.” (07:33, Lauren)

Core Elements in Building or Renovating Library Spaces

• Flexibility is Key:
  • Facilities should anticipate rapid technological, programmatic, and community changes.
  • “Flexibility is the number one thing that I talk about now for the building program.” (09:22, Lauren)
• Strategic Foundation:
  • Design must be rooted in a current, accessible strategic plan that genuinely reflects community needs.
  • “Any building program has to have a strong foundation rooted in the specific needs of your community and your users.” (10:53, Lauren)
• Community Engagement:
  • Engage users, staff, funders; gather input through focus groups, surveys, visits to other libraries, and “sticky dot” idea boards.

Current and Emerging Library Design Trends

• Print to Digital…and Beyond:
  • Libraries shift from primarily print collections to digital resources, programming, and multifaceted community spaces.
  • Less space is being devoted to collections; more to meeting, making, and collaborative activities.
  • “Print collections will always be part…our brand…But less and less actual space is going to be devoted to that.” (18:38, Lauren)
• Expanded Services:
  • Growing presence of food pantries, social workers, nutrition education, teaching kitchens, and support services within library walls.
  • Outreach beyond the building: book lockers at train stations; remote access points modeled like “Amazon lockers.” (21:20, Lauren)
• Universal Design for Flexibility:
  • Need for easily adaptable spaces, modular furniture, and multipurpose rooms.
  • Quote: “You can’t afford to build a new building every time the service model changes. Bricks and mortar buildings and changing services have a fundamental conflict.” (21:59, Lauren)

Responding to Technology, Collaboration, Accessibility, and Wellness

• Technology:
  • Libraries must support all levels—from tech novices to creators using advanced production studios.
  • “It’s not just about ... information in the library, it’s learning how to access. Digital literacy.” (24:04, Lauren)
• Collaborative and Quiet Spaces:
  • New focus on managing noise, zoning for activity levels, and creating both vibrant and reflective environments.
  • “In my opinion, the biggest issue in libraries today is acoustics...dead silence often is more distracting...than too much noise.” (26:44, Lauren)
• Expanding Definition of Accessibility:
  • From mobility (wheelchairs) to vision/hearing, body size, gender, and neurodiversity accommodations.
  • “I always say, never buy a chair you haven’t sat in—and you haven’t had a really tall person and a really short person sit in.” (30:42, Lauren)
• Wellness and Biophilia:
  • Incorporating natural light, plants, and natural patterns/textures for mental and emotional well-being.
  • Awareness of health: “That experience [COVID] educated a lot of people about the health aspects of indoor environments...” (32:15, Lauren)

Assessing Existing Facilities: Renovate, Reconfigure, or Repurpose?

• Assessment Steps:
  1. Building (structural) assessment by architects/engineers: evaluate building envelope, systems, sustainability.
  2. Functional assessment by library building specialist: evaluate workflow, space use, adjacencies.
• Sustainability:
  • Most sustainable building is “the one that’s already built.” Demolition carries major environmental costs, but adaptation isn’t always practical.
• Adaptive Reuse Success Stories:
  • Case example: Lovurn Public Library (MA) — successful blend of historic and contemporary.
• Prototyping:
  • Pilot new layouts with movable furniture and temporary signage before committing resources.

Service and Space Needs Assessment: Involve Everyone

• Who Should Be Involved?
  • Staff, users, and funders—all have crucial perspectives.
  • “Notice that I said listening, not talking.” (44:15, Lauren)
• Architects’ Role:
  • Architect involvement is vital, but only library-experienced people truly understand operational needs.
  • “No architect…has ever stood behind a circulation desk and actually done what librarians do.” (45:50, Lauren)
• Community Engagement Methods:
  • Community meetings, focus groups, suggestion boxes, sticky note boards, and surveys.

Project Partnership Strategies

• Librarian Involvement from Day One:
  • The library director or top staff must participate throughout design and construction.
  • “Librarians need to be part of the process, and they need to be a vocal part of the process.” (50:29, Lauren)
• Speak Up During Key Moments:
  • Be assertive about needs; don’t defer to design aesthetics that overlook functionality.
  • “If it’s not designed with functionality in mind, it can be a beautiful building that just doesn’t work.” (51:33, Lauren)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the unwavering importance of flexibility:
  • “Flexibility is the number one thing that I talk about now for the building program. It's essential.” (09:22, Lauren)
• On the role of the strategic plan:
  • "Your strategic plan has to be a working document. It can't be something that's written down and then sits on your shelf and gathers dust." (10:12, Lauren)
• On changing definitions of accessibility:
  • "The definition of accessibility continues to expand. In the 1990s, it was all about wheelchair users. That's all we really talked about. It's so much more than that." (29:56, Lauren)
• On prototyping and design thinking:
  • “Before you spend a lot of money, try some little tweaks out…do something that is inexpensive that accomplishes what you think you want to do and see what people think.” (41:23, Lauren)
• On librarian involvement in building projects:
  • “I've been in many, many meetings where I'm the only woman in the room…it's essential that we have a voice and we talk about what we need. And if something is going off the rails, we have to say stop.” (50:29, Lauren)
• On the emotional reward of a major library project:
  • “It has so many rewards…you look at what you helped create…it's just the feeling is like no other.” (55:58, Lauren)

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Timestamps for Essential Topics

• Lauren’s career path & intersection of architecture and librarianship – 02:51–05:49
• The changing social and technological function of libraries – 06:13–08:27
• Building library programs—strategic planning & flexibility – 08:43–15:58
• Trends in library design, programming, and outreach – 18:13–23:24
• Technology demands, acoustic zones, and accessibility – 23:44–33:14
• Building assessment: renovate, reconfigure, or new build? – 34:45–42:18
• Service and space needs assessment: process & inclusion – 42:18–47:54
• Librarian-architect partnerships and communication – 49:25–52:41
• Lauren’s current projects and future work – 52:49–55:17

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Conclusion

Lauren Stara’s practical yet visionary advice focuses on centering each library project around flexibility, authentic community needs, and strong librarian advocacy throughout the design and building process. Her expertise bridges lived experience as both architect and librarian, resulting in valuable, actionable recommendations for public, academic, and special libraries alike. Whether embarking on a renovation or a new build, library leaders will find essential guidance in centering users, anticipating change, and driving partnerships that lead to truly successful library spaces.

Transcript

[Sponsor Announcer]

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[Michael Lamagna]

And loaves welcome to the New Books

[Sponsor Announcer]

Network

[Michael Lamagna]

welcome to the New Books Network. I'm your host, Michael Lamagna. For any library that's fortunate to engage in a new building project or even a renovation, there is a need to balance the enduring institutional role of a library with the rapidly changing expectations for technology, accessibility and flexible collaborative spaces. Regardless, the new or the renovated space must be aligned with the institution mission and the user needs for decades to come. Ultimately, librarians need to work in partnership with the project architects on emerging design trends, evaluating existing facilities, conducting space needs assessments to ensure a successful building program. Today I'm joined by the author of Planning Library Spaces A Practical Guide for Library Building Projects or published in 2026 by Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited. Lauren Starra is a registered architect and a professional librarian specializing in library design. Welcome to the podcast, Lauren.

[Lauren Starra]

Thanks so much, Michael. I really am honored that you asked me to come on here.

[Michael Lamagna]

So, before we dive into your book planning library Spaces, could you share a little bit about yourself Your background and your career path.

[Lauren Starra]

Yeah, it's a little bit of a wild ride, I have to say. I started out going to architecture school, and I graduated from there in the early 1980s. And I was in architecture, a little bit of unusual path. I worked for places like the Bronx Zoo and the Bishop Museum doing exhibits. And my last job was at Walt Disney Imagineering working on theme parks. So that's one of the places where I got my real love for looking at user experience design, because Disney theme parks are the masters. I think they were the inventors of user experience design. Then what happened was I had kind of an early midlife Crisis in my 30s, and I got disillusioned with architecture. I became a ski bum for a few years. I moved to western northwestern Colorado, and you can't be a ski bum in the summer. So I got a job at the public library checking books in and out. I'd always been a library user all my life. And I got a job at the front desk. And within two years of that, I had left architecture behind. I was in library school, and I graduated in the mid-1990s with a degree in library science. And then I was a librarian. I was a reference librarian, I was a technology librarian. And then I was a library director, both in Washington state and then in British Columbia. And in my first director job, we did a major renovation of our library. And then my job in British Columbia, I was actually hired because of my background in architecture, and they were building a new building and that I was there for six years and I realized that I could combine my two careers into one. And when I left there in 2013, I became a library building consultant for the state of Massachusetts. For 10 years, I was working with libraries across the whole Commonwealth of Massachusetts. They still do have a major multi million dollar grant program for library construction. And I administered that. And I also helped libraries. Anybody who asked for help with their facilities, I helped them. I left that job in 2023 after 10 years and a few months. And I have been doing private consulting ever since then.

[Michael Lamagna]

Wow, that's quite the career path, especially the ski bum portion of it. But wow, that's great. What insight you could bring to building projects. But before we discuss library building projects, how do you think libraries have historically functioned as civic, educational and cultural institutions? And how does that really influence library design today?

[Lauren Starra]

Well, you know, for thousands of years, libraries were all about containing collections. That's what they were. They were storehouses for protection and collection of information. And, you know, that started with clay tablets. And came all the way through. I'm going to say the 1990s was really the tipping point of what when libraries started to shift away from being really just houses for print materials into sort of a revolving door now of what we've been doing. I was fortunate enough to start in a library in a small town in Colorado where This was in 1991, and we had one desktop computer, and that was for the bookkeeper. The catalog was not digitized. There were no public computers. There was nothing like that. And I lived through that transformation from being completely print based to really being a hub of technology. Today we're moving from today we're moving from just being places for people to get information, into places where people want to gather, want to be together, want to explore their identity in terms of creation spaces and gathering spaces and collaboration spaces. So we've gone basically from places where it was just shelves and shelves and shelves of books into places where people can explore who they are and where they want to go in their life. And of course, technology has a lot to do with that. And because of technology, we've moved from just print based to digital. And that's, you know, that's a whole other question I think we're going to get into later, so I'll stop.

[Michael Lamagna]

So when we're thinking about developing a library building program, what are some of those essential elements that libraries should consider to support both the current need, but as we think towards the future and what the future needs will be for the community they serve and the users they serve?

[Lauren Starra]

Well, the word I use most often in my work is flexibility. Because, you know, when I was a kid in the dark ages. No, not quite. But when I was a kid, it was all about shelves of books. I mean, there were some study tables, but it wasn't really focused on spending time in the library. It was focused on going there, getting what you wanted, and taking it home with you. So that has changed so dramatically. And in the last 20 years, with the advent of the Internet, people have a lot more options than just the library to get their information. When I was a kid, the library was the only place you really could go, right? And now you have the power of 100,000 libraries in your home. Most people, not everyone, but most people have access to a wealth of information from their home. So libraries have had to pivot and become, first of all, places where people can learn how to use the Internet to find credible, authoritative information. How do you assess that information? And now we're shifting not just from print to digital but from digital to more programs and activities. So the spaces have changed quite dramatically. And so the most important thing is to build flexibility. And because we don't know what the library is going to look like in 20 years, things are changing so rapidly that flexibility is the number one thing that I talk about now for the building program. It's essential that before you even think about a building program, you have to have a current, an accessible strategic plan for your library, because you have to know what your mission and your goals are before you can decide what spaces you need to fulfill that mission. And until you know what spaces you need, you can't design a building around that to fulfill those goals. So your strategic plan has to be a working document. It can't be something that's written down and then sits on your shelf and gathers dust. It has to be a working tool. So any building program has to have a strong foundation rooted in the specific needs of your community and your users, Whether it's a student population or a community or whatever it is, you have to look at the specific needs of your community, because no library can be everything to everyone. It's just not possible. You can't build a building big enough to do everything. So you have to know your community. And that's why I always say the building program should be written not by your architect, even though your architect will tell you that they can write it for you. What they call a building program is not the same thing that I'm talking about here. This building program is about library services, what functions you need to provide the services that your community needs, and what furniture, equipment, what stuff needs to go in those spaces so that you can size a space correctly. And more and more, we're looking at multipurpose spaces, flexibility, mobile shelving, all those kinds of things so that you don't have to have a separate space for every individual service that you provide. So any building program has to have a strong foundation rooted in the needs of your specific community. But I do recommend that anybody who's thinking about a building go and visit as many recently renovated or built libraries as you can. Go to every library you can find and talk to the people who work there. Ask them what's working. Ask them what they would do differently if they were starting over. Libraries have done this forever. We don't reinvent the wheel. We go talk to our colleagues and take their experience and make our space better. So writing the building program itself is pretty formulaic, actually. And I have a template that I use, and I'm happy To share that template with anybody. The biggest issue is for figuring out what services you want to provide. And what I always say, it's really important to not focus on what you have now because most people when they're planning a new building, what they look at is what's wrong with their building now and how to fix that. So I always know that, for example, if a library doesn't have enough storage, there's going to be possibly way too much storage in the next one. They sort of overcompensate from the deficiencies of what they have now. And that's why it's always good to go to other libraries and see what they're doing. Because you may not have an idea in your head of some service that, that your community could really benefit from. It's just that it's never occurred to you that you could provide that service and you need to build that in. Let's see. So as I said, writing the building program isn't as important as talking to your community about what they want, what you're not doing now, and what you could be doing. And also to talk to sort of futurists and library leaders sort of in the big library world, because as I said, you don't know what's on the horizon. And it's really good to start of sort of pull what you think might be coming down the road. Like right now, AI is the big topic of conversation and how that's going to change things. And I don't know the answer to that. I lived through the big Internet revolution where we all thought, oh, libraries are going to die because of the Internet and libraries are more valuable and robust than ever. And I think AI is going to have a similar impact, but we don't know what it's going to look like. So again, when you're writing a bill reading program, it's really important to not think about what you have now. You determine what your needs are and think about what spaces you need to fulfill those needs.

[Sponsor Announcer]

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You know, those tiny back to school emergencies that somehow become your problem. That's why I love Uber Eats. You can order school supplies, snacks and lunchbox essentials for $5 or less. So when your kid casually drops I don't like peanut butter anymore or I need five green highlighters for a project due tomorrow, Uber Eats has you covered. Get everything you need for back to school today from your favorite brands like Aldi and Staples and Uber Eats. Order now ends 97. $5 or less before taxes and fees. Select items only. Availability varies. See app for details

now at Lowe's, Faster Quotes Start at the Lowe's Pro Desk Got a material list handwritten on a sticky note or saved as a photo? Perfect. Bring it to us and get a quote in minutes. And if you don't see what you need on the shelf, we'll help you get it. You can access thousands of products beyond what's available in store or on lowe's.com right from the Lowe's Pro Desk. Build quotes faster and source the materials you need to keep your jobs moving. Just like that at Lowe's.

[Michael Lamagna]

I love it. And I love the idea of going out, touring other facilities, other libraries, seeing what they're doing there, thinking about their service model and how you can bring it back. And I couldn't agree more. Going out, finding foresight professionals or futurists to really think about what 20 years from now we're going to need in that facility because we often aren't renovating or building new every couple years, right? So that facility needs to meet our needs well into the future. So what a great point there. Now, as we think about it, what are the current trends that that are shaping library design and what do you believe will have the greatest long term impact on library users and communities?

[Lauren Starra]

Well, as I've already said, the biggest shift that we've seen, the biggest arc over several decades, has been the shift away from print collections into the digital world and then beyond that into programming and activities. So you know, print, I think at least in public libraries, print collections will always be part of our service model. They'll always be part of our brand and they'll always be something that people think of when they think of libraries. But less and less actual space is going to be devoted to that, I think because the demand for places for people, as I said before, to explore themselves, their lives, their, you know, taking the information from books and putting it into practice and providing people places to do that. The makerspace movement, the creation movement, we're seeing a lot of focus on food insecurity and how to nutrition education. Some libraries are Having actual. Either demonstration kitchens or actual teaching kitchens in the libraries. A lot of libraries have community refrigerators and pantries for sort of a branch, if you will, of the food pantry in town. Because libraries are a place where people go and putting things like food pantries, social workers in libraries, all kinds of things that become the one stop shop for people because they can't always get to, you know, the social worker between nine and five at the town hall or whatever it is, or in a university they can't always get to. It's easier to get to say a tutoring session or a writing session, a writing workshop that's located in the library where they already are. I think that the other thing that's happening a lot is not just bringing more services into the library, but disseminating library services out into the community. So community outreach. I've seen library vending machines or lockers in places like commuter train stations. I've seen or outside the library. Because there is a significant segment of people that can't get to the library during open hours. Especially in our economy right now where, you know, staffing is 80% of our budget, at least. Right. And I experienced myself having to switch from seven day a week operations to six day a week operations because we just didn't have the budget. Right. So offering people a place to either pick up a hold book or use a computer or a vending machine where they can say, oh, look, I forgot to bring a book to read on the train. I can get one here with my library card.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Right.

[Lauren Starra]

So pushing services out to people and also bringing more community services in. I think that again, flexibility is the only way forward because we just don't know what's coming down the road. And you can't afford to build a new building every time the service model changes. Right. It just bricks and mortar. Buildings and changing services have a fundamental conflict. So learning how to build enough flexibility and to. You can't anticipate everything, but you can at least make it easier to adapt down the road.

[Michael Lamagna]

Well, those are some great trends that show the need for flexibility. And you think about not being able to anticipate what's down the road. I'm sure many public libraries weren't even anticipating having a demo kitchen in the facility 10, 15 years ago. But I love the idea of thinking beyond the physical library itself. And how do you bring those services outside. The idea of a book locker at a commuter train station is such an excellent way to reach the community and the users.

[Lauren Starra]

It's like a new branch. But Sort of an express branch. I think of it like an atm, almost the same kind of model with a bank. And it has limited service, but it has what some people really need and it's more convenient for them. It's like Amazon lockers at whole foods or 7 11. Right? It's exactly the same thing.

[Michael Lamagna]

Yeah, I was actually thinking about those Amazon lockers as you were talking. So how have changing expectations around technology as we've been talking about collaboration, space, accessibility and even wellness, how has that influenced the library design that we're seeing today?

[Lauren Starra]

That's a lot of big topics to

[Sponsor Announcer]

talk about,

[Lauren Starra]

expectations for technology. As I said, when I started, there were no computers for public use and now it's, I mean, and the thing about it is that libraries are for everyone, right? So you have such a wide range of expectations in terms of technology. There are lots of people that, let's say you're, you know, a 70 year old and you've never had a smartphone and suddenly you have this thing and you can't figure out how to use it. And so you can go to your public library and they will give you a tutorial on how to use your smartphone. It's not just about the information in the library, it's learning how to access. You know, they call it digital literacy. Right. So there's that end of it and then there's the other end where we have incredibly sophisticated like recording and production facilities in libraries where people can do podcasts or even video. When did they call them? I don't know.

[Michael Lamagna]

Yeah, like a TikTok video. Yeah, they're short.

[Lauren Starra]

Exactly. If they do do a TikTok or Instagram and so, and, and all of the sort of editing software and graphics production software that you need for that. So the, the critical part of that kind of range is that it's not just providing the technology, as I'm sure you know. You have to have staff who can actually operate those things and explain things. So thinking I'm not talking about space now, I'm talking about operations. But it's, you know, you can spend thousands and thousands of dollars on equipments and on equipment and software and if you don't have anybody who knows how to use it, it's not going to get used. Right. So there's such a range. And the other thing is that technology is getting smaller, but it also is getting more varied and the proliferation of different kinds of equipment. And our goal is to serve everyone, as I said. So we still have to provide things like those machines that magnify pieces of paper for people with vision issues. My mother has macular degeneration. It's a problem. And so not everybody can afford to have a magnifier in their home. And so the library is the place to go to get something like that. So all of these things take space. And whether they're all out all the time, or if they're in a storage place on a cart and you bring them out when they're needed, those are all things that you have to think about when you're designing a space. Collaboration demands interaction, right? And I think, in my opinion, the biggest issue in libraries today is acoustics as libraries used to be. The expectation was you go to the library and you're quiet. That went away a long time ago. Libraries are active, vibrant places and people make noise. They talk to each other, they do activities. There are recordings playing. Some people talk on the phone, which I still have a problem with, but they do it. Right. And so the issue is that some people, many people still see the library as a place to go to find focus, to work on something that they really need to concentrate on and focus. And they want, they want either. And this is the other interesting thing. They either want quiet or they want some level of background noise. I mean, starting with people who are maybe 20 years younger than me, dead silence often is more distracting to them than too much noise. So there has to be sort of this mid range level of noise. Right. So anyway, acoustic control in libraries and zoning the space for different activity levels and making the expectations clear so that people, people don't think. I mean, we want people to feel like they're comfortable and at home in the library, but it's not their home. And we don't want them to take their shoes off and put their feet on the furn and, you know, yell into their. Their smartphone. Right? That's. So we have to manage those behaviors and having a behavior policy and all of those things. But regardless, we need to provide places for people to make noise, and we need to provide places for people to find quiet or the level of noise that they want. So having a range of acoustic zones is really helpful. And there are a lot of ways to do that with pods or booths or study rooms or what have you. But having a pod is not enough, and putting a study room is not enough, because if the walls aren't insulated, if the walls don't go all the way up to the underside of the structure and they stop at the acoustic ceiling, the sound just goes right over. So there are so many issues around noise that I could talk about for accessibility. Again, libraries are for everyone. And the definition of accessibility continues to expand. You know, in the 1990s, it was all about wheelchair users. That's all we really talked about. It's so much more than that. And we are seeing need for accessibility in terms of mobility, but vision and hearing accommodations, body size, the range of genders that we're seeing, neurodiversity, and the kind of environment that some people need to function adequately. It's really daunting sometimes, the number of issues that we have to think about. I remember a project where there was a family of little people in town, and they wanted some kind of accommodation for small people. So thinking about really tall people, really short people, when you're buying furniture, I always say, never buy a chair you haven't sat in, and you haven't had a really tall person and a really short person sit in, because you have to be able to make everyone comfortable. Wellness, you know, the. The COVID 19 pandemic was a big deal in libraries. And I can't. I can't believe it was six years ago, I have to say. But that experience educated a lot of people about the health aspects of indoor environments. And so that involves everything from what the building is made of, what the airflow is and how the air is handled, how things are maintained, what are they using to clean things, what toxic chemicals are in everything around us. And beyond physical health, there's mental and emotional aspects to wellness that can really affect people and make them feel uncomfortable or comfortable. And one of my favorite things to talk about these days is biophilia. And it is. That is the affinity for human beings to be in environments where they're surrounded by nature. And that can be anything, as sort of obvious and overt as a big window with a view of a green space. Or you can have just an indoor plant on the service desk, or you can have photographs of plants, or you can even have just colors and patterns in the finishes and furniture that evoke nature. Not specifically a leaf print, but something that refers to natural form. So, you know, there's so many things that accessibility. I do a whole presentation on health and wellness and equity and inclusivity in libraries. And it's a thing that a lot of people are concerned about, and a lot of people want to address, and some people are really surprised at how much impact the physical environment has on these things.

[Sponsor Announcer]

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[Michael Lamagna]

So as we think about libraries and you know, I come from an academic library background and there's always a demand for space and that's the same for public libraries as communities are demanding space in the facility. So how should libraries evaluate existing facilities to determine whether a renovation is necessary? Maybe a reconfiguration or even repurposing space is maybe the best path forward. So how do you make that determination as you progress and think about how those facilities should be used?

[Lauren Starra]

Well, when I think about this, what I recommend, there are two different assessments that you need to do. One is a building assessment. And that is where a building scientist or an engineer or an architect comes in and does an extensive analysis of your building. And they look at everything from the structure of the building to the H VAC systems to the building envelope. Do you have leaks? Do you have mold? Do you have what do you have? How is it maintained? Is it, you know, is it sound sustainability and energy consumption and the potential for effective renovation or expansion? Because not every building has the has a good potential for that. So you have to look at what you have, look at your site. Is there room to expand? Is there not room to expand? And then the second evaluation. So that's one thing. The second evaluation needs to be done by a library building specialist who understands functionality in libraries. And they can come in and look at your workflows, your, what spaces you have, your adjacencies, in other words, what spaces next to the, you know, what spaces need to be close to one another, what spaces should be far away from each other. How is your building working from a functionality and workflow point of view? So until you understand what you have and what the potential is, it's really hard to make a decision like that. The other thing to think about is in the big world of sustainability, the most sustainable option, the most sustainable building is the one that's already built. Because demolishing a building and getting rid of all those materials is incredibly resource intensive. There's a lot of waste that happens, a lot of stuff goes in the landfill. So it's. On the other hand, as I said, some buildings are really difficult to adapt to current needs. In Massachusetts worked with a lot of old Carnegie area buildings, either real, true Carnegie's or just other libraries that were built during that area. And it's really tough. They have thick masonry walls, wireless signals can't get through. You know, it's just. There's not enough infrastructure for what's needed. And I worked on. Possibly my favorite library that I worked on when I was in Massachusetts is the Lubern Public Library, which was the first building, the first library building designed by H.H. richardson, who was a very famous architect back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. And when I saw that building, I thought, there's no way you can make this building work. It's so beautiful and you'll destroy its character if you do anything to it. It should be repurposed to be something else. Well, I was proved wrong. The architects did an incredible job. They put on a contemporary edition with. So there's the beautiful Richardsonian Romanesque building and there's a contemporary addition and it's probably one of the most beautiful libraries I've ever been in. So there are a lot of factors that go into whether renovation, expansion or repurposing of a building is the right thing. There are so many factors that go into where a library should be located. So a lot of times libraries are built, were built in the center of town at the time and now 100 years later, the center of town is miles away. It's not, it's it doesn't make sense for. Well, it makes sense for the library to be there in a cultural sense, but in an accessibility sense, it's. It might be better to relocate it where the population center is now so it's easier for people to get to. A lot of times parking is a nightmare in, in downtown areas. And you know, sometimes a strip mall is the best place for a library from an accessibility and functionality standpoint, because that's easy to get to, there's always parking. So there are so many factors that go into where the library should be. It just really requires a long view and a lot of analysis and planning to determine whether staying where you are is the right thing, if you can expand or adapt what you have to current needs or future needs, or if it just doesn't work. And I've seen some really beautiful adaptive reuses of historic buildings into things like art centers or cultural museums, and it can be successful. But I've also seen a beautiful Carnegie Library demolished because it hadn't been maintained and it was condemned. There was nothing they could do. So now one more thing I want to say about this is about small reconfigurations because a lot of times libraries can't afford to do a major building project. They just need to move some things around inside to make things work a little better. And in those cases, I'm a big fan of design thinking and prototyping. So moving furniture around and trying things out before you spend a lot of money and you know, make those decisions that can be really effective to either verify what you think is going to happen or say, oops, no, that didn't work so well. Let's try something else. Yeah, so before you spend a lot of money, try some little tweaks out. Put up cardboard signs, you know, do something that is inexpensive, that accomplishes what you think you want to do and see what people think.

[Michael Lamagna]

I love that idea of prototyping. Now, for libraries that are fortunate enough to build a new facility, you know, what would an effective services and space needs assessment look like? And who should be involved in that process?

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Us.

[Lauren Starra]

Well, I talked about this a little bit before, but who should be involved? Everyone. Everyone should be involved. Because. And I, I think this is true to a lesser degree in the academic library world, because they are, it's an, a kind of a self contained institution and it tends to be, I think they're still pretty hierarchical and the administration kind of dictates what you're going to do. Right. But still, even in that case, talking to Your users and your staff and the people who fund those three groups have equal weight in my mind in terms of what changes you can make. And the reason that I say that is because if the administration says you're going to do it this way, and you spend $50 million on a project and nobody likes it, it doesn't work, the staff hates it, the students don't want to be there. Why? Why? So I am a fan of a lot of community engagement in terms of, you know, community meetings to talk about it, focus groups, putting ideas, posting ideas around and having people vote on them with dots, with sticky dots. Again, visiting other libraries to see what's happening out there and what people say, you know, this was a great idea, but it just didn't work. Those are incredibly helpful. So time needs to be invested in listening to people. And notice that I said listening, not talking. Because you can talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk about all the great ideas that you have, but other people need to have a chance to tell you what they think is needed. Obviously, in these community meetings there are always squeaky wheels and they'll make their wishes known for sure. So having methods where you can get input from people who aren't as apt to speak out in a public meeting, a survey, a suggestion box, a

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post

[Lauren Starra]

it note board where you say, just write down what you think and put it on the wall and you collect all the notes and compile them. But you have to listen to your community because in order to have support for a major undertaking like this, you have to have everybody involved in the process. As I said before, the service and space needs assessment, I believe should not be done by an architect. It should be done by somebody who has library experience, extensive library experience, as well as space building industry experience. So the reason for this is it has to come from a person with a deep understanding of how a library works. And believe me, there are a lot of great architects out there, and I love some architects, but no architect other than me that I know has ever stood behind a circulation desk and actually done what librarians do. So in order to make workflows and processes and services work well, they have to be analyzed by people who actually do the work every day. They also know the community or the student body the way no architect or facilitator is ever going to know them. Working in a public library, and my guess is an academic library as well, knowing what people read is a very intimate thing. And especially in small towns, which is where most of my library experience was, you get to know people very, very closely. And librarians have really great relationships with their community. So they know their community. They know what their community wants and needs. And they also know, you know, in the face of so much change that's coming up, they also know what they don't want to lose. So one of the things that I always tell library staff to do when they're thinking about what they want in their new building is to write down what they don't want to lose from what they have now. And usually that has more to do with relationships with people than physical objects.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So you were scrolling on Marketplace and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew. Well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for from a browse to a bike ride this summer. Find more on Facebook.

You know those tiny back to school emergencies that somehow become your problem. That's why I love Uber Eats. You can order school supplies, snacks and lunchbox essentials for $5 or less. So when your kid casually drops I don't like peanut butter anymore or I need five green highlighters for a project due tomorrow, Uber Eats has you covered. Get everything you need for back to school today from your favorite brands like Aldi and staples on UberEats. Order now ends 97. $5 or less before taxes and fees. Select items only. Availability varies. See app for details.

Now it Lowe's Faster Quotes start at the Lowe's Pro desk. Got a material list handwritten on a sticky note or saved as a photo? Perfect. Bring it to us and get a quote in minutes. And if you don't see what you need on the shelf, we'll help you get it. You can access thousands of products beyond what's available in store or on lowe's.com right from the Lowe's Pro Desk. Build quotes faster and source the materials you need to keep your jobs moving. Just like that at Lowe's.

[Michael Lamagna]

And so you bring up such a great point about this partnership between librarians, architects, and stakeholders. So based on your experience, what are some strategies to help ensure that the renovation or a new building project, you know, goes well so that there aren't conflicts throughout the process?

[Lauren Starra]

The number one thing in that that I always recommend is that the library director, or if not the director, somebody else who's very close to the library Director, be part of the design and construction team from the beginning all the way through. One of the things that makes me absolutely crazy is that once the building is designed, the architect has, you know, the contractor, whoever's going to build it, is hired, and they actually break ground and start building the thing. Then a lot of times, librarians are shut out of the process. They aren't part of the actual construction. Construction process. And let me tell you, those weekly construction meetings are essential because a lot of big decisions are made while under construction. There's never any set of drawings or specifications that's perfect. And things have to be. Decisions have to be made. Things have to be changed while construction is going on. And if the contractor and the architect are making those decisions without any knowledge or input from the library staff, it can cause some really big problems. Librarians need to be part of the process, and they need to be vocal part of the process. Because believe me, I've been in many, many meetings where I'm the only woman in the room. And that's not to say that all librarians are women, but we are overwhelmingly women. And it's essential that we have a voice and we talk about what we need. And if something is going off the rails, we have to say stop. We have to learn to say no, which is really tough for a lot of people. But, you know, you have to know what you need and be vocal about it. So that's my number one thing. That. And this is not just during construction. That's where I see it the most. But during design also, you know, they can. Architects can be very charismatic. They can be really great salespeople and tell you, oh, it's going to be beautiful. This is going to be the most beautiful library that was ever built. But if it's not designed with functionality in mind, it can be a beautiful building that just doesn't work. And if it doesn't work, people aren't going to. Your staff isn't going to be happy, and users aren't going to be happy. So it's. It's really critical that librarians have a voice from the very beginning, all the way through.

[Michael Lamagna]

I love that as a strategy and that. That really is so important. So let me ask you, now that the book is out, what are you working on next?

[Lauren Starra]

Well, I'm doing consulting work. I have a couple of clients currently. I actually just finished up a couple of new projects. Every year or two, I teach a continuing education class through the University of Wisconsin at Madison. It's a virtual class on library Design, and it's really fun. And that just finished up again last Sunday. So I just sent my grades in yesterday. I also just finished up a two year stint as chair of the American Library Association, a building awards committee. And so I'm now, I now have two years as past chair of that. So that's the committee that gives out. Every other year we do an award in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects. That's a library building award. And then we do. On the other years, we do a collaboration with iida, which is the International Interior Design association, we do an award for library interiors. So I'm still on the committee. I do that and I'm doing library consulting work. I'm also, I'm a. In my spare time, I'm a potter. So I recently moved and I'm setting up my pottery studio and taking care of my 92 year old mother.

[Michael Lamagna]

So, you know, so staying very busy is what I'm hearing.

[Lauren Starra]

Staying busy, yes. And I have to say that the book is wonderful, but there's a lot of information in the book that may become dated. And so one of the reasons I wrote the book is because there was a previous book that hadn't been updated. There had been two or three editions, I think, but it hadn't been updated for 12 years. And I went to the publisher and I said, why aren't you doing this? And they said, well, we don't really want to do a new edition, but why don't you write a new book with the same stuff in it? And I said, okay, but so I'm thinking that there will be another edition of this book with updated information. I also recently launched a website, so I'm definitely keeping busy.

[Michael Lamagna]

Oh, definitely. Well, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. I really enjoyed our conversation and I think any library staff that's going through any kind of renovation or building project is appreciative of all this great information.

[Lauren Starra]

Thank you. It really was a labor of love. And I think that any librarian that takes on a major building project is to be supported. And, you know, I just give all of them so much, so much credit because it's. You don't know what it's like until you're in the middle of it. I know very few librarians who do more than one. There are a few of us that are crazy enough to do more than one, but many times it's kind of the crowning achievement of their career. And it really is. It's. It has so many rewards that. I mean, you look at what you helped create. It's just the feeling is like no other.

[Michael Lamagna]

Well, Lauren, thank you so much for your time today.

[Lauren Starra]

Thank you, Michael.

[Michael Lamagna]

I'm your host Michael lamagna. And thank you for listening to New Books Network.

[Lauren Starra]

Thank you for listening to this episode of the New Books Network. We are an academic podcast network with the mission of public education. If you liked this episode, please share it with a friend and rate us on your preferred podcast platform. You can browse all of our episodes on our website newbooksnetwork.com Connect with us on Instagram and BlueSky with the handle ew booksnetwork, and subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter at newbooksnetwork.substack.com to get episode recommendations straight to your inbox.

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You know those tiny back to school emergencies that somehow become your problem? That's why I love UberEats. You can order school supplies, snacks and lunchbox essentials for $5 or less. So when your kid casually drops I don't like peanut butter anymore or I need five green highlighters for a project due tomorrow, Uber Eats has you covered. Get everything you need for Back to School today from your favorite brands like Aldi and staples on UberEats. Order now ends 97. $5 or less before taxes and fees. Select items only. Availability varies. See app for details.