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Above: Tour organizer Kaiping Zhang.
The day that Eugene was treated to gentle snowfall, the LSA took its tour of the Eugene Public Library (EPL). For those who were unable to go on the EPL tour, I offer a virtual tour of the library's special points of interest. I cannot cover every space we visited, nor can I duplicate the charm and congeniality of my group's guide, Nancy Lewis, one of the hundreds of library volunteers upon whom the EPL depends.
EPL History The initiative for a public library started with a Eugene women's group, the Fortnightly Club. When Eugene's first public library opened in 1906 it was called the Carnegie Library, after the businessman and philanthropist who provided much of the funding. The Fortnightly's 657 books formed the basis of the library's collection.
The EPL's current location represents the second move for the library. The Carnegie Library was at 11th Ave. and Willamette Street. In 1959 the library moved from 11th and Willamette to the Sears building on 13th and Olive. The move to 10th and Olive has been long anticipated, as the Sears building proved inadequate by the 1970s.
EPL Facts
Grand Stair Our tour begins in the column of light that is the grand stair. The windows that cap the spiraling stairs let in a great deal of natural light, which is then reflected by blonde wood, white marble, and pale yellow paint. One is immediately struck by how light and airy the building is even without ever having visited the old building, which seemed to sag under low ceilings and artificial light.
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A Child's Wonderland The Children's area was impressive indeed. Like all the public areas it is spacious but with a lower ceiling, which controls the noise of young voices and provides a more intimate feeling. Colorful posters and artwork decorate the area, and permanent lighted cases display items of interest at a child's level. The Children's area features picture books for early readers and fiction and non-fiction for older kids, as well as media of all types for every level. The Youth Language Center was of special interest to me: Perhaps I would have better luck learning foreign languages if I were taught a child's vocabulary. The EPL reserves a bank of Computers for the use of child patrons, and like with the rest of the public terminals nothing is done to limit access. The EPL leaves the job of monitoring the children's Internet use to parents. Children may also gather in the program room to enjoy the heated floor and listen to stories or sing songs. Less sedate young patrons can blow off some noise and energy in the children's garden located at the far end of the children's area.
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Young Adult Teens need not share their space with children as they have their own area, also much expanded from the old facility. They have their own computers and reference desk, which is staffed after school and on weekends.
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Modern Times Many of us joined the tour in order to see the EPL's automated Tech Logic sorter. When the EPL first opened, sorter operations were less than seamless. According to Circulation Supervisor Marie Habener, when interruptions in the flow of materials occurred the staff were not familiar enough with the new system to know if the problem was due to a software glitch or a hardware problem. While the sorter is not bug free and does occasionally hang up, the EPL has experienced periods of being fully caught up with check in - something that never happened at the old library.
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Nancy, our tour guide, led us single-file into the sorting room to watch the sorting system in action. The sorter is at the center of a system of conveyor belts that carry materials from the library's various drop points. As we stood by, items were checked in and turned so that their spines faced the right way and then could slide onto carts with other items destined for the same location. The most fascinating part of the sorter was the suction-cupped mechanism that determines the position of the spine. Marion Obar accidentally stepped passed the yellow security tape surrounding the sorter but was not caught up the machine or force-fed corn-on-the-cob.
The self-service check out stations still require a great deal of staff supervision. The learning curve for both the staff and the public has been longer and slower than anticipated, says Habener. One must position the materials just so on the check-out platform for the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) antenna to read each item. Patrons I often remove their library cards before their transaction is complete. Fortunately it has always been EPL's plan to have someone behind the check-out desk.
Reading Room The second floor is home to the EPL's periodical collection, which is kept in a magnificent reading room. This is a nice change from the periodical's former location, the basement. Too bad the snow hadn't begun when we were in the reading room. It would have been lovely to watch the swirling flakes through the room's two-story windows.
Reference Reference Librarian Paul Frantz was especially interested in the way librarians handle telephone reference questions. Instead of juggling live patrons while answering phone inquiries, a separate area is designated so that librarians can focus their attentions on callers. Frantz also sees more opportunities for collaboration between EPL and UO reference staffs.
Tech Services/Staff Areas Many of us were itching to see the staff areas where our counterparts do their work. The generous use of space in the public areas led us to believe that we would be seeing some commodious offices and work areas. The staff and tech services areas do have windows, but quarters are cramped. Boxes of unpacked books line the hallways; apparently there is a six-month backlog on new books. The EPL employs three cataloguers, and we were told that the library's "hots" take 8 weeks to reach the patrons. Carts of books were pushed right up to the cataloguer's desks, and behind the carts were piles of books waiting to be checked in. As many as six people share a single phone.
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The fourth floor of the library is being held in reserve for the time when the library runs out of space on the first three floors. That time seems to be now for staff and tech services.
To conclude, the Eugene Public Library's Public spaces are next-door to utopia, while the behind-the-scene staff areas are disappointing. As Sylvia Worrix put it, "In short, my general impression was of a wonderful light and bright new space that unfortunately did not include the staff."