libraries as 'retail' space

I was struck by a recent article, How a New Dutch Library Smashed Attendance Records, by Cat Johnson at the online site Shareable, which nicely highlighted the potential of libraries as community centres. 

nieuwe bibliotheek - credit unknownThis was striking to me mainly because I view libraries in Bermuda as being an opportunity missed. I realise, though, much of it has to do with constrained budgets ($2.1 million in the 2014/2015 budget and probably lower still in the current year). In contrast, the Dutch clearly had ample funding available to them when devising a new approach to their library. 

Designers of the Dutch library, Nieuwe Bibliotheek, took the tack of treating it as retail space. A brilliant notion, in my opinion. Books are grouped by interest or topic, whether fiction or non-fiction. They are outward facing, as in a bookstore, encouraging you to browse. There's a cafe and comfortable sofas, in addition to the usual tables and chairs. Most important, the library is supported by a continuing programme of events. It is a destination with several reasons for you to visit, and visitors is exactly what Nieuwe Bibliotheek gets: 100,000 people in the first two months of its opening in 2010.

Can we do more in Bermuda? Probably. 'More' would involve a space that combined the childrens' library facility with the adult library. That way, parents and children could enjoy the facility together. It would have a 'drop in' centre element to it too. Legal clinics, for example, or job search services and the like could be based at the library. If you were thinking of where to meet up with a friend, the library would be one automatic option. Branches? Sure, in Somerset and St. George's. 

glen oaks branch library, queens, ny - credit unknownAre there summer job or after school work opportunities at my ideal library? Yes, absolutely. Instilling in our youth a love of reading is so important. Even the teen that's too cool for his shirt can disguise his love of books as a job.

An exhibit area or two would allow our many community groups to have a place and space for their message. Do you know what Transition Bermuda is doing? Have you heard of PechaKucha Nights?

Of course, you'll need to eat too, and a farm to table cafe would be amazing.

Are we doing any of this now? We might be. I have not been inspired to check out our library in years, and I'm a reader. However, I know we do have librarians who are a veritable fount of information. So let's build on that to create a greater connection to the community and make our library a vibrant place to be. As a centre of learning, an excellent library should not require debate.

What do you think?

beautiful bermuda, accidentally yours

I should start a collection. For every time I explain to someone the visual image we sell to tourists is not accidental, I get a dime. I'd be more than half way to retirement by now.

So, here's the thing. Although Bermudians are quite happy to paint their houses all the colours of the rainbow (purple being a personal non-favourite of mine) and, generally, keep the roofs white, it bears remembering that landscaping really does help.

image - s pringleThe pain inflicted by a grant of planning permission that includes a condition requiring a well-executed landscaping scheme, to my mind, is worthwhile.

It doesn't have to be a scheme offering 144 plants of dozens of varieties which serves only to make the plant nursery owner richer than Croesus. No-one is asking that you singlehandedly bring back Bermuda's former cedar woodland. But, you know, something more than nothing will contribute positively to the image of verdant landscapes surrounded by sparkling azure waters, which we sell overseas.

Some forethought as to appropriate species for your location and green thumb abilities is a good idea, as is, for example, consideration of your need for privacy. 

Of course, it's not just decent landscaping that makes a difference. An Act and successive development plans that seek to balance the preservation of woodlands, arable fields, coastal ecosystems and the like help too.

Bermuda Tourism spends untold millions selling the 'Bermuda Image' abroad, and it helps if we do our best to uphold it locally. 

So, no, Bermuda's beauty is not purely accidental. It takes a bit of effort from all of us.

not your usual urban planning work

It's a good idea, generally speaking, to look outside your usual environment to see what others are doing.

Mitchell Sipus is someone who is working in a realm that is quite foreign to us here in Bermuda. With graduate degrees in architecture, urban planning and refugee/migration studies, he has served as an advisor in Afghanistan and Somalia, both places in a pretty constant state of (re)construction. 

The range and depth of the challenges is quite something to even contemplate for those of us living and working on a coral reef-ringed island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

His blog, Humanitarian Space, provides insightful learning opportunities for planners and is well worth checking regularly. As he describes it, "In the humanitarian aid industry, a humanitarian space is a defined, politically neutral space within an area of conflict that allows humanitarian actors to assist populations in need with decreased levels of danger." The blog is a "...virtual space committed to ideas and dialogue on issues of conflict, stabilization, displacement, aid, and development."

The blog post, Archive: 9 Posts from HSpace that you wish you had read, links to a number of blog posts Sipus views as well worth a first/second look. I would agree.

image - sutika sipus