Dare to Dream: Visioning Your Library

Primary author: Susan Green

Susan Green introducing the Dare to Dream tool.

I invite you and your community to go on a journey and experiment with what can be done to your library space if you all dare to dream.

What is in this tool?

Look at your library through a new lens
Write an aspiration for your library space
Plan a project which enhances the library space

Print version (pdf)

Sometimes we are afraid to look at what our library needs because it may cost too much or there may not be the resources and people to support making the change. We may be too tired from the day-to-day running of our library to imagine taking on another project. Let us try to put all of the barriers aside and make believe the “sky’s the limit.” Let’s try not to censor our thoughts and ideas. We may have to pare down some of them and put them on a to-do list for the far future, but this work is important.

LISTEN: “She just by changing things right it just it feels fresh and new and vibrant and it’s a comfortable place. It’s always been nice to comfortable place to come to but it’s like she’s created a new place.” –“James”, interview #5-2-04

Begin with this visioning exercise:

These exercises can be done alone or with a group (eg. Friends of the Library, Board of Trustees, focus group, or staff.) You can have each person do the exercise separately or in a small groups and report back to the whole group. Write the ideas on a big piece of paper for everyone to see and then have people put stars next to the ideas they support.

Visioning exercise with library director Susan Green

[Transcript of audio version] Find a place where you can really relax. It can be in your home, on a special walking trail, your garden, the library when you are alone, your bedroom, anywhere you can let your mind wander freely. Close your eyes and breathe deeply and comfortably until you begin to relax. Now when you feel calm and ready to let go of every distraction around you, picture your library as it is right now. Look at every detail of it, where the shelves are, your desk, the entrance to the library, let yourself visualize every nook and cranny, inside and out. Make a mental note of which part of the visualization gives you a sense of well being and when something doesn’t feel right. Keep visualizing different parts of your library. You can also do the scan with your eyes open, right in the library if the other way feels uncomfortable. You can wander around the library and take actual notes about what feels like it is working and what doesn’t. The purpose to this exercise is to allow ideas to percolate. Try to let go of the intellectual mind and allow the intuitive mind to take over and dream up new ways to perceive the space.

In other words, what do you “dream” for your library space?
Assess Your Needs
Now that you (or you and your group) have finished the visioning exercise, answer the following questions.

What do you find appealing about your library right now that you would not ever change?
What is “just not quite right”?
Do you feel comfortable in the space? Is it working for library staff and volunteers? Patrons? If not, what do you need to make it more comfortable?
Does your library have enough room for inside programs for both large and small groups? If no, how does the space need to change? Do you need to reconfigure what you have? Do you need to add on? Are there program places in town outside of the library?
Does your library have adequate space for outside programs? If yes, move on to the next question. If not, what can be done to create outside space?
Are your computers and internet services adequate? If not, what needs to be changed?
Does your library have enough room for books and materials? Do people seem satisfied with their experience browsing for books and materials?
Section Break
Plan for the Future

Name a distinct project to help make your vision real
Timeline for completion?
Is this a 1 year, 5 year, 10 year, or seed planting (one which will bear fruit after you’ve moved on) project?
Which needs that you listed above does this specific project meet
Who can help make this vision a reality?
What specific steps will you take to activate your resources and make the project a reality?
Section Break
My Approach to Realizing My Library Vision

Storage limitations:
When I first did this scan at the library where I work, I found what made me the most uncomfortable was the lack of storage. There was a file cabinet taking up most of the space in the only closet and 20 metal chairs we hardly ever used were against the wall in the room we used for library programs. Things we weren’t using every day were stacked unattractively on shelves instead of stored in the closet. I wasn’t sure what I could do with all this “stuff” but I knew something had to change. I went to the Board of Trustees for their help and together we came up with a plan and we worked with the Town officers of Marshfield who also used the building. They let us move the chairs and the file cabinet to their meeting rooms and we built a closet where the metal chairs used to be. Now we had two closets for storage. We moved the clutter into the closets and now we had more room to expand our collection.
Programming space:
My library in Marshfield, VT had one room for programming. We started a playgroup for children ages birth to age 5. We also started rotating art shows 6 times a year with Art and Author nights for the art openings. Both offerings became so popular we were overflowing our legal capacity. My dream was to increase the programming space. There was a rented space right next to our program room. I kept my eye on the space, waiting for the day it would become vacant, never giving up on my “dream”. Eventually it was empty but how would I afford it? I needed to move on the space right away. I worked with the Jaquith Public Library Board of Trustees and the Marshfield Historical Society which was located in a small dusty old room downstairs. We worked out a plan to create a Marshfield History Museum space that would be part of the library, open to the public when the library was open. It could be used for library programming as well as by the Historical Society. We would share the room and share the rent. We went to the Town of Marshfield citizens with our idea and received the funding. So my dream came true!
Section Break
Enter your email if you'd like your answers sent to you:

Responses to forms are automatically deleted from our website data base and your information is never shared. For more information about the Southern Tier Library System’s policies which govern Rural Libraries & Social Wellbeing, visit https://www.stls.org/about-stls/.

Further Resources

Want to learn more about making the library a place where everyone feels welcome and comfortable? See “Is Everyone Welcome at Your Library” and “The Library as the Community’s Welcome Center”.

Dare to Dream: Visioning Your Library

Primary author: Susan Green

What is in this tool?

Begin with this visioning exercise:

Assess Your Needs

Section Break

Plan for the Future

Section Break

My Approach to Realizing My Library Vision

Storage limitations:

Programming space:

Section Break

Further Resources