On the way out of the library after visiting an expansion project open house event last week, a local resident called out in support of “Option 2” — a design that features ample meeting space on the west side of the building, a connecting teen room, two-person pods and additional seating throughout.
The other option presented many of the same design elements but in a different configuration with the meeting room on the east side, the teen room on the other side of a restroom and no pods but a little more public work space.
The resident’s perspective was just one that organizers heard during the Oct. 16 event, which was staged to solicit public feedback on Philomath Community Library expansion designs that the architect had come up with as part of a feasibility study.
“I haven’t heard of necessarily a consensus about any one particular thing other than ‘oh my gosh, this is so exciting that you guys are talking about this’ and that this might be happening,” said Ashlee Chavez, Corvallis-Benton County Public Library director who was on site for the event. “I’m hearing a lot of general support for the building does need to be bigger.”
Scott Stolarczyk, principal architect at Robertson Sherwood Architects, said the community input part of the process holds great importance.
“We’ve been getting very good feedback in our discussions with the staff … it’s nice to hear that we’ve worked out with them seems to be in the right direction,” Stolarczyk said. “I haven’t heard anyone say, ‘No, that’s the wrong approach’ with what to do with the library.”
Two design options — labeled as options 2 and 3 — were presented at the open house and can also be viewed online.
“I think the biggest question everyone had tonight so far is ‘where’s option 1 because we presented options 2 and 3 as the ideas,” Stolarczyk said. “Option 1 was just thrown out early on.”
In favor of community gathering space
Chavez said she believes folks are most excited about the idea of a community gathering space. As an example, she mentioned one of the library’s community partners, Strengthening Rural Families, which offers its Squishtivities program for kids each month.
“It works OK in there (the current meeting room) if you have like seven kids show up but if you have 19 kids show up, now you have to do your Squishtivities in shifts,” Chavez said. “So I think people really know we need more space here for programs and for the public to meet and gather.”
Because of the library’s proximity to the flood plain, the architects needed to first gain a better understanding of any constraints.
“It shouldn’t be a big issue,” Stolarczyk said. “The existing library meets with the current flood plain elevations, which is good, and means that any additions that we do don’t need to be raised up higher than what we’re working with right now.”
Working community space into the design was an emphasis for the architects.
“When we started the project, none of us really knew exactly what the library was looking for,” Stolarczyk said. “So our early discussions were good — it was more about meeting spaces and activity spaces than about doubling the size of the circulation collection of the books themselves.”
Questions about the functionality of libraries have come up in many communities around the country with more people reading books online and through apps. But the library, Chavez said, is about a whole lot more than just reading.
“I think libraries have totally changed beyond being only a space to access a collection of materials, you know, they’re about connection,” Chavez said. “They’re about programs or access to information and the ability to get help. I think a community the size of Philomath of having an easy gathering place that the community feels safe in, feels like a neutral space, is needed.”
A glance at the library system’s operation
The Philomath Community Library operates under the Corvallis-Benton County Library system — a unique arrangement that can be a challenge to understand. In short, Benton County collects taxes for the service district and turns those funds over to the city of Corvallis through an intergovernmental agreement. As such, Corvallis runs the operation, including services and materials.
“The city of Philomath is responsible for the sort of envelope shell of the building so to speak,” Chavez explained. “We needed a new roof, a new HVAC and the city is responsible for utilities, custodial, and the library is responsible for internet and shelving and furniture and all of that. So it’s a cooperative agreement. It’s worked really well for a long time.”
The city of Philomath put out the request for proposals to hire an architect for the project. But the library itself, Chavez is the point person, is in charge of presenting the design options and collecting community input.
“We’re working really well together,” Chavez said. “It’s kind of an unusual setup but I think it works really well and there’s a lot of trust and collaboration and cooperation between us. I think when you have all the right people in the room, it’s really easy.”
Paying for the library expansion is one of the big questions that needs to be answered — that’s where the feasibility study comes in. What’s feasible? What’s not?
“With a cost analysis, we can really start to think about what our funding sources would be,” Chavez said, adding that those details will also factor into how the construction project would impact patrons.
“Once you have a cost estimate to understand even what the construction looks like, then you can work in ‘OK, would we have the funding to rent a temporary space? Would we need to try and keep sections of the library open?’” she said. “I’ve been quite amazed at what we’ve been able to offer the community over the years and we’ve gone through some tough times so I feel pretty confident we can figure out some creative solutions.”
Chavez said funding is being approached as a joint idea with the city.
“The city has money set aside in a reserve and yet we also know that we’re going to do some fundraising,” she said. “So that’s where the library nonprofits can step in and I can help identify grants.”
Robertson Sherwood Architects has become a go-to company for library construction projects.
“We’ve done a lot of small libraries, a lot of big libraries — the city of Eugene library,” said Becky Thomas, principal architect with Robertson Sherwood Architects. “We’re doing one at North Bend right now, Myrtle Creek, La Grande, Creswell.”
More public input opportunities
Beyond the cost analysis stage, more public input would then be solicited.
“This isn’t the one and only time — there’s phases to it — but we want to make sure what we think the priorities are and what we’ve heard from people match up with what we’ve put together here and if that represents what people think the library needs and what they want to see,” Chavez said.
Efforts to collect feedback from the community both in person and online will continue, Chavez said. The public can participate in an online survey until Nov. 11.
“We’re also going to reach out to some of our community partners — both nonprofits and stakeholders in the community — and ask what they want to see, what do you need, because I want to make sure their voice is heard,” Chavez said. “And then we will go back and really start to come up with one refined concept and can start to move forward and get a cost analysis.”
Open house visitors shared their views on sticky notes. There was support for both options. A sampling of comments:
- “Love the 2-person pods. Option 2 is my favorite!”
- “I like option 3 best. It keeps the floor plan closer to the current plan and might cost less than option 2 but still provide a lot of space.”
- “I like option 2 the best. The footprint doesn’t extend so far out toward 11th St.”
- “Make the patio a community garden.”
- “Have staff workflows been adequately considered in both options?”
Organizers said last week’s open house attracted a steady flow of people. Chavez was pleased with the open house’s turnout, which she said featured “a really nice mix — families, retired, all sorts of folks” along with a few folks from city government.
