Tour of Merriweather Library Comments

The committee met on June 22nd for a tour a the Merriweather Library on Jefferson Ave. Sandra Bush, librarian and branch manager, conducted the tour.

We looked at many features of the library and how they served the needs of the community. We hope to learn from the Merriweather Library experience as we proceed to plan for expanded library services in North Buffalo.

The following are personal notes and comments written up following the tour. Other committee members may also share their perspective.

Auditorium
There is a 150 seat auditorium that is consistently booked throughout the year by community organizations. It will need to be determined by a community needs assessment whether a library in North Buffalo should contain an auditorium and how large. We will need to determine if there is a need in North Buffalo for a large meeting space or if that need is already met by the North Buffalo Community Center or various schools and churches. Having an auditorium or not will have a very large impact on determining a site location and in the overall size and cost of a new building if that need is expressed.

Computer Lab & Public Computers
The computer lab in this library was originally conceived as a classroom for programs using computers. However, because of budget constraints those classroom programs were not developed and the computers in the lab have been made available for individuals to sign up for computer time. These 12 computers along with other public computers throughout the library (47 total) have given Merriweather the second largest number of public computer usage in the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library system behind only the Central Library. The library also provides wireless access for the public to bring in their own laptop computers.

How many computers would a North Buffalo library need? Would we need a traditional computer lab or would computers scattered throughout the building fulfill the needs of the community? Would people bring in laptops? Would there be places for people with laptops? A coffee shop or leisure seating? We would need to consider location of furniture and electrical outlets for example because power supply cords across walkways can be a serious problem in libraries.

Flexible Space
Often times people end up using space differently than an architect or planner originally conceives. We saw that in the use of the Children's Resource room for example. We should emphasize flexible space with movable dividers and furniture. It may be nice to have an exhibition space in the building that would be available to the community. There has been much discussion about the architectural design of Merriweather that I don't want to rehash here except to say that we need to be aware of the problems of form over function in design. The round design of Merriweather may be pleasing to look at but there appears to be problems in the staff use of the space.

There was a young adult gaming area that seemed very popular the evening we were in the library. There were also meeting rooms that are very popular with the community. During our tour the meeting rooms and auditorium were in use. The computer lab was full and there were many other people scattered throughout the library using computers or other resources. It was indicated to us that the 35 space parking lot was not adequate when there were events or special programs at the library.

Special Collections
The Merriweather Library holds the William A. Miles Center for African and African-American Studies which is the largest resource center in Western New York for information on African American history. A large portion of the 20,000 square feet of the library is devoted to this collection.

Needs Assessment
The tour of Merriweather emphasized the importance of conducting a needs assessment to determine the needs of the community. The needs assessment could find out whether the North Buffalo community needs a computer lab or an auditorium. Without those two elements of a library for example the footprint would be much less than the 20,000 square feet of Merriweather. It may be determined in focus groups that the community wants an auditorium, more meeting rooms, computers in a lab setting, lots of available parking and some other things we haven't thought about. In that case maybe more square feet on a larger site footprint would be necessary. Another outcome might be people asking for more smaller walkable buildings throughout North Buffalo in which case a different service and funding model would need to be developed.

George Emery
North Buffalo Library Long Term Planning Committee