Urban sustainable library

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Contents

Process of developing the library

  • Gather group of people interested in library discussions (core team and focus group)
  • Set up meetings
  • Contact Judy Field about practicum student for next semester (January 12)
  • Survey neighbors to see what they need help with (3-4)
  • Identify areas where we can help
    • water
    • energy
    • waste
    • habitat
    • food
  • Talk to people who work in related fields, such as insulation or engineering, and ask what knowledge gaps they see
  • Develop consultation service

Library Meetings and Topics

  • Every week, Thursdays, 11-1, Motor City Brewing Works, for 6 weeks. Topics:
  • week 1: agreement on what we're doing, why we're doing it, and for whom; other considerations
  • week 2: neighbor survey and identification of areas we can help; Scenario work
  • week 3: knowledge gap discussion with expert in field, like Laurie or Ken; rooftop garden scenario discussion
  • week 4: physical and online library discussion
  • week 5: consultation service discussion

What is an urban sustainable library?

  • We defined sustainability for the Green Garage as having 3 necessary components: environmental integrity, economic justice and community well-being. 2 If any of these elements are missing, it is not considered sustainable.
  • So our library will be sustainable as defined above, and will obviously be urban as defined by the location of the building and the surrounding community.
  • It will be a source of environmentally sustainable information for the community.

Why this library?

  • Our goal is to make it easier for people to make more sustainable choices in their lives.
  • We believe that ...
    • everyone has a right to the information needed to make these more sustainable choices.
    • choosing more sustainable ways of living is more likely to be successful when the person is connected to an encouraging community.
  • Our purpose is to connect (support) people to the information and people (encouragers) who can help them successfully make these more sustainable choices.

Who are our clients?

  • Tenants of the Green Garage.
  • Our immediate community.
  • Anyone who makes contact with us (to what degree?).
  • We don't know yet.

Components of library

  • website, blog, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter
  • intranet (information source for people working in the building)
  • physical library: books, periodicals(?), computers, archived posters.
  • consultation service
  • book club
  • kiosk

How will we provide consultation services?

  • General format for service
    • Reference service for those working at the Green Garage (entailing research on topics, summary answers, organize info for the building on daily basis, develop content and scheduling for classes, organize information learned)
    • Provide free information (example: CAT)
      • information pages (like geothermal systems or rain barrels)
      • 10 most frequently asked questions
      • online forms for questions
      • live chat (like Troy Public Library)
    • Reference service for visitors
      • 1st 2 hours of research free....then a nominal charge beyond that
      • Could provide something like surgery sessions at CAT, where you can sit down with an expert for a nominal fee and discuss your project/issue
      • Provide referrals to experts
  • Information vs advice

Things we now know about our library

Week 1

  • We're in agreement on the what, who, how.
  • We'll defer the question of fees until we know if this will even be a problem.
  • We'll need to do some work on our GLGI site, weeding material and linking appropriate material to GG site.
  • We should have a regional, Detroit focus.
  • One goal should be trying to make it easier for people to contribute to the site.
  • What value can we offer?
    • connecting to a real person
    • connecting locally
    • sharing direct experience
    • offering the broader perspective (look at building envelope first rather than solar panels)
    • neutral third party
  • Bridging the gap between person with knowledge and person reporting on knowledge
    • knowledge manager meeting periodically with technical experts
    • reconfigure the site to make it easier to find material
    • "broader brush" - not so much technical info on pages
  • meet with Rep Fred Durhal of Midtown
  • Timebank - exchange services for services
  • consider evening meetings

Week 2

  • need to update materials pages and familiarize ourselves with what happened to all of our materials
    • link to sites which deal with materials (MSDS - Materials Data Safety Sheets)
  • from our dry wall example:
    • get research people to do research on specific areas
    • use our own example of what we did with drywall
    • help connect with expert
    • regular meetings with experts (weekly event with geothermal company, etc)
    • populate materials charts
    • connect with people doing the work
    • sometimes you need to talk with the person who did the work

Week 3

From our discussion with Laurie Catey:

  • we could provide user training
  • we could at the very least develop key points for areas
  • in dealing with technical material, we can develop examples people can relate to
  • diagrams are a helpful way to help people understand material
  • sometimes personal consultations are the best way to help people understand
  • one area we could help: maintenance of systems
  • videos helpful
  • another area: system operations

Rooftop Garden Scenario

  • need rendering help
  • need help understanding how structures might work
  • need support - help with language for fighting for what they want
  • help finding materials
  • help finding a builder
  • help with communications among interested parties

Week 4

Physical library

  • located just inside entryway, across from reception desk (see PDF of floor plan on building plans page)
  • consists of long desk, bookshelves behind
  • need at least one computer for public searching and for use by people in GG (we bring our own)
  • materials
    • books we've collected through GLGI (see GLGI Library for a start)
    • books we've collected in our Green Garage design work (see Green Garage Reading Material page)
    • other books we'll be collecting along the way
    • informative material such as 'finding aids' (or summations of relevant topics, like rain barrel assembly or 10 top things to do to reduce your energy costs or lists of contractors or other sources) can be printed on demand
    • archival materials
      • original drawings
      • artifacts found in building
      • historical photos
  • white board with day's schedule in GG (or for use with projector)
  • phone
  • camera and video recorder
  • microphone
  • printer
  • share use of projector
  • book marks with our contact information
  • office supplies, such as pens, pencils, scissors, tape, etc
  • file drawer
  • place to keep business cards
  • mail box for each business - location TBD
  • spot for business manager - location TBD

Online library

  • website
  • blog
  • Flickr account for photos
  • YouTube account for videos
  • Twitter account for updates
  • components of website:
    • intro to GG, including photo, address, phone, and hours
    • horizontal links (about us, our building today, events, research, resources, contact us)
    • left vertical links for businesses
    • left column:
      • calendar
      • How Do I? with drop down box for items such as: stop by for a visit, ask for your help in research, see if I can rent space, find out what is happening this month
      • Search This Site box
      • Live Chat with GG library staff
    • right column:
      • new this week, including photos, description of events, link to blog
      • upcoming events
    • at bottom, site index, and links to media (facebook, twitter)


Resources


New Website

  • new website we're developing for new website, coming out in September
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