Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Public Library will host three community forums on Wednesday, Aug. 28, to solicit public input for a needs assessment report.
FFA Architecture and Interiors is conducting the needs assessment and conceptual drawings for the library to help address growing usage.
The library moved from a 1,200-square-foot area in the City Hall basement to its present 5,825- square-foot location at the intersection of 13th and Kalmia streets, in 1969.
“Since 1969, the demand for library service, (including) circulation, programs, meeting space and public computer use, has grown steadily, outpacing the library’s ability to provide services from a physical standpoint,” said Library Director Rose Peda earlier this year when the council approved the assessment.
“The existing building’s capacity is no longer adequate. There is a need to transform the library’s interior and exterior.”
In the request for proposals, Peda outlined what the city is looking for, including a dedicated children’s play area, a young adult area, study rooms and remodeling to reflect modern electrical needs and modern energy efficiency, a face lift for the front exterior, removal of the stairs in favor of a ramp and a remodel of the foyer.
An expansion of the building may be required to include the rear parking lot of the building and the alley between the library and Post Office, according to the RFP.
“They have a multi-level approach to this,” Peda said.
FFA is conducting multiple community forums with various audiences, and it is collecting online and in-library surveys.
The library has a poster and sticky notes in its lobby, Peda said. Patrons are welcome to write down their thoughts on the notes and stick them to the poster. Most of the notes, at this point, call for quiet reading space, comfortable furniture and more anime – Japanese stylized animation.
With the forums planned for next week, “we’re trying to garner community input as to what they would like to see in the library in the future,” she said.
The first forum will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Sweet Home Senior Center, 880 18th Ave. Anyone is welcome to attend.
The second is for teens at 3:30 p.m. at the library.
The third is an open community forum at 6:30 p.m. at the library.
Peda and the consultants are looking for ideas from the public, she said. “The plan will be built in response to what we hear from the community.”
The consultants are aware of some issues, like the cramped nature of the building and a lack of meeting room, and they want to bring them up to members of the public, Peda said.
So far, members of the FFA team, including engineers, designers, information technology persons and architects, has visited Sweet Home twice, Peda said. The first time, they met with library staff and Library Board members to get their opinions about the building.
The group surveyed the building and alternate sites owned by the city.
The second trip, the team conducted a community forum targeting members of the Friends of the Library, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the library.
“What we really want to focus on first is the building, making the building so it meets the community’s needs for the next 20 years,” Peda said previously. “It’s still a good building.”