FPL [Flint Public Library] architect says "Libraries are the greatest act of love you can give your community"; East Village Magazine, May 22, 2022

Jan Worth-Nelson, East Village Magazine; FPL [Flint Public Library] architect says "Libraries are the greatest act of love you can give your community"

"When Kay Schwartz and her crew of 31 staff and the library’s board of trustees began the planning process seven years ago for the Flint Public Library’s major renovation which culminated with a three-day opening celebration May 19-21, one value emerged over all others.

“We wanted it to be a welcoming community space above everything else,”  Schwartz said, walking around the capacious new layout the day before the public opening of the dramatically made-over 60-year-old Kearsley Street structure.

“We’re providing space, and people can decide what they want to do with it,”  Schwartz said.  “We have opportunities for people that they never had, different types of seating, different types of meeting space —  we hope they’ll do some exciting things with it.”"

Hunters Point Library Confronts Accessibility Issues; Library Journal, November 4, 2019

Lisa Peet, Library Journal; Hunters Point Library Confronts Accessibility Issues

"QPL is assessing the situation with the Department of Design and Construction and Steven Holl Architects, de Bourbon said. (As of press time, Steven Holl Architects had not responded to LJ’s request for comment.) “As we move forward with new projects,” she said, “we will be even more proactive in addressing the needs and circumstances of every single customer.”

“I hope that libraries who are working on inclusiveness can see this as a cautionary tale,” said Machones. “There clearly needs to be more oversight in all stages of planning to ensure nothing like this happens again. There needs to be opportunities for staff and the community to analyze and respond to plans at every stage. If there are members of your community that are not able to participate in input sessions, then go to them and ask them for their input. Your library will better serve the community if your plans reflect everyone in it.”

Such inclusive input might be positioned as a mandate in all aspects of service for the library, Machones suggested. “I would have regular community conversations to learn about what ways the library could improve. I also would recommend the library undergo an inclusive services assessment,” such as the Inclusive Services Assessment and Guide developed for Wisconsin Public Libraries."

Enticed by a Library, Tourists Browse a Chinese Village; New York Times, 7/6/15

Jane Perlez, New York Times; Enticed by a Library, Tourists Browse a Chinese Village:

"Meeting the reading needs of the roughly 50 households that remain in the village is something of a sideline, though. What the building is mainly meant to be is a magnet for day-trippers from Beijing, eager to escape the city’s perpetual smog and dirt for a bit of beauty and calm.

“The library is a tool to attract people to the village,” said Mr. Li, a professor of architecture at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

When visitors come to see the library, he said, they also spend money at the village’s few restaurants, pay parking fees and donate money for the building’s upkeep...

The library has a presence on social media, and many of the visitors on the weekend are university students or young professionals. They wander around the village, snap photos of themselves and order the local delicacy, stewed chicken with chestnuts, at one of the restaurants.

And some of them actually read. Sun Liyang, 27, an automotive journalist, said a friend in Beijing had donated some books after hearing about the library online, and he decided to come for a look. “I am sitting here reading ‘The Adventures of Tintin,’” he said. “It’s taking me back to my childhood.”"