In New Jersey, the Camden County Library System did just that. In November, they opened Shelf Life, a decidedly non-traditional branch of the library at the Echelon Mall in Voorhees. They managed to get the space donated by the company that manages the mall and created a hip place for patrons to visit with computers to check e-mail, beanbag chairs for the kids no stacks. The space is open, light, and full of chairs, so it’s an excellent place to escape the craziness of the mall. They’ve made the most of their 3,000 s.f. space and stock mostly popular books, new non-fiction, DVDs and children’s books. Instead of blowing money at the local chain bookstore in the mall, shoppers can browse the library’s collection and sit down and check their e-mail. It’s a great way to attract patrons who may not normally use their local library. Here’s a quote from the Branch Manager in an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer:
“You meet a different clientele here… It’s people that wouldn’t come to the regular library. And then once they’re here, we tell them all about the other services we offer.”
This is an absolutely brilliant idea! Rather than looking for ways to draw non-traditional users into a traditional library space, the library is literally going where the patrons are. Just about everyone visits their local mall in the course of a year, so it’s the perfect location for a community institution that seeks to reach everyone. By putting the library in the mall, you knock down another barrier to people using the library. It’s right there!
How easy is it to get to your library? Is it in an area where there is a lot of parking or is parking sometimes a problem? Is it close to stores that most people go to or do they have to make a special trip to visit the library? Is it close to public transportation for people who don’t have a car? A library that is not conveniently located is just putting up another barrier to potential patrons. For some people, if they can find a reason not to go, they won’t. We need to give them more reasons to visit and fewer reasons not to. Having a library in a popular shopping center is the easiest you can make access to the library without literally parking yourself outside their house.
[From Blake at LISNews]
When I was growing up, my local library was next to both the shopping centre and the local swimming pool. We’d go for lessons at the pool, hop to the library to borrow a weekly dose of reading, and grab food from the supermarket before going home.
The location also happened to be close to a main road, many bus lines, and 4 or 5 schools.
There were so many libraries near/in shopping centres when I was a kid that I didn’t know any different.
Then of course I moved, and the libraries were in the strangest locations, especially new ones that had trouble finding land any closer to public transport or developed areas. When Joondalup library opened, there was an oasis, the library was surrounded by empty lots. This is another problem I think – it’s great to have a new building, but it has to be close to existing services. Unfortunately, it seems libraries are sometimes built where the land is more inexpensive rather than where they would be best located.
That is such a great idea. The photos at least look great. I do wonder if it ever gets too crowded, since I see a lot of open space but not a lot of seating. Still, awesome idea, and I am not someone who goes to a mall regularly but do now and then. As for my locale, my branch of the public library is a bit out of the way for me, so I fall under the “have to plan a trip” in order to go bunch. Add to it they have limited hours (some days open until 8pm, others not open in the mornings), and it makes it hard to recall when are they open. It’s not terribly far from home, about 5-10 minute drive, but it is out of the main roads, so you have to plan for it. Maybe they could learn something from this.
When I was tiny – maybe 3 or 4 years old, my local ibrary was in the mall. But then they closed it and moved it elsewhere. The city I lived in while doing my MLIS also had library branches in local shopping centres – I always found it convenient that I could go do some grocery shopping and then pop into the library for a book or video.
Where I currently live, I find the main library has a good location, but the branches are a pain to get to – or at least for me since I rely on public transit and they aren’t all located right on the bus lines.
I’ve always been a fan of libraries in malls and wonder why more aren’t doing this.
King County Library System has a branch in Southcenter Mall (south of Seattle) and similar to this system, it has enjoyed great traffic and response from patrons. They opened it specifically because they wanted to get people who were not visiting libraries to see what services they offered. I know I read some pretty amazing statistics from somehwere about the percentage of people who ended up obtaining library cards that had not previously been patrons, but cannot find the story now.
More information here –
http://www.kcls.org/southcenter/index.cfm
Thanks for writing about this. Have enjoyed the comments too! We NEED spaces like this.
[…] This post about a new venture by a library system in New Jersey at Information Wants to Be Free was really exciting to read. This is truly an example of going where the people are. I don’t go to malls anymore, mostly because if I’m going to buy from some large chain store, I’ll go to my favorite, thanks. For brick and mortar stores I’d much prefer something local. Still, that’s not the case with everyone in this country. And to be honest I’d imagine there might just be a correlation between mall use and computer use, maybe I’m wrong. Regardless, this is a library taking a risk and doing something radically different. There’s talk of disruptive technology and disruptive techniques, not in a perjorative sense, on the contrary the idea is that these technologies disrupt the status quo and allow for innovation and newness. Parking a library, where nothing is for sale, in the middle of a mall, where everything is for sale, is gutsy and beautiful. It’s where the people are, and it’s relevant, and it’s just plain cool. If I went to the mall, you better believe I’d love this idea, that’d be one less thing to do, or one less seperate place to go. Ideally though, this will help people who don’t usually go to their libraries see how nice having free access to all the library resources can be. […]