Three thoughts on Lakewood Public Library

[Bryan Schwegler]

So I was enjoying our wonderful library today trying to keep out of the heat. Awesome to see others had the same idea. And while I was here, I thought about a few things and figured I'd share them.

1. There seems to be a ton of cement out front. Definitely needs more green space or maybe even just some plants. Would make the whole building look a little friendlier and a lot less imposing from the street.
2. The WiFi is painfully slow...like almost dial-up slow. And why is email blocked?
3. THe LPL should really come out with an iPhone app. How awesome would it be to have the library catalog right in the palm of your hand while you look for great finds in the stacks? Would also be Eco friendly since it would avoid the need to write down all that on little slips of paper.

So just some rambling thoughts.

[Stan Austin]

Bryan--- Your suggestions and observations are certainly pertinent.

What I am really interested in is the prospect of a response from the new Lakewood Public Library Director.

As we all recall, past Director Kenneth Warren was very prompt in using new media and communications channels to interact with the public/patrons. After all, a library is communication regardless of which millennium it exists in.

Therefore, this just might be a little "experiment, trial run" so to speak as to the awareness of the essential mission of our Lakewood Public Library.

Stan

[Danielle Masters]

I love the iphone app idea.

While there is a lot of concrete out front of the library it does seem to get used. I know last weekend during the streetwalk there were bikes parked everywhere and it's great for LEAF nights too. But maybe they could put up some planters for color.

[Bryan Schwegler]

I love the iphone app idea.

While there is a lot of concrete out front of the library it does seem to get used. I know last weekend during the streetwalk there were bikes parked everywhere and it's great for LEAF nights too. But maybe they could put up some planters for color.

That's what I was thinking, some pots with plants or something. It just looks so "dead" up there right now.

[Rhonda loje]

Just remember it would look great but who is going to water them all season! That is the trick!

[Jim O'Bryan]

Just remember it would look great but who is going to water them all season! That is the trick!

Rhonda is spot on bringing up the fact that Lakewood has not mastered "live flower" technology.


A sample of the flowers that attract "thousands of people from all over the region to our
DowntowN shopping district" We would have at least four programs working to make
Lakewood's DowntowN vibrant.


Meanwhile on Coventry on the same day, which suffers from no Mainstreet or
DowntowN programs, seems to have come to grips with live flower, clean
street, live tree technology.

Yeah maybe not flowers or at least not real ones.

I think that much of this recent activity voids an agreement of understanding I believe with
Robert A.M. Stern for what appears on the building, in the building or on the building grounds.
We should remember that there was no way Lakewood could normally afford Robert AM
Stern. And that the building committee which was Suzanne Metelko, Scott Kermode, Jeff
Endress and Kenneth Warren did an amazing job for this city pulling this deal together.
But with the deal came many conditions, including all of the signage, colors, carpet, what
went on the walls(one reason the photos are there forever), and the outside appearance.

When designed it was designed with many, many serious but clear thoughts in mind. The
porch was there as we are a porch community, and that grand buildings have expanses
like that that give the person a change of thought as they climb the steps to enter the
long hall and grand rooms. It is all part of experience laid out by the team and Stern.

Perhaps we can get the new director to weigh in, even though the last director took extreme
heat for posting, answering or even taking part in the Observer from one or two members
of the board. We should never forget that the powers to be, are very much against open
discussion, no matter if it is City Hall, the Schools, non-profit groups, and even the central
point for free thinking and open minds the Lakewood PUBLIC Library.

I will never understand how residents allow it to happen...

How about this idea from the real "Lakewood Is Art" for the opening, that Robert Stern
said, "hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I do not think so."



http://lakewoodisart.com/future-ideas/ectrees/1

Have you bought your "Lakewood Is Art" T-Shirt today? 100% goes to art programs in
Lakewood. Started by artists, and still maintained by artists.

.

[Jim DeVito]

Perhaps Coventry got the the plants right by putting them lower to the ground where citizens could water them without a boom truck. Citizen watering brigades... could probably be done with about 4 seconds of organizational effort.

Also the catalog loads just fine on the iPhone web browser. That said should not cost more than 500-1000 bucks to hire a iPhone developer.

[Betsy Voinovich]

The real story is, I believe that much of this recent activity voids an agreement I believe with Robert A.M. Stern for what appears on the building, in the building or on the building grounds. . . But with the deal came many conditions, including all of the signage, colors, carpet, what went on the walls(one reason the photos are there forever), and the outside appearance..

Hi Jim,

By "recent activity" are you talking about paper signs being wrapped around the library's front columns to advertise concerts, and ugly yard signs on metal sticks stuck randomly around the lawn advertising events that aren't even happening at the library? Signs that might as well be advertising cell phones or mattresses? Can any resident or group use the pillars and lawns to post their own announcements and ads?

When you say "conditions" regarding "the outside appearance" do you mean that Robert Stern wanted the front of the library to look grand, and welcoming, and peaceful? No assault on your senses before you get in the door?

But what can Robert A. M. Stern do about it? He can't take the building back.

Another thing, when you say,

I will never understand how residents allow it to happen....

What are you implying? This just happens. No-one was asked if we wanted those big pieces of paper wrapped around the library pillars, or yard signs stuck all over the place. Is it the Library, is it the City? The Library board is appointed by the School Board right? And the Library Board hires the Library Director. So should we ask the School Board to explain why they think the library should be made into public message board? No strike that, not quite a PUBLIC message board, unless it is, and then maybe I can put signs all over announcing the street-wide garage sale my street is going to have in August.

The School Board can't answer a straight question, they've made that clear. Why are you allowing our beautiful library to be made to look like that?

Why would you not put a school where the greatest number of families live? Why would you spend twelve million dollars more on a building that neither serves the community now, nor in the future, and why would you HIDE that twelve million dollar difference from the community?

It's a mystery. Lakewood is a mysterious place.

You might say, oh there's Betsy talking about the schools again, but it's not about the schools, it's about everything. I hope MY money isn't being spent on those sickly looking flowers, but I don't know whether it is or not, I suspect that it is. I don't like those ugly yard signs stuck everywhere I look, but what am I supposed to do about that? Should we be driving around and collecting them and throwing them away?

How much research am I expected to do to understand how everything works, who controls what, and even if I figured it out, what is it that you think I, or we, should be doing about it?

What should we residents be doing? Jim Crawford, the new library director, is a lovely guy. I think he would certainly talk to people about anything they are concerned about, but, like the School Superintendent, he has to answer to his bosses. (Who we elect, yes. There is one thing we can do-- when the time comes. We can make sure we elect people who do know how to answer questions that by law, they have agreed to answer, by accepting the position they are elected to. I get that and I hope everybody does. Unless we don't get to elect them. Unless they are appointed...)

The question is what can we do right now? Why are you acting like everybody is just happy to have things the way they are, when I think it's more likely that most people don't know what actions to take to change things? With this economy, people are worried, and busy, trying to keep their families, their jobs and their lives together. What is it that we're supposed to be doing with time and energy we have left?

Betsy Voinovich

[sharon kinsella]

Betsey - I had indicated the stuck in the lawn signs and threatened (joke) the new director with putting my Yard Sale sign there.

Speaking of the new director, I introduced myself to him and discussed a couple of collection concerns. He was very forthcoming and took care of it immediately. Would that more people in power positions were so agreeable and willing to listen.

I'm very impressed with him.

[Bryan Schwegler]

Just remember it would look great but who is going to water them all season! That is the trick!

I would think the library's facilities staff could water them. Unless there's something more complicated?

[Bryan Schwegler]

I think that much of this recent activity voids an agreement of understanding I believe with
Robert A.M. Stern for what appears on the building, in the building or on the building grounds.
We should remember that there was no way Lakewood could normally afford Robert AM
Stern. And that the building committee which was Suzanne Metelko, Scott Kermode, Jeff
Endress and Kenneth Warren did an amazing job for this city pulling this deal together.
But with the deal came many conditions, including all of the signage, colors, carpet, what
went on the walls(one reason the photos are there forever), and the outside appearance.

So wait, are you saying Stern had a deal with us to keep a sea of lifeless cement outside the new building? Was that to enshrine its design as something worthy of Nuremburg 1944?

I imagine that adding a little greenery to the space would neither ruin the new library nor stop anyone from using the front porch.

I mean it's a grand building, but so much cement makes it imposing, not welcoming or edifying. Even the grandest cathedrals have green space. The same problem, at least in my view, is often carried inside. The entire grand staircase area is pretty lifeless to me, a huge opportunity for better use of that space.

But I realize a lot of this is also just aesthetic opinion so I'm not trying to belittle the job the design committee did.

[Bryan Schwegler]

Perhaps Coventry got the the plants right by putting them lower to the ground where citizens could water them without a boom truck. Citizen watering brigades... could probably be done with about 4 seconds of organizational effort.

Or give a tax credit to the businesses that agree to take care of the plants/trees in front of their businesses?

Also the catalog loads just fine on the iPhone web browser. That said should not cost more than 500-1000 bucks to hire a iPhone developer.

I noticed the mobile slight a little bit after I posted about the iPhone app, but the catalog isn't really formatted for the small screen. They should either create a mobile-optimized catalog (probably cheaper) or an app just to make it more useable.

[Jim O'Bryan]

So wait, are you saying Stern had a deal with us to keep a sea of lifeless cement outside the new building? Was that to enshrine its design as something worthy of Nuremburg 1944?

But I realize a lot of this is also just aesthetic opinion so I'm not trying to belittle the job the design committee did.

Actually Nuremburg walls and pillars would dwarf the library. But one could say that the
walk would also add clarity and a chance to rethink what you re actually stepping into.
A library built with input from a director that understood the sense and purpose of a library
in a community. A safe zone where all points of view have a place in learning and discussion.
A place that the past library director felt Lakewood was ready for. A library director that left
his heart, soul and blood on the steps thinking Lakewood was open enough to stand up to
learning and open discussion as in the days of the great libraries in Greece, Athens,
Alexandria, London, New York, etc.

I believe when you hire an "artist" you take a back seat in much of what follows. IM Pei
when he first presented the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was ridiculed, and mocked. Today
it stands as the symbol of Cleveland, and is a cornerstone in the IM Pei Gallery of buildings.
Which includes the Louvre, the Bank of China, etc. Matter of fact the Rock Hall is a star
of the IM Pei portfolio online.

Likewise Robert A. M. Stern was brought in to make a statement, and when you hire one of
the best, you make concessions. When you get it on the cheap, you make more concessions.
I wonder if the Library Board did not have more say in this then most groups that hire Stern.
When I first met Robert Haas, I was wondering why him? Then I was told he is the muralist
of choice for Robert Stern. So I helped to drive him around for a couple days to get him
a feel of what Lakewood is. He met with the historical society and others in a quick dialog
about Lakewood past, present and future. And sent him many photos to look at that I took
while driving around. After the first night I looked him up online! He is a modern Michelangelo.
He is the muralist to the stars of architecture now living. Again a coup, but only because
Stern made the call.

The Lakewood Public Library is now a cornerstone of Robert Sterns portfolio, and a reson for
many to first hear of Lakewood and eventually stop by.

With so many things as you so wisely point out, is "in the eyes of the beholder." Perhaps
on some things we should consider the entire piece, as art.

.

[Bryan Schwegler]

I know exactly what you're saying Jim and I agree with it from an artistic and architectural standpoint. The new library building is an amazing building and it definitely makes a statement. It's stately and lofty and certainly adds some heft and "gravitas" to the idea of learning.

I guess it may just be part of me yearning for the old library...it was cozy, familiar, it embodied the feeling to me of curling up with that good, well-worn book. I just don't get that same feeling in the new space, but again, that may not be what its purpose is meant to be.

I grew up on Arthur right near the library so it was really like an old friend. Probably will just take me time to get used to the new friend.

[Jim O'Bryan]

It's stately and lofty and certainly adds some heft and "gravitas" to the idea of learning.

I grew up on Arthur right near the library so it was really like an old friend. Probably will just take me time to get used to the new friend.

Bryan

Not just learning, but thinking, and DISCUSSION. This is what the grand libraries in history
were all about. They all go hand in hand. In what is becoming a largely diffused tribe of
humans, critical thought, learning, and discussion the very foundation of humanity is
quickly disappearing as more and more groups that could never build consenus or exist
in the light of day control their message so that no critical thought can ever be applied
or brought in.

Truly Huxlian.

There is still some of the old library in the new I thought? If that is not enough I have a
couple benches and some stools I bought at the sale, would be happy to lend them out.


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