Planning and building for the future

Perhaps you think your town needs a library. Or, you've had a library for a long while and you want to enlarge it or move it to a more accessible location. About half of the communities in the East Central Region are at various stages in exploring these questions. Some are looking for land to build on and some are looking to expand current facilities. Thus was the impetus to bring in an expert in the planning and building libraries business, Jack Poling, Managing Principal of Meyer Scherer and Rockcastle Architecture and Interior Design.

The workshop was attended by 41 library leaders that included librarians, library supporters, and city and county elected officials. Poling led a discussion on the library building process that included: identifying and establishing need; defining needs; funding campaigns; design; construction; and the post construction period. Poling's nationally-known firm has built more than 100 libraries. He shared his experiences and offered valuable insight into the process including lessons learned. The audience asked many questions and shared experiences with each other. The attendees thanked Poling for the valuable information and expressed a desire for the Region to sponsor additional opportunities to get together and learn more about the process.

Jack Poling answers a question posed to him by Dwight Haberman,
part of the committee working on getting a new library built in Isanti.


Participants from Princeton, Onamia and Sandstone converse about library planning issues.
It never hurts to get a little help from your friends.

Barbara Misselt, Director