The Parklands Boutique Library Christchurch.

Creating and delivering a public library service for the 21st century is challenging. Being able to accommodate with style new technologies, public meeting space, a learning centre, spaces for collections, time zones and a cafe in a 450sq metre building on a slim budget is very challenging. This has been achieved in the boutique Parklands Community Library of the City of Christchurch opened in August 2005. The library's successes, disappointments and ongoing issues are assessed. Edited version of a paper presented at 'Places and spaces: public libraries for the 21st century in Australia and New Zealand' Adelaide South Australia 31 March-1 Apri12006

**********

The purpose of this paper is to share what we have learnt over the past two and a half years in a way that might help others designing, refurbishing or just looking for change to their library environment. Through my experience working at Christchurch's New Brighton Library, I know how interested librarians from around New Zealand and Australia are in new buildings, innovative ideas and furniture. It is the small size and boutique nature of Parklands, which opened in August 2005, that makes it stand out amongst our larger and less intimate new libraries.

The project

When I started planning this paper, I thought about all the decisions and ideas that were made over the past two years and how we came to where we are today--and realised I could not remember who said 'let's make the carpet the art'. Then it came to me: the Parklands/ Waitikiri Library and Learning Centre has truly been a collaborative and consultative effort.

Early on in the process the project control group (PCG) worked on every aspect of the library building and service. Recently, sitting outside in the sculpture garden in the sun enjoying the warmth and good coffee we all agreed that the project had been most enjoyable and fun.

We agreed that two things contributed to this. First, we had a clear vision to work from. The vision was a document that became our mantra and touchstone when we found ourselves wandering from the path, being tempted by shiny things and gut reacting to a problem. For every problem we found solutions by remembering what it was that we were trying to achieve.

The other contributing factor was that we were a hands on team. It was something of a do it yourself project due to the slim budget we were working with.

The PCG consisted of Christchurch City Council officers including the architect, Crispin Schurr, library colleagues, landscape architect, a digital library services team member as well as an art consultant. Over time people came and went from the group and along the way at pivotal times we invited others to join the group to work on their areas of expertise and interest. This included our Maori services librarian, children's services coordinator and other library and council colleagues.

Everyone brought different experiences, skills and viewpoints to the project. Trying to design furniture that would support our vision of moveable furniture and changeable space was challenging at both design and function levels. Adhering to health and safety requirements etc sometimes stunted creativity and these and many other challenges led to some very hotly debated compromises, all adding to the final product.

The vision

So what is it that makes this library different? It is all in the vision. The original concept belongs to Sue Sutherland and Nicki Moen, two people in our organisation whose ideas can be described as visionary, challenging and sometimes scary. They are leaders in pushing boundaries and exciting and involving others to come along for the ride.

Selling their vision was their first task and from there they gathered people into the project and as a team we all took it forward. We wrote and published the vision early in the project. Publishing it on our website and sharing it with as many people as possible was an invitation for others to get involved and excited as well as keeping us honest and focused.

Throughout this paper the vision will be referred to and quoted often, for it succinctly expresses so much of what we want to share.

Learning points

* surround yourself with people with complementary skills

* establish the vision early on and stick with it

* share the vision with as many people as possible

* include the right people from the start and test your ideas for fit as you go

Parklands Library

Parklands Library is the result of a remarkable makeover transforming the tired 1970s shell of the former North Brighton Baptist Church into a stunning, state of the art, community library. It has been an economical solution to the need for a library in the area, taking just six months to complete at a lower cost than that of a new building.

To make the most of its 500 sq metres, the library has a groundbreaking layout that allows the relatively small space to be used for a range of different activities, for different customers, at different times of the day.

The latest technology means that you are just as likely to get your information electronically as you are from print when you visit Parklands Library. Its Waitikiri learning centre offers 10 state of the art workstations, video conferencing facilities and a data projector for workshops, study programs and use by local schools and community groups. The library also has internet points with free access to key information sites, and a pay facility for surfing.

Parklands Library has its very own cafe, Ditto, serving great coffee and tasty snacks throughout the day.

... and from the vision

   Library services will be delivered from a space that is
   flexible, adaptive, stimulating and dynamic.

   Parklands Library will be a dynamic environment. It
   will be pull down, push out, stack and turn around,
   switch on ... all designed to meet the diverse needs of
   the Parklands community. It will be a light and bright,
   and a fantastic place to visit.

Learning points

* small spaces can be adapted to almost anything

* find an innovative furniture manufacturer for best results

* include the IT people in all aspects of the planning

The zones

Extending the building to the north and south created a space that naturally fell into three areas. These are known as the zones. Using these we have been able to create three distinct areas within the library.

Starting at the south of the building is the Quiet Zone/Te Marino (calm, relax, peace). Situated on the old font on a raised area, with large windows overlooking the street and oversized orange chairs, we have created a space where people can escape to an outward view and low noise levels.

In public libraries these days it can be difficult to find solitude and peace but we have captured a little of that. The cantilevered ceiling and sound absorbing ceiling panels also contribute to the ambience. Although the dvd/cd player is situated in the area as well as the young adult collection, it does appear to be working, except of course after school where it is a free for all. Children have an amazing habit of finding all the best places very quickly.

Stepping down into the Flexi Zone/Te Manawa--the heart of library--the mayhem begins. This area is the most changing and lively part of the building. The children's collection is housed here as well as various computer facilities, games, the customer service desk and self issue machine. The learning centre and the stunningly bright storage areas also run off this part of the building. Flexibility is the key to this zone and our customers need little encouragement to make this space their own. It is full and busy and a real focus for parents, grandparents and children alike. Some of the signature orange furniture resides here with an ottoman being used for sitting, lounging and playing.

Moving to the north end of the building you find yourself in yet another zone, the Easy Zone/Te Whanui (community). Being in this part of the library feels like you are sitting in a magazine spread. With a wonderful outlook onto the sculpture garden it is full of light and warmth. Housing the popular parts of the collection, fiction shelves on wheels act as a buffer as well as guiding people in to the area. With cafe tables and more orange sofas this is a fantastic space. With warm winds wafting through the enormous wall of opening doors, you can transport yourself.

The Waitikiri Learning Centre

In 2003 the City of Christchurch's South Library opened with a learning centre. At Parklands there was an opportunity to create another that would form the beginning of a network that is planned to be strategically placed around the city. As with everything at Parklands the space is small but what we have achieved is the learning space described earlier.

Currently being managed by the South learning centre team, tutors and resources are shared between both sites. During the early days a few programs are being offered and Waitikiri learning centre is open Monday and Wednesdays after school to assist with study support, with a view to establishing a homework club similar to that run at the South location http://learningcentre.christchurch.org.nz/Programmes/. In time the service will be developed in conjunction with the community's needs and interests, with evening sessions to be offered.

Prior to opening day Pat Street, learning centre manager at South, worked with a group of children from local schools teaching them digital photography skills which led to a photo essay of opening day project. They all worked on producing and editing the images in the centre after opening and have created a wonderful depiction of the day. The exhibition has been mounted in the library.

The cafe

Providing a cafe was an integral part of the vision. Taking up a mere 25 sq metres (8 in the library proper) in the Easy Zone, Ditto adds a great dimension to the service and is a real draw card for nonlibrary users. The lease was taken up by local cafe, Va Voom, which is situated no more than 50 metres from the library. All the food is cooked off site and brought across every morning. This arrangement means there are no strong cooking smells in the library, a wider range of food is on offer and they have flexible staffing levels according to the busyness at each location. Customers are able to consume their purchases anywhere in the building but so far most have opted to remain in the Easy Zone either sitting at the cafe tables, both inside and out, or on the lovely orange sofas.

We deliberately located the magazines, newspapers, internet computers, bestseller collection and adult fiction in this part of the library, which contributes to the cruisey cafe feel. In line with the library's time zones, Ditto changes the food on offer to suit different customers with treats for small children at play time and after school pick ups. The owner, Janice Porter-Hoare, has picked up the colour accents in the library and has brought it together to make the most of the cafes frontage. The cafe can be secured from the library when needed by lowering shutters and has a lockable door off the library entrance. So far we have a very happy partnership with the cafe team.

Recently we have jointly decided to move some of the cafe tables further to the centre of the library to increase visibility of the cafe. This has meant using predetermined cafe space for collections which has limited the use of indoor outdoor flow and does not look as good. However, increasing the cafe presence in the library has been achieved.

Learning points

* establishing a clear detailed lease with the cafe is vital

* discussing expectations and sharing the vision important

* testing assumptions on both sides is an advantage--daily and weekly fluctuations are generally just part of library life but for a commercial venture are frustrating 

Art at Parklands

From very early in the project it was intended that art was going to be a feature of the library in support of the CCC's arts policy and strategy http://www.ccc.govt.nz/policy/arts/cccartsstrategy.pdf. We saw the library as a great opportunity to put into practice the concept of art being integrated into new council buildings and facilities and not treated as an add on after completion. We received an art in public places grant of $30,000 from the council. The grant paid for the design of the works and the consultant. The resulting art carpet was funded from the project budget. As with all aspects of this project there was much discussion about what form the art would take. By employing Mark McEntyre as the art consultant we were able to rely on his judgement and understanding of the market to guide our thinking. Mark is a lecturer at CPIT as well as a set designer for Christchurch Operatic Society and with his connections in the art world, as well as his wonderful creativity, he was able to take on all the ideas we brought to the table and share his own.

Eels

The first major art piece idea was a ripple pool in the north garden that would reflect onto the ceiling of the cantilevered roof. It was a great idea but the cost was prohibitive and there were concerns about children drowning, fungus and running costs. However like all good ideas another blossomed from the water idea.

Christchurch artist Bing Dawe designed a carpet that created 'a huge river of eels under the feet of library visitors, stretching towards a striking sculpture in the form of a large hoop with three eels on its top edge'. Both the carpet and sculpture evoke the wetlands which existed across the Parklands area, teeming with wildlife including native birds, fish and eels. Nearby Travis wetland is one of the few reminders of what the area once looked like. Working with Dilana Rugs, Wall to Wall carpets and Danish manufacturer Ece--together in a world first collaboration--a gorgeous integrated art carpet was created. In the words of Mark McEntyre

   the artworks will help to make the library an exciting
   space: they're real, they're accessible, people will be
   able to touch them and walk on them. As children play
   on the library floor, they'll be playing in the river.
   While they're reading their stories, we'll also be
   sharing the story of the area with them through Bing's
   work.

It is truly stunning. Bing was very happy for us to use the eel motif from the carpet on the signs, invitations to events and other publicity material.

Whariki Matariki

To complement the pre European themes the whariki hangs from the ceiling with a lovely story behind its creation. What started as a weaving project undertaken by Simon Rutherford, a local weaver and Haneta Pierce, Maori services librarian, turned into an amazing network wide gift to the Parklands Library. Hanging from the ceiling is a whariki that began its life as a pile of wet harakeke at Queens Birthday weekend. Collected from the Janet Stewart reserve in Marshland and prepared in Simon's home in a traditional manner by enthusiastic library staff, the whariki began its journey. It became the focus of Christchurch City Libraries' Matariki celebrations as it wove its way from library to library. Customers and staff were invited to sit and weave the whariki at eight libraries over a four week period. It was a great project which brought all kinds of people together and the talk, story sharing and even a budding romance were all undertaken as the whariki grew. Now hanging in the library it takes on the shape of an eel and the weaving is mimicked in the stainless steel panels erected on the four exterior corners of the building.

Consultation

As Parklands is truly a community library, we of course consulted with the community. Several different ways were used to reach a wide cross section of people. Collaborating with colleagues in the library and across the wider council ensured we achieved this.

School children Bill Nagelkerke, children's services cocoordinator conducted sessions at the local Parkview primary school and gathered a large amount of invaluable information from the children in every year, from all ethnic groups as well as teachers. This very detailed information along with most of the other feedback was published on the Parklands webpage http://library.christchurch.org.nz/ Parklands/Planning/

Teens Through our youth website Pulse http://pulse.christchurch.org.nz/ we asked the highly invisible teens for feedback and ideas. They gave us ideas on what features were important to them in a library and were asked for creative suggestions for names. Of course there was a prize offered and we had about 80 responses, an acceptable number from that age group. Although there were few surprises, we did get a very clear indication of the issues that most interested them, and published the top 10 on the website http://pulse.christchurch.org.nz/ competition/Parklands/. Although we have not been able to accommodate everything yet, there is still time and we are confident of success.

Adults A public meeting was organised to display the plans, answer questions and discuss ideas and concerns. We met in the original building on a cold July evening. Again we got some ideas about what people were interested in and this was a good place to meet older members of the community. Attending the local Sunday funday proved to be a wonderful way to meet the community. We designed a survey for adults over 20, which continued to grow our understanding of it.

Community groups Using the Cinch database, another Christchurch City Libraries resource, we were able to identify key community groups and contact representatives of these groups to discuss their needs and ideas. Although this appeared to be a solid personal approach, the lack of response and enthusiasm for the project was a little disappointing, in hindsight, and in the light of all the preparation and structure of our other information gathering, a more structured approach might have gleaned more input.

Preschoolers and caregivers Christchurch City Libraries preschool outreach librarian also shared anecdotal information she gathered from the preschools she visited. Again, in hindsight it would have been useful to organise a more structured way of getting information from this group. Although we knew, through information provided by the Department of Statistics and the Christchurch City Council, that young families are a significant group in the community and we had clearly identified their importance in our planning, we could have done more to get to know more about them.

Colleagues With a lot of community information coming our way, we decided to solicit the help of another knowledgeable group of people, our colleagues. We set up a session with about 15 hand picked library staff, assigned them all a character before the session, and asked them to research their character and bring to the session information on what these characters might require from a community library service. Everyone attacked this project with vigour and found different ways to get their information. Our '10 year old boy' Wendy MacKay went to a school and met with a group of 10 year olds and presented us with sheets and sheets of drawings, suggestions and ideas courtesy of the children. This was great fun and an excellent way to get others involved in the project. Again all of this information was put into the melting pot.

Making it happen

Armed with what was a large volume of demands, suggestions and dreaming we proceeded to plan the services and features of the library. This information remained a touchstone during the whole planning process and we are still revisiting the feedback as we make changes and play with ideas for improvement. Being able to anchor our ideas and innovations in the community is great.

One of the most creative ideas was the time zone concept, designed to break down traditional barriers to library use. After the initial excitement, many hours were spent researching, planning, designing and redesigning everything to fit with the concept.

The essence of time zones is to provide times that appeal to different groups at different times. Time for preschoolers to be able to make noise, for buggies to take up lots of space; time for adults to enjoy some peace and quiet. Having lived with and developed the idea we are wedded to its success. The task was, and still is, to sell the idea to users.

In a recent article about Australian business, icon Ita Buttrose commented 'your customers will also resist change--they will need help to adapt' could not have been a more relevant statement for us three weeks after opening. The concept of time zones in a library is very new to users.

Other new concepts for them are the self issue machine, which we are teaching all but the very reluctant to use; the returns area that is behind a wall; and the lack of a reception desk. Although the hidden returns is not entirely new, the fact that there is no way for customers to communicate with the person behind the wall is new. All these ideas require excellent people orientated staff to make them work.

Fortunately we have a very eager team of six colleagues, four new to library work, who believe in the concept and are making it work. The ideas of caring for the customer, a personal approach, nothing being too much trouble are working right now. Expecting immediate absorption of our innovative and exciting idea is unrealistic and helping users keep up with us takes time and energy. Although we fear we are in the honeymoon phase, many users are embracing the change and enjoying the fresh approach, especially those parents worried about the noise that their children make.

Time zones

Revive is adult time in the library, with everything set up to help adults relax and enjoy the atmosphere, browsing the latest books, magazines, online resources, dvds and eds, or chatting with friends over coffee.

Play is preschoolers time, when children and their parents/caregivers can have a great time in a child friendly environment. There will be small furniture, music and plenty of space to have fun. Play will also offer special programs for younger children, which will be advertised.

After school, Breakout offers study support with entertainment, games and computers. It will be a lively, interactive time with staff on hand to help with homework and recreational needs.

Saturday is Relax when the library opens its doors for everyone to come and enjoy all that the library has to offer, from information to entertainment, reading to Playstation games, a coffee of snack at the cafe, and relaxing on a big sofa in the winter, or in the sculpture courtyard in the summer.

Finally, with the library's role as a centre for the community in mind, Connect is a time when community groups can book or use the library as they please. Staff will organise the space to suit their needs, for meetings, talks, book groups or any business group who would like to use the space.

Although we advertised the time zones on the website and in all of our pre opening communications, the lure of a new library with new stock is overpowering the need for space, quiet or noise. We have undertaken to actively promote the times with an expectation that over time people will find a time zone that best suits them

We are using the first few months to record the patterns of use and the appropriateness of the zones as they stand.

Learning points

* changes to traditional library use take time for customers to get used to

* spend more time advertising these changes

* one on one is good

* be patient

Defining spaces: wheels

In such a small space, being able to create a different environment several times a day was a real challenge. Wheels became the basis of most furniture choices. Essentially, everything that can be is on wheels to enable ease of movement. A design requirement was for all of the furniture to be easily moved by a minimum of two people. As Parklands is a small library there are times when there are only two people in the building.

The reality is that some of the furniture has turned out to be much larger than we anticipated, thus taking up more room and being difficult to move. However, the underestimation of the furniture space has proved to be a bonus in some ways, in that it is impossible to have everything out at once, so we have to adapt the time zones and move things around. With few walls and a small long narrow building, the furniture became the key to how we defined space. With this in mind several interesting and potentially exciting concepts were developed.

A note of thanks must go to the New Brighton team who endured many trial chairs, colour swatches, fabrics, tiles and cardboard box mock ups in our cramped workroom. The architect stipulated the furniture colours to work with the shelving and wall colour--white for hard furniture and orange for soft. The rest was left to our interpretation.

Key pieces of furniture

The children's picture book bin is a new design with sloped base and segments that allows at least for some big people and numerous small ones to use it at the same time. Although a large piece of furniture, it has big wheels and is very easy to move.

The height was an important consideration. With adults and children accessing picture books, it needed to be a good standing height for children and a comfortable sitting height for adults on a stool or cushion. One quarter is for board books and the rest for picture books in no particular order. We are very happy with this design. It achieves the goal of function, form and flexibility.

The customer service desk Grub and Grublette This is an amazing looking piece of furniture. Designed by the architect it blends well with the organic themes running throughout the building. Breaking down traditional barriers of standing behind desks was a major factor in the design of the service area. The Grub (as we call it) and the Grublette are on wheels with the intention that they can be moved behind the sliding doors to enable the Easy Zone to be used in the evenings. The Grublette doubles as a membership/reference and information desk and is able to be moved to any part of the library. So far it has remained in one place but as the business settles we are planning to plug it into one of the many floor boxes around the library. The Grublette was initially designed as a desk to sit next to so that customer and librarian can sit next to each other, thus removing the barrier. However, the design had to be altered to accommodate wheelchairs so it has changed a little and customers sit opposite library staff. All of the monitors in the library are on flexible arms. This feature is working well, although it is important when planning to allow for the weight of the monitor and get all the specifications right. Users seem to have latched on to this very quickly and the arms are great.

Another feature of the Grub is that the till and other tools can be locked behind doors and in drawers. The till is on a slide out drawer, which has turned out to be too low but will be adjusted. However, the till is too low and we are looking for solutions.

The main features of the service area are the clean lines and flexibility of use. The intention was to keep the desktop uncluttered with everything out of sight. However more things are creeping in.

We do not move it often because it is very heavy although we were able to move everything out of the way and create a great space for our youth party. With use, we have identified several things about the desk which do not work such as the till being too low and some of the lesser used equipment being fiddly to use.

Dvd/cd, children's interactive, Playstation and Xbox furniture

All of this furniture is able to be moved easily by one person. With the TVs mounted on the top and everything else tucked away, we wheel them into place for each time zone with ease. All the headphones are attached to each unit and up to four people can play or watch together. After school we remove the preschool children's interactive and bring out either the Playstation or Xbox module.

The dvd/cd module is designed so that anyone at any time can selecta cd or dvd and insert it into the machine and listen to, or watch, whatever they choose. There is no regulation on its use and so far everything seems to be running smoothly. Due to copyright we are unable to stage a viewing so it is really up to customers how these features are used and controlled.

Collaborative computer desk

The idea behind this piece of furniture was that it could be used by individuals of as a group. With moving parts and monitors on arms the unit was designed with flexibility in mind. Two of us got together and worked through the IT issues and came up with a design we passed on to the architect.

What we have is a stunning unit that is far too big for the space intended and is unable to be moved around the library. Although this was initially disappointing and has limited the flexibility aspect, we are enjoying having a focal point in the library where we can establish our homework zone and have the ability to move around one table to assist different people. We would do it differently next time.

Action station and discovery wall

With flexible furniture playing such a vital role in the ability to change space, two pieces of furniture were developed to help do this. First the action station which is rolled out for play time. With roll away drawers and slide out shelves, a chalk board and drawers, it is play central for preschoolers. It is easy to move and is stored when not in use. A similar feature called the discovery wall was designed to help delineate space for teens and others. Using a technique spotted on DIY programs, a mobile wall doubling as a bookcase, the discovery wall was intended to house games, information and educational things for 6-12 year olds on one side and similar materials for teens on the other. However, we have been unable to use it as it is too big and will not fit in to the space. It is being altered and we are hoping to have it in action soon. This is disappointing as it was going to be a main flexible feature.

The big orange chairs and sofas

We spent many hours looking for just the right chairs to support the architect's vision for the library.

The story behind them is worth sharing. After months of searching, I was flicking through an Australian woman's weekly at the supermarket checkout and spotted a photo of Bernice Mene sitting in a gorgeous big chair playing a guitar. After buying the magazine and getting all the others excited about the chairs, I tracked Bernice's email address down and sent her a message asking where she got the chair from. She responded immediately and I contacted the company in Auckland. Buying them from a photo and even with sizes and specs they are much larger than we anticipated but what an impact--everyone loves them. Uno Design is a small company and put a lot of their heart into the chairs. They were the first pieces of furniture to arrive and were a refuge for us in the weeks of builders and contractors we had to work round while setting up. We still steal away with a cup of coffee and a magazine in our breaks, as you are practically invisible when sitting in the chair.

When choosing the sofas we opted for a large size enabling either two strangers to sit at each end without impinging on each others' space or entire families to enjoy a read together.

Display unit

Having very little wall space and being keen to make community and library display space available we had made a little unit originally designed for the South Library. Continuing the silver and black theme of the shelving, this unit can be moved to any part of the library and is proving a focal point.

Stereo

Although not furniture, the stereo is all part of the package. We have three sets of speakers and three stereos. Music, songs or story cds can be piped into any part of the building. While listening to cool jazz in the easy zone you will not be bothered by the nursery rhymes being sung in the flexi zone. Still getting used to all the knobs we have had some complaints from coffee sippers about the Wiggles in their ears but otherwise it is a great system. It was put through the hoops at the frenzy youth party and survived.

With a real focus on the promotion of the self issue machine we have more flexibility in how we use our service desks. Customers can stand next to staff at the service desk if they wish.

Unlike many of our libraries, Parklands has all audiovisual material in the cases on the shelves so there is no need for shelving or storage behind or under the desk. Reserves are stored in a purpose built unit that is easily accessible by anyone, although self pick up of reserves is not available. So far these shelves have remained untouched by the users. The result of having no shelves or storage behind the desk is that there are no barriers and there seems to be no need at this point to construct any.

The major points to this being successful are

* having a small space that is easy to see from any part of the building

* staff roving, mingling and engaging with customers

* constant promotion of the use of the self issue machine

* diving in head first so that it has to work as there are no other options, taking away the temptations to store

Learning points

* size does matter. Spend time, even more time getting this right

* work with skilled people when working out furniture

* consult widely with colleagues who will be using the furniture

Collection

As a boutique lifestyle library we have focused the collection on being new and enticing. Part of the original plan was to rotate the collection around other small libraries in the network to ensure the collection remained new and interesting. However, with a change of operating system this has not been possible although it is on the list of things to find a solution to. We opened with a 21,000 item collection which is in excess of the growth total we intended. At this stage the focus has been on hard and paper back children's and adults fiction, a stunning magazine collection of just over 100 titles and lots of audiovisual material including movie dvds.

We have been astounded at the pace the children's AV has moved although we were well resourced to cope. It only took three weeks for the entire collection to move. The adult nonfiction and other parts of the collection will grow in time and we are encouraging customers to use New Brighton and Shirley collections to supplement their reading needs. This has been disappointing for some but after a chat about the role of the collection they seem happy with what we have.

The newness of the stock is a draw card and people are travelling from all over the city to sample it. At a very early planning meeting we made it clear what traditional items would be missing from Parklands, including children's posters, motor manuals and phonebooks. These items are either able to be viewed online or reserved from other libraries in the network.

We have a very small reference collection, so emphasising the availability of online resources on our website as well as the suite of databases is one of our key themes. Users are taking to the idea well. Although the number of paperbacks was over estimated three fold, everything else is about right. We will be monitoring the magazine use to identify lesser used titles and gathering feedback on newspapers as we only supply The Press at this stage.

Learning points

* be clear about what you want your collection to provide for the customer base

* size and demographic of community is important to usage of the collection. This seems obvious but we lost it somewhat in our vision

Communication

Throughout the project we kept the community informed. Using the talents of the council media contact, the library marketing team and digital library services, we were able to keep everyone informed and generate excitement and anticipation unprecedented in the community. We knew the community was anxious to have a new library and had been waiting many years for this to happen. They have been ably served by the mobile library for years but really wanted a community place to enjoy and use.

Although none of these approaches are particularly innovative or new, the way to success was the concentrated and constant visibility of the project in the wider community as well as professional and stylish marketing.

We visited community groups and many colleagues spread the word though various groups and individuals. Of major impact were the glossy newsletters delivered to homes, businesses and local schools. For three months leading up to the opening we held membership clinics at the local supermarket in anticipation of a flood of new memberships and old inactive cards turning up on opening day. Without doubt the clinics not only alleviated pressure on the one tiny membership desk on opening day but also gave us a chance to get to know the community.

Other useful communication tools that generated interest and excitement were

* large signs, with plans, outside the building during construction

* articles in local newspapers

* mail drops advertising the membership clinic

* attending community board meetings (a very supportive and active group of people)

* getting feedback from schools and other groups

* visiting local businesses with the newsletter

* using the library and council websites to record updates

* holding a public meeting

Promotion and marketing

Although the library opened with a fanfare and much interest from the community, aspects of it were not attracting those whom we thought could enjoy what it had to offer. In support of this, the cafe identified that Saturdays were very quiet.

The anticipated weekend leisure users were not coming. We put this down to many families leaving the area for sport and shopping and that Parklands as a suburb is not a weekend destination. We swung into action quickly and put together a 12 week Saturday Sounds event aimed at people not in the family sport demographic.

Using contacts through New Brighton Library's Sunday Sounds we developed a great program which has seen a significant growth in weekend usage.

We used the saturation approach, with posters, the website, mail drops and visits to local community groups and businesses. Outdoor furniture was purchased and the layout of the library and cafe changed to encourage the use of the outdoor area.

We have also designed a pack for businesses in the immediate area as well as QEII park and leisure centre which also houses medical facilities, a preschool and Christchurch school of gymnastics. In the Parklands catchment is also the Burwood hospital which houses specialised spinal and bums units. The content of the packs includes a letter of introduction, a coffee voucher, business related information available through the library network as well as leisure information and a free cd loan voucher.

School holidays have become a feature of promotions with events and competitions. As we do not offer traditional school visits, we are using school newsletters and homework help in the learning centre to connect with customers.

Plans include contacting the schools our less visible customer base are connected with, to organise performances during the nationwide May Music Month in the hope of getting parents involved in the library. We identified this nonuser group when they came to watch their children perform on opening day.

The most successful promotion has been the preschool storytimes and babytimes where parents and children are enjoying the experience of meeting, singing, dancing, selecting item and staying for a coffee and a fluffy. The presentation is intimate and energising. This group will be lifelong library users due to the wonderful experiences.

Learning points

* do not take for granted the appeal of a new library especially in a discreet community with no through traffic

In conclusion

What worked well

* new, popular collection

* flexible space

* furniture on wheels

* indoor/outdoor flow

* marketing for opening

* membership clinics

* team commitment to the principles and vision

* doing the detail work to the nth degree before getting into the building

* involving as many talented people as available

* keeping it simple, being patient during opening madness

What we would do differently next time

* spend more time on getting the scale of all of the furniture right

* installing a sound barrier for the learning centre

* keep promotions, events and competitions constant from the opening day

* spend more time prior to opening with community connections

* not expect customers to understand and accept the time zones as quickly as we did

To complete our first year

Although we have children's programs up and running, we are going to work on adults next, with the introduction of a couple of bookgroups, and beyond. We are also planning another youth party for July and will continue our close work developing homework help with the learning centre.

So far we are sticking to the vision and it is going well. The risks have mainly paid off and the learning and support have been wonderful. We highly recommend everyone getting involved in this kind of project in any capacity at least once in their career. The benefits are 10 fold, not least the opportunity to work with the community and profession to create something really worthwhile and lasting.

Sally Thompson Community Librarian Christchurch City Libraries New Zealand

Sally Thompson is the community librarian for the innovative New Brighton and Parklands libraries of the 335,000 population City of Christchurch NZ. She has been a committed public librarian for 20 years within the City of Christchurch Libraries, in a variety of roles. Email [e-mail]