West Newsmagazine 10-11-17

24 I COVER STORY I
By JESSICA MESZAROS
October 11, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
The busiest branch of the St. Louis
County Library [SLCL] district is about to
reopen its doors with a new look that caters
to a wide variety of patrons across the West
County area.
Whether visitors want to check out
a book, use a fully equipped business
center or let their kids play with interactive
toys and apps in the new Discovery
Zone, there’s something for everyone at
the updated facility, located at 300 Clarkson
Road in Ellisville. The branch recently
received renovations as part of the districtwide
Your Library Renewed program, and
is the 14th branch, out of 19, to be updated.
“Everything was completely gutted back
to the studs on the wall,” SLCL Director
Kristen Sorth said. “All of the spaces
have been built out. Only the bones of the
branch stayed. Everything you see inside
the branch is completely new.”
The public will be able to access the
branch on Wed., Oct. 25 at 9 a.m., when
reopening programs will be available to
patrons of all ages. Live Art with Karen
Raidy will take place at 9 a.m., followed by
Story Time at 10 a.m. and a performance by
the Juggling Jeff Comedy Show at 4:30 p.m.
The library’s new Discovery Zone
includes interactive literacy panels and
a slide between floors and a Crooked
House play area made possible through a
gift from West Newsmagazine, in honor of
the community paper’s 20th anniversary in
2016. The stylized playhouse doubles as a
quiet reading nook for younger kids.
“We wanted to celebrate our anniversary
with a gift to the community,” West
Newsmagazine Publisher Sharon Huber
explained. “The reason we chose to facilitate
the crooked house in the Daniel Boone
branch’s new Discovery Zone is because of
its connection to reading and, as a house,
it has a mailbox, which, of course, is integral
to the delivery of our newsmagazine.
Three times a month, West Newsmagazine
is in the mailboxes of West County homes.
We hope that, through our connection with
St. Louis County Library, we can encourage
children and parents to develop a love
of reading and explore issues that affect all
our lives.”
Of the crooked house, Sorth said, “It’s
kind of a location for kids to crawl in to sit
and read a book if they want to, but it’s also
for playing in.”
The Daniel Boone branch only is the
second one to feature a brand new Discovery
Zone area. The Florissant Valley
branch unveiled its renovations, including
a Discovery Zone, last month. At the
Daniel Boone branch, the Discovery Zone
comprises the entire lower level, which is
entirely dedicated to children’s services
and educational activities. The Asian
Center, which used to be located in the
lower area, will have a new home in the
Thornhill branch. Renovations there are
scheduled to begin this fall or winter.
Some of the amenities within the new
Discovery Zone include a pneumatic
tube display and an interactive light wall
similar to a life-sized Lite Brite where
kids can work together or alone to create
custom designs.
“It’s truly a destination place for families,”
Sorth said.
Also present in the Discovery Zone are
two large-format touch screens where kids
can play games and test digital literacy
skills with educational apps and software.
Sorth said, “The kids enjoy all the features
we added [in Florissant], particularly
the large format touch screens with educational
apps. The pneumonic tube maze also
is really fun, and the kids love it.”
Ellisville City Manager Bill Schwer
said that, in addition to excitement among
community members, there’s excitement
among city officials and staff. “We’re all
definitely excited for the reopening.”
The Your Library Renewed program
was broken into three phases to efficiently
renovate and rebuild 19 libraries across the
county. Phase I was marked with the completion
of nine renovated branches and the
construction of two completely new facilities
from 2015 to 2016. Phase II includes
the construction of three new branches and
four sets of branch renovations, including
Daniel Boone. Phase II is scheduled for
completion by the end of 2017. The program
will conclude with Phase III, which
includes a reconstruction of the SLCL
Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.,
scheduled sometime in 2018.
The Daniel Boone branch, which was
built in 1966, was renovated to include an
additional 10,000 square feet. It now offers
a Discovery Zone for children, collection
space, quiet reading room, program room
and comfortable seating areas.
The budget for renovating the Daniel
Boone branch was about $9 million with a
construction timeline of about 12 months.
Clayton-based Bond Architects handled
the design.
Bond Architects has worked with SLCL
to renovate or renew multiple libraries
as part of the Your Library Renewed
program, including the Samuel C. Sachs
branch. Bond Architects was one of many
architects chosen for the program through
a competitive process, and according to
Sorth, worked mainly on Phase II projects.
The new facility totals 44,000 square
feet in size and includes a larger children’s
library in addition to the new Discovery
Zone on the building’s lower level.
Sorth said the additions at Daniel Boone
were not chosen at random but were the
result of community feedback.
According to SLCL Communications
Manager Jennifer McBride, community
surveys were administered at the Daniel
Boone branch from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1, 2015,
as part of the library system’s 2015-2018
strategic plan. Preparation for the plan
included multiple surveys and focus groups
to gauge residential feedback for various
renovations, including what improvements
patrons would like to see at the Daniel
Boone branch. A facilities master plan
survey also was conducted in February
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
St. Louis County Library’s Daniel Boone branch reopens Oct. 25
The interactive light wall at the Florissant Valley branch. The same amenity is set to be installed
at Daniel Boone branch’s facility.
[Photo courtesy of St. Louis County Library]
2012 by Aaron Cohen Associates Ltd out
of New York, to determine what library
patrons wanted systemwide. That survey
indicated that the former Daniel Boone
facility was inadequate for its surrounding
population and business volume.
“Patrons wanted places where they could
spend the day, whether they’re reading a
book, on their laptop or hanging with their
kids,” Sorth said.
For patrons who may be worried that
the library’s renovations, which have a
definite community center feel, have compromised
the collection, Sorth said there’s
no need to fear. The renovations, she said,
will help maintain Daniel Boone’s high
circulation levels and provide a home for
the library’s growing collection.
“It’s the exact same collection,” Sorth
said. “It went into storage and now it’s
coming back. Daniel Boone is a really busy
branch and has very high circulation levels.
There are a lot of books there, and they’ll
be back for people to check out.”
According to Sorth, Daniel Boone circulated
about 1.4 million items in 2015 prior
to its closure for renovations in 2016. By
comparison, SLCL’s Headquarters circulated
about 1.1 million items in 2015. The addition
also offers the potential to expand the collection
and eventually add more to the branch.
“We’re still very much about books
and checking out materials,” Sorth said.
“Those items are all there and waiting to be
checked out.”
However, the results of the surveys indicated
branch patrons wanted an increased
emphasis on comfortable seating, quiet
reading areas and an enhanced children’s
space in the new Daniel Boone branch, all
of which have been added.
Sorth said the dedication of the entire
lower level to children and educational
programs was done intentionally. In the
former Daniel Boone branch, the regular
library space, teen space and children’s
area all shared the same floor. The separation
was intentional to not only confine
noise to certain areas of the branch, but
also to give children a designated safe
space to play.
“We wanted to encourage kids to explore,
play and learn, and to have plenty of space
to do that,” Sorth said. “The collection at
Daniel Boone for kids, like the books and
DVDs, is very large. That is also on the
lower level.”
Sorth noted that the teen area now is
located upstairs. That updated area features
the entire teen collection, a computer bar,
colorful furniture and trendy light fixtures.
“I think it’s been a library experience