KYLE — The Kyle Public Library is hoping to get a new look and expand its services, all of which will be determined through community engagement sessions.
The first session occurred April 30, when community members were prompted with several amenity options to gather input for 720 Design, the architecture company working with KPL on its Master Library Plan. The company specializes in libraries, said founding principal Maureen Arndt, and has worked on facilities in Cedar Park, Seguin and Round Rock.
According to Ardnt, the project is in the early phases, as this engagement session will allow the company to determine what possible plans to bring forward to council at a later date. Although data is still being collected, Ardnt shared that the team is expecting to hear at least two common requests: “The two biggest things that we hear are most communities don’t have enough spaces to meet for a whole variety of reasons, like a group of kids for school, a quilting group, a business group or big groups and organizations [don’t have a space]. Then, the second biggest thing that we hear is teens don't have a free and safe space to hang out and so, the library has started to fill that role, alongside the books and the education and the programs,” she explained.
“I feel like the library is really underestimated with the amount of power that it can have for study halls, for helping to do better and creative work spaces for you to create [and put things] out to the world,” said Kyle Area Youth Advisory Council (KAYAC) member Dustin Wimberly.
Siblings Ibrahim and Maryam Alani, who are also part of KAYAC, added that these new spaces would not only bring the community together, but would aid in education for those in the city.
When prompted with the possibility of this disturbing the quiet nature of a library, Ardnt laughed, stating that the 21st century library is no longer a quiet place, but that guests participating in the data collection have an option to vote for quiet spaces. These areas would be isolated and provide pockets of quiet, rather than forcing the entire facility to adhere to this standard.
Other amenities available to vote on included:
• Community spaces: multi-purpose room; conference room; study rooms; and story/arts and crafts room
• Creative spaces: high tech makerspace; low tech makerspace; video and audio recording; and learning/tech lab
• Outdoor spaces: drive-up return window; study/work/reading porch; music gardens; community gathering space; and program/performance space
• Trends: rooms for remote work; teaching/learning kitchen; after hours library material pick-up; and coffee cart
• Adult spaces: quiet reading room; comfortable individual study; adult niches; community living room; and business incubator spaces
• Teen spaces: vending/gathering; teen living room; gaming/coding space/graphics; seating/study area; and art/craft and art display
• Children’s spaces: imaginative play; reading niches; social spaces/family living room; and early literacy learning environment
Additionally, those in attendance wrote what they believe is important in a library, which included suggestions, such as resume writing, comfortable armchairs and adult programs and classes.
Assistant library director Jessica McCart stated that she’s looking forward to the results because, although she’s not sure what they will yield, she anticipates the final outcome: “I think I’m going into it with an open mind and looking forward to seeing where the results will take us and maybe that’s a beautiful thing that I can’t envision in my head right now.”
The result of these engagement sessions will only inform the city on how much to expand, said council member Lauralee Harris, as the city has outgrown the library.
“We’re just way too small for the population. When this library was built, there [were] probably less than 30,000 people and [now], we’re almost 60,000,” explained Harris. “Before we actually start doing these [designs], we need to know what we’re going to do. Are we going to go up and out with [the current] building? Are we going to build another library on the east side … This is a fairly small area, so if we want to build here, we’re going to have to do some creative thinking.”
Ardnt stated that the second community engagement session will be online and open in late May through June.
