the following podcast is produced or sponsored by a community member the content views and opinions expressed are those of the participants and do not reflect those of v m c or the town of dhamma b mc welcomes your comments call us at six one seven four eight four two four four three or email us at access at belmont media dot org hello everyone welcome to community conversations i'm your host colton happy birthday to the belmont public library the library turns one hundred and fifty years old this year and over that time as you can imagine the way society stores in access  information has constantly evolved and we're seeing that evolution today and belmont as as well so today i have ascap eco hain chair of the board of trustees of the belmont years but my understanding is that the belmont public library is one of the most use libraries in the commonwealth of massachusetts is that correct it's absolutely correct and we are in the eleventh best circulating library in the state of massachusetts and we are obligated to keep records of our circulation and the number of people that visit the library and so that's how we have that information we have we've progressed i think when i joined the trustees we were the thirteenth that's circulating right now of the eleventh and we have over it on average a thousand people a day that visit the library and so certainly that ebbs and flows but but a thousand visitors coming into our doors and that doesn't count the people that are coming through the parking lot to drop off books at the book yes in the book drop so really want to the most heavily used services and facilities in town well i have to tell you i'm one of those users at the library at the moment library is my office away from the office if i i want to get away from the telephone from the internet and just sit down to get some real work done right i go to the library right well and i think to your point one hundred fifty years and things certainly have changed in terms of how people are using the library and then drives the services that we perform so we see many folks like you who come and it's really their home away from home or their office away from home it's a gathering place so people are going not only to get information to get guidance to participate in a program or a sing along or read along but they're going to you know kind of collect and using it as a work place a reflective place so let's let's talk about state in terms of utilization and programs also on that floor we have a lot of community space so we've got the flight room in the assembly room a lot of the staff space is there as well so with the circulation we have all those books need to be processed all need to be handled so a lot of that activity happens on that first floor when you move to the main floor is where we have most of the collections all the the different periodicals the different books reading rooms the reference room it's where you've and if folks have visited lately they know that we've done a lot of refresh and the west wing the west wing has been closed for a while the west wing has been closed for longer well so you know i think one thing the folks you know we've spoken about it a very old facility and so in the name need of some investment but but back to kind of the space yes main floor is really where we have our periodicals our collection and then on the top floor is where there is some quiet space some study space and additional materials we are looking to take over and build some quiet study rooms up there because the library is used quite a bit for people to go from from reflecting we have a lot of tutoring that goes on so that's something that we've heard a lot from the community about wanting quiet study space and just not a silly thing but  so i've had never understood how high are home was in cushing square until i went and studied that map when yeah yeah yeah it's fascinating and but it's kind of stuck up on the third floor if you will of if you don't go up there you would know that it's there i would just recommend that anybody who has an interest in the town poke their nose into the library and head up there y it's really fascinating right and i think you know again you know on that theme of you know i'm learning about the town i think you know folks know that we have a classroom housed in the library which is the historical room and so that is open and also another fabulous resource for folks to go in and explore when it's open and so again just along that theme of  history and collections that's that's a fabulous resource as well i don't want people to get the wrong impression about the library we talk about the library but really the belmont library is part of a larger minuteman system and i to be honest i've never quite understood how that how that fits right or what that means well you know so i think there are a happen to belong to and so what that allows us to do is to borrow books from all of those member communities it's forty three libraries sixty two ok so it's really a central network and so there are vans every day that go back and forth you know kind of moving materials from one library to the next so if i want something that isn't at the belmont library but lexington right  has it lexington will send it over to baum and i can check it out absolutely absolutely and and so we belong to that particular consortium but but actually you can get materials from any library and the state so it's just this is by being part of the minuteman it's something that is really kind of easier and there's there's a regular exchange of information so for a certain amount of money i think we pay about fifty two thousand dollars a year goes up each year a little bit we belong to that consortium so what allows us to maybe not hold as many copies as a book of a book but to be able to leverage you know kind of across that community of libraries to best leverage resources and material and to extend that just one final step having a library card then does that mean i could go into the watertown library of the lexington library and thing absolutely so really the belmont library is gives or the belmont library card gives me access to the regional library wit hout having a lexington library card in the only the only difference so you're absolutely right and that's one of the interesting and benefits but there are some things there are some programs and services that that if you're a belmont resident you know you're given preferential treatment for so with some of our e book programs downloads you need to be have a belmont library card in order to access our our collection if you will ok so there are some restrictions or some unique benefits by having a belmont library card and that just for folks to be aware of well and let's explore that for just a minute if we might because even in our conversation this morning it sounds like we're talking about books but the library nowadays is about far more than books you walk in and right there by the  there is the collection of television shows and movies but you have you have all sorts of electronic i don't know what the terminology would be but it's electronic media right right well you know people think about how we consume information today it comes in many different forms it could be print could be electronic could be audio could be video visual so really the library is the source for information in a variety of formats and we have seen you know people will say you know books are going away everything's electron we don't need you know we don't need a library so really you know the library used to be a place where you went to get information and now it's a place where you go to learn how to use information or find the right information in the age of information overload it's really teaching people information literacy where the right sources what is the right information how to navigate it how to find it so to your question you know we see here we've seen a huge spike in electronic media download consum that way and and so but but but equally you know our print circulation is still a strong so people have strong preferences you know some people i'm i'm a die hard paper person give me a book others are you know want want to read on their kindle so so we really try to find the right balance about making information available and a variety of formats to reach our our audience which is you know varied  as well and thinking about that i'm in my mid sixty's and so unlike my twenty five year old daughter is it lives on her electronic devices i'm not always comfortable with seeking out electronic information but when one were to go if one were to go or when one goes to the library they wouldn't be on their own there are people there help there people are there to help patrons learn how to access this other information well and in fact so we have the reference you know when you think about reference material know you and i have spoken about this before i you know i'm used to you know world book encyclopedia great and so now all that online and so that's very much part of what the librarians role is is to help guide and navigate you we in fact offer programs that folks can sign up for that you can go in the technology librarians will well you know offer different programs in terms of you know using different databases accessing information to you can come in and get one on one how or you can come to one of our programs i know we also go to the beach center you know to our librarians will go to the beach street center and offer a training course there so know i think we're all about educating people on how do you use the library resources and as as they've changed over the hundred fifty years and will continue to change we will need to change methods our instruction our resources to accommodate that when i was a kid i used to go i grew up in des moines iowa and i used to go to the des moines library and check out  tape i don't know if you can get records i have to check and find out but actually what i've heard is that records are coming back you know vinyl yes it's coming but but i think  d i think the point is that if that you know we will change right as we have and in the library so you know when you when you're saying when you come in and there's the stacks of c as information format of all one thing that's always struck me about the library is that you really have an obligation to serve everybody who walks through the door whether they're young or old or whether they are a casual reader or i don't know what the opposite they're in intense reader so you think about how how to deliver services or what services you know i think you know a statistic that that i watch is how many people in town have a library card so sixty five percent of our residents have a library  program so there's we've added programs story times for you know for for that age group because there's that demand really introducing you know our our youngest residents to you know what it means w book and so part of those those programs are not only for you know the babies and the children but for the parents and the caregivers too how do you interact with a child  reading so so we really in fact i think that we have a new children's librarian who is really been expanding some of the offerings in that age group but to your point about we do serve everybody great and so there are age groups and and and different needs we have three literacy programs that we offer so we've expanded from those so they're you know for adult language know you know english language where people can come and practice and learn and be guided and we've focused a lot on on the teen program really because that you know it's kind of that in serve everybody and have targeted programs at each level based on what we're hearing from the community and what we think we can do it you know sponsor literacy and and information awareness  have community computers yeah i mean any access to computers where somebody can just walk in and sit down and just you know we do and you know i think you know sometimes people just take for granted that everyone has access to the internet and yeah and and and a computer and so we actually do have a number of public computers that are that are available i happen to have to have a stat here that they were used for over twenty thousand  sessions twenty thousand eight hundred sessions last year so if you have to sign up so so again i think you know it's a community resource and so you can expect that that everybody has that that access to that information or that kind of facility at home and so yes martin for us to offer and we've expanded the use of computers in the library so you can take out a laptop and have it available you know take it in the library and  und we have candles that are available for instance it's a library it's like books or other media it would be without cost right it's not as though you're renting them for fifteen dollars right right right trustees she is an elected official here in belmont the trustees are our elected i'd like to change directions furred for just a moment because we've been talking about the library as a facility  of three arms to the organizations that support the library there's the library board of trustees which oversees the facility there is the library foundation which is relatively new and then there is the friends of library right where are well let's set aside the trustees is just me that's the board of directors you know they they're responsible for the business budgets staff all the things that a board of directors i must know friends has been around for a long time and they are very valued partner and tremendous amount in the library and support programs and services so the museum pass program supported by the friends many other programs that will give us a grant for it to host a music program to sponsor staff to go to a  conference they actually sponsor and some of the aesthetic things and in the library so much of the reference room redo was was supported by the friends the planters in front of the library supported by the friends established to support fund raising for a new library i think folks may may know that we are have recently gotten approval from a town meeting to use for a building committee and we are looking to design to develop the schematic design too for a new library building the belmont library foundation will be instrumental in driving those fund raising efforts so it's really we talk about it you know kind of the three legs of the stool because we're all working you know kind of independently but in partnership to achieve really the you know the same result what we want is the best resources the best programs th e best facility for the community and let's talk about a new library for a minute because we been talking about how wonderful the the library is but there is really a need for a new physical facility yes yeah you know the current building is fifty years old and as we've been talking about you know that there needs you know how you're using a library certainly has changed over that period of time the composition of the community has changed over that time so the there are some structural issues with the building and there are real challenges with usability and space so could we renovate and put in addition on or do we really need to look at a new facility and the conclusion from that study was that a new building was the best option there are considerations issues with with the current structure from the roof to the walls to the floor not not spec to carry the loads that we have in their interest and and so the cost or renovation would be substantial you know just short of ten million dollars for just a run of a unit without giving us any improved service or use so the conclusion was that really we really need to be focused on on a new a new building on the site that it is and and doing it in partnership so the foundation is is gearing up to fundraise to to see how much we could we could achieve in a public private partnership and have that amount of capital that we could contribute to the overall cost and looking toward the future i see him as the library will  in the flow of things will come behind the high school but this isn't a theoretical notion the commitment has been made by town meeting by appointing our authorizing a building committee right to move forward with the new library yes i think there was overwhelming support in the vote at town meeting for four for a building convening and you know the town and i think that's why we feel so strongly about the phone nation being reenergized and focused on fundraising you know we have many capital projects many demands on our taxpayers and so we feel a strong obligation to do what we can  fundraise to to as a contribution towards a new library we've been talking i want to change directions again just just a little bit we've been talking about the library as the depository of information but  and i talk about how i go to work at the library during the work week but i'm often at the library on saturdays and sundays not for my job but to listen to music i just there was the  you know there's there's always a host of programs that are being offered it could be a music program could be a knitting program it could be a book club it could be an author series and so you know i think we've seen a huge growth in the use of the library for those kinds of programs and lot of partnership with other agencies in town whether it be with we have books in bloom coming up in the first weekend in march which is a partnership with the woman's club with the foundation with the friends and and while so have a celebration for the hundred fiftieth anniversary birthday of for the library but you know we partner with the senior center with monta against racism and offer movies books you know so a wide variety of programs that are that are offered it do you have as spe cific or special efforts to collaborate with the belmont schools we do and so again you know i think there's very strong partnership with the schools and many of the the databases that we might offer or the books that we have a line that with the school curriculum the librarians there are very often you know partnering with the educators in the school going to the school so i know when my kids were in the generally there was you know history project or history day and and so at that time kids used to come to the library now the librarian to go to to teach the kids about primary sources and secondary sources and how to use that information and so very strong partnership between between those two organizations and they're really an extension of one another and i think as we're almost out of time but let me ask you one last question and it's something you can probably opine on for hours but it seems like we're on the cusp but we're celebrating one hundred fifty years of history but we're also at the cusp of moving to a new facility can you sort of reflect for a minute as the chair of the board of trustees about the changes in the library and what the biggest change you expect perhaps well you understand the question and i think the biggest changes that there will be continued change right that that i think we have with this it ministration from the trustees and the leadership that we have with peter there as the new director we really look to strengthen our partnership and collaboration with with other  departments in town and really try to and hands our community engagement right we are a service that that services the public so we we exist to serve and what we expect is that we will continue to change as the demographics in town change and as the needs of the community and as information continues to take different forms and formats we will  celebrating its one hundred fiftieth birthday this year you've been listening to community conversations you can access community conversations on i tunes by searching for the b m c podcast network and of course you can also stream community conversations online by going to the belmont media center website and media dot org i would like to think kathy again for stopping over today i would like to thank you the listeners for tuning in to community conversations i'm your community conversations host roger colton i will talk to you again in two weeks