At the Heart of PPL

One of the key objectives of the first phase of the renovation of the Main Library was to give us the chance to fully express our role as a cultural center by providing appropriate physical spaces. This imperative was not in response to “wouldn’t it be nice” thinking but in fact a reflection of what the Library is now and an effort to meet the expectations of what it needs to be in the future. It is clear that as this City and Library have evolved over the past decade becoming more diverse, dynamic and complicated one of our essential roles in the public sphere is to help strengthen and promote the cultural fabric of Portland.

Our prominent position as an anchor of one end of the Arts District engenders a responsibility and an opportunity to enliven Monument Square at all times of the day and in all seasons. Part of that energy is generated by the transparency of the architecture as library users are seen from outside and they in turn engage outwardly with the city. The comings and goings of the library as cultural center include art exhibits, lectures, music and support of the development of public policy and consensus as shown most recently in the exhibition, reception and opinion gathering for the design of the new benches for the Bayside Trail.

At a stereotypical level libraries are known for lending materials but our range of users and activities sometimes makes it difficult to deliver an elevator speech that captures it all.  Through our efforts in the renovated Main Library since April, the Library is making a strong statement of identity by accepting and promoting the role of a cultural center.

Hang in There Seattle!

Last spring city and state budget seasons brought forth horror stories from all over the country regarding library service cuts. In the urban library systems the cuts proposed were very deep. The responses to try and meet the budget reductions were varied including closing branches, cutting collection budgets, shut down days, curtailment of schedules, etc. In Portland we had to close two of our branch locations (Reiche and Munjoy Hill) and almost a third (Riverton) which was saved at the last minute by a one year funding recommendation by the Finance Committee of the City Council. We were reminded this week that the cuts for many libraries will continue to play out during the year while away from casual observation. One of America’s finest library systems, Seattle Public Library, will close from today until reopening the day after Labor Day.


We at Portland Public Library exist in a true urban environment and it could well be argued, as a microcosm of a Seattle. I know what goes on in a week’s worth of PPL service to kids, businesses, families, neighborhoods, readers, technology users, etc. It is an astonishing range and amount of activity. In Portland we have managed to avoid the scenario facing Seattle but I can’t help but contemplate and commiserate with the people of Seattle and my library colleagues as one tries to calculate the human cost of a lost week. It matters.

Onward and Upward Maine Writers and Publishers

I have been fortunate to have worked with the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance for almost 25 years including when it called Brunswick home. As Director of the Curtis Memorial Library, we were neighbors and I watched the struggle of the organization to grow and evolve … to find the right way to express its mission of supporting the creative literary activity of our state.

So it was with great pleasure that PPL hosted a part of the 35th anniversary of MWPA last Thursday in the Rines Auditorium. The toasts were rightfully many and it was as it should have been. Past Executive Directors, Board members and authors were everywhere. The occasion also marked the end of Shonna Milliken Humphrey’s tenure as Executive Director and the beginning of Joshua Bodwell’s directorship.

MWPA has been a great partner of libraries and of Portland Public in particular. Over the next few months we look forward to developing new approaches to supporting the cultural life of our state and city through program partnerships that celebrate authors, the literary arts and the simple and necessary joy of reading.

Congratulations MWPA!

What we are hearing...

It is coming up on four months since we opened the renovated Main Library and we have received lots of feedback of all kinds. Business is through the roof and we will talk about that in the next week or so. We are trying hard to respond in an incremental fashion since the overwhelming comments from people indicate a high degree of joy and inspiration at being in the space.

Here’s some of what we have heard:

1. Folks can’t find certain collections or services easily or “Where’s the bathroom?” We are in the process of trying to add some additional signs to help make the building even easier to navigate. We are also developing a volunteer “Greeter” corps that will help answer question and give directions as you enter the Main library.

2. People miss the piano practice room: For many years we have maintained a space for folks to be able to come to the Library and play a piano. That space was a small room that absorbed sound. Phase I of the renovation did not provide for that function. We did not choose to lessen the number of meeting rooms in order to provide a music space. In Phase II, we will make sure that the piano room (music rooms), along with other creative spaces for adults, are in play. If we can find a solution before then we will act.

3. What time is it? We did assume that most folks have timepieces (cell phones, watches, etc) but of course that is short sighted to a degree. We have the time on two of the “information boards” in the Library along with two additional clocks (in the lending and children’s story hour area) for convenience.

4. Why aren’t you open on Monday? As of July 1, we are open 10AM – 7 PM on Monday.

5. How come you don’t have a book cart any longer? We used to have a book cart that sold used books and a swap shelf. Our hope had been to incorporate that into a café space in Phase I. The café space has not been included in Phase I due to some design challenges but sometime this fall we will put a book cart of some kind into play.

6. I’d like to have some step stools to help me with the lowest shelves in the fiction area: We are going to try and have a stool for each 9 foot section of the fiction area but frankly at $50 each for 58 shelf sections it will take us some time to fund the effort.

All of the above may be more detail than you’d ever want to know and bore you to tears. However, from our end it matters to people that we acknowledge, actually hear what is being said and then act on those concerns.

If you have something for us to attend to, please let us know at 871-1700 extension 755.

Back to Blog Land

It is time to come back to Blog Land. The last few months have been a little exhausting on this end and in fact there has been too much to say but unfortunately it was matched by my lack of posting discipline. So here we go with a new start.

You may have caught a report or two on the recent grant award received by the Maine State Library for $1.36 million. The funds came from the federal Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) and it specifically funds a project called the Maine Public Library Information Commons Project.

The Maine Public Library Information Commons Project establishes or enhances public computer centers in more than 100 public libraries in Maine. The centers will serve as access points to free high speed Internet service, and will provide assistance to vulnerable populations both in the use of technology and in finding and using needed information in the areas of employment, civil law, health, government services, small business information, and workforce development. This project also establishes 11 additional video conferencing regional hubs to enhance training for patrons and librarians.

PPL is both one of the 100 public libraries and one of the video conferencing centers. We are also hoping to receive a mobile computer lab at some point. It is also worth noting that we have recently received significant upgrades to our bandwidth that should allow us to take full advantage of our participation in the program. The subject areas targeted by the grant are of enormous interest to us as we are already focusing some of our efforts already in these areas through our External Work Groups (Business and Government; Science, Technology and Health) and potential community partnerships that we will talk about over the next few weeks.

Hardware Summary

6 desk top computers
10 lap tops
Video conferencing unit

Partners in the project include the Maine State Library, Maine InfoNet, the Department of Labor's Center for Workforce Research and Information, Access to Justice and Project Compass, and Maine InfoNet.

The full executive summary may be found at: http://www.maine.gov/msl/recovery/

As we have more information we will try to provide regular updates.

This is a very exciting development.

A view of the fiction section

The renovation of the Main Library continues at a quick pace as we look toward our April 15th opening. The fiction collection on the first floor has now been fully installed and to get a sense of the new incredibly bright space take a look at the attached very short video.

A View from inside the Renovation

Welcome to a new series of views inside the renovation - check back daily for new sights of the new spaces and thoughts on the new environments.