Chinatown Branch Boston Public Library

1. Chinatown Branch Boston Public Library Presented by: Jason D. Nosek, Joaquin Falcon, & John Brdecka LIS 779 - Planning & Equipping Libraries Professor Christopher Stewart

2. Boston Public Library System • Founded in 1848, BPL was the first large free municipal public library in the United States • McKim (Central Library) on Copley Square and 25 neighborhood branches • 3+ million visitors per year • 2012 operating budget: $39.7 million Source: www.bpl.org/general

3. Project Architects Miller Dyer Spears, Boston, MA • Specializing in learning space and campus design for secondary and higher education, the healthcare industry, and more Source: www.mds-bos.com/ Client list includes: • M.I.T. • Northeastern University • Mount Holyoke College • Brandeis University • City of Boston • Harvard University • UMass Amherst

4. Project Architects, cont'd Source: www.mds-bos.com/?mdsact=projects

5. Branch History • First Chinatown branch established in 1896 • Offered multilingual collections, ESL classes, citizenship information, and employment assistance • Closed in 1938 • Reopened as a reading room from 1951-1956 • Building demolished in 1956 for the Boston Central Artery (now the Rose Kennedy Greenway) • One of the few neighborhoods w/o a branch • Advocacy since 2001; 2006 feasibility study

6. Site Selection Four sites chosen for the from eleven listed in feasibility study: • Parcel A, 17,362sf • Parcel P12, 17,362sf • Tufts Lot, 14,305sf • Hudson Street, 19,187sf *all sf represents gross area

7. User Segmentation Service Area:

8. User Segmentation, cont'd Demographics in service area*: • Asian population: 51.7% • English (only) speakers: 40.2% • Asian language speakers: 51.5% • Median household income: $22,213 • 9th grade education: 32.1% • Unemployment rate: 10.8% • Age 0-16: 12.4% • Age 65+: 19.4% *from 2005 study

9. Community Considerations Residents voices were heard by way of: • Two well attended public meetings • An advisory council composed of "key members of the Chinatown community" • Six public advisory council presentations Cultural accommodations: • Tea service accounted for in adjacencies • 415 sf devoted to cultural artifact displays • Eight computers dedicated to language ed

10. Key Specifications • Collection size: approx. 55,000 items • Shelving: approx. 5,500 linear feet • Gross building area: 20,830 sf • Interior building area: 19,485 sf • Cost per sf (Hudson St.): $554.91 • Seating for 372 (w/rooms) • Estimated cost by location: • Parcel A: $5,157,650 • Parcel P12: $5,157,650 • Tufts Lot: $4,248,352 • Hudson Street: $10,647,006

11. Assignable Space: Public • Entry/Circulation • Prominent, multi-lingual signage • Self-serve checkout kiosks • Laptop borrowing • Community bulletin board • Meeting/Multi Purpose • Large meeting space for 120 people • Near entry for after hour community use • Large meeting must be adjacent to public washrooms

12. Assignable Space: Public • Adult Services • Must include an Asian Language, ESL, and Asian Language Instruction collection • Stacks should be of differing heights to reduce visual barriers and incorporate seating • Both study carrels and casual seating are required

13. Assignable Space: Public • Children’s Services • Secure area • Near entrance, near garden/courtyard • Fun flexible furniture • Separate crafts room • Storytelling area • Display area for artwork

14. Assignable Space: Public • Young Adult • Adequate space for group/collaborative study • Flexible modular furniture to allow for reconfiguration of furniture • Separate College Resource Center • Cultural Display • A Central larger display area with smaller satellite displays disbursed throughout the library • All display areas and cases should be located for good visual coverage by staff and patrons

15. Assignable Space: Staff • Staff • Main area must be adjacent to the main entry and the loading access for the library • A small workroom on each level is required if the library is on more than one floor

16. Non-Assignable Space • Building Support • Adequate support space and infrastructure for LEED rating is required • Systems must be flexible to the greatest extent possible to allow for program and technological change

17. Adjacencies: The Matrix

18. Interiors Library must be perceived as part of the community; entrance has to be highly visible and on 1st floor • Welcome, open feeling specified • Entrance vestibule leads to lobby, adjacent to Circulation • Prominent sight lines specified for entry areas

19. Interiors, cont. • Shelving • Specified and designed for different service areas of building • Stacks specified to be a varying heights, with carrels intermixed • Lower stacks must have a durable top • Reference collection shelving, “12 shelves, 5 shelves high” • Children’s collection: 48 shelves, 5 shelves high • Separate, utilitarian shelving designated for staff areas (e.g. metal shelving)

20. Interiors, cont. • Lighting • All reading rooms and areas must have access to natural light • Natural light and views to be maximized throughout the building • Light fixtures specified for each section of building • Ambient and spot lighting designated for main public areas • Spotlighting specified for artwork • Conference rooms equipped with dimmable fixtures

21. Interiors, cont. • Lighting • Group study + meeting rooms equipped with low glare task lighting • Lighting between stacks required; not specified as “top up” or “down” • Low glare lighting accounted for in computer areas • “Playful” accent lighting for children’s areas

22. Interiors, cont. • Décor • General furnishings established for each area in building • Flexible modular furniture used throughout YA and Children’s areas, with size adaptations made for respective areas • Décor to be influenced by Asian perspective, especially in the Central Cultural Display area • Walls in Lobby/Circulation areas to have high level of finish, complemented with wood and stone wainscoting

23. Interiors, cont. • Décor • Outdoor space furnished with 4 Chinese chess tables + chairs, with additional seating throughout • Artwork within public spaces to be maximized, assumed that some will be temporary displays

24. Way finding • Overall design is thoughtful, and laid-out in a welcoming, easy to navigate design • Plentiful signage accounted for; multilingual usage throughout the facility, all signs to be ADA + MAAB compliant • Design utilizes minimal directional signage, with the building relying on adequate sightlines to direct flow through building

25. Service Points • Circulation Desk, located adjacent to entrance/lobby is main service + circ station • Design specifies 2 self-checkout stations, located adjacent to circulation desk • Book drop room separate from Circulation desk, vestibule area includes off-hours book drop as well • Design accounts for Adult Services Librarian Desk

26. Service Points • Children’s area a large space; separate Children's Librarian desk central within the room • All points in Children’s area within direct sight of central Librarian’s desk is required • YA Services room "controlled" by Librarian Desk at room entrance, group study room in corner could become an issue for staff due to its isolation

27. Outdoor Space Essential for library to include this exterior program element • Envisioned as a garden, courtyard or terrace • Should be “restful retreat” for reading, conversation, and contemplation • Sheltered and defined by surrounding library architecture

28. Outdoor Space, cont. • Should be places to play chess, sit and read, and converse • Needs sense of connection between interior and exterior library spaces • Sheltered and defined by surrounding library architecture • Views into exterior space should be accessed by as many program areas as possible

29. Safety and Security • Security emphasized throughout building plan • Multiple panic buttons accounted for, at main desk, in the unisex Children’s restroom, and in adult restrooms • Coat room a “non-secure” area • No panic alarm in loading dock area; access is limited to library staff • After-hours community room use could be problematic

30. Acoustics Acoustic separation considered critical for the building’s design and use • Through-wall and through-slab sound transmission is minimal • Mechanical systems are isolated • Sound absorptive flooring to be used throughout the building, either carpeting or cork floors • Design accounts for embellished acoustic separation of YA section from rest of facility

31. Technology + Electrical Access to technology considered critical, as crucial for its main constituents; young adults, new immigrants, and those in a lower-income bracket • Design accounts for both hardwired and Wi-Fi Internet access • Teleconferencing and other communication technology accounted for in building plan

32. Technology + Electrical, cont. • Translation equipment and multilingual technology requested in plan • Tables throughout the building are to be wired for power/data • System designed to be flexible for future change in technology

33. Comfort • Design accounts for “noisy” and “quiet” areas • Flexible seating used throughout; would like to see more soft seating specified • Outdoor garden to be a traditional Chinese garden, with emphasis on contemplation • “Coffee shop” vibe replaced with “teahouse” feel • Use of healthy indoor materials, including overall air quality • Extensive accommodation for natural daylight + views

34. Flexibility and Use • Building plan allocates space for large (120 person) Community Meeting room • Community/Cultural displays a feature of the design • Kitchenette required, mainly “a place to serve tea from” • At least one additional 20 person conference room is required by the plan as well • Plan allocates for separate “Recycling Room”, adjacent to Loading Dock

35. Flexibility and Use • Building plan specifies LEED Silver building practices • Restroom facilities minimal; one each for Men + Women, one Unisex Children, and one Unisex Staff restroom included in plan • Staff area adjacent to Children’s/YA area, may not be the most practical placement; space concerns may hinder future expansion

36. Overall Positives • Community involvement • Library planned around community needs • Very thorough plan: from branch history to room adjacencies to area mock-ups • Program transparent and made available • Very culturally aware Negatives • Too many sites • Too difficult to secure prefered site (3 parcels) • Perhaps unrealistic in space needs; garden? • Meeting room in center? • Loading dock? • Perhaps too much emphasis on local culture; are other branches similar?

37. Epilogue • BPL's Chinatown Branch was never built--at least not yet. Building plan finished in 2008 • Community still rallied around having a library & cultural center • "Chinatown Storefront Library" created independently from BPL, though it used this BPL building program. October 2009 - January 2010. • Chinatown Lantern & Cultural Educational Center, a 800sf reading room and gathering place opened in April of 2012. It is located on the ground floor of the Oak Terrace apartment complex and partnered with both BPL and the Chinatown Storefront Library.

38. Epilogue, cont'd. Sources: http://www.storefrontlibrary.org/ & http://www.chinatownlantern.org/gallery/

39. Thank you for your attention!

40. References About Us. (n.d.).Chinatown Lantern and Cultural Educational Center. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from http://www.chinatownlantern.org/about/ Boston Public Library. (2008). Chinatown Library, Boston Massachusetts: Program & Sitting Study. Boston: MDS, Inc. Boston Street Lab, Inc. (n.d.). About the project. Storefront library: A temporary library in a vacant storefront. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from http://www.storefrontlibrary.org/about *All images have been sourced from the building program unless otherwise noted

41. References, cont'd General and Contact Information. (n.d.). Boston Public Library. Retrieved November 10, 2012, from http://www.bpl.org/general/ Miller Dyer Spears. (n.d.). Firm Overview. MDS / Miller Dyer Spears. Retrieved November 10, 2012, from http://www.mds-bos.com/philosophy/firm-overview/ Miller Dyer Spears. (n.d.). Projects. MDS / Miller Dyer Spears. Retrieved November 10, 2012, from http://www.mds-bos.com/?mdsact=projects