Have you ever redesigned a library? Me neither, but if you follow our blog I will posting updates as Our Savior's Lutheran Church (OSLC) of Hibbing, MN goes through the process.
OSLC has a library with about 1500 books and about 200 videos in a small room about 10 x 18 on a well traveled hallway between the sanctuary and the Sunday school wing of the church. A year ago a church family made a donation of $10,000 to develop a multi-media center for the church. After much discussion over what a "Multi-media" room was and how our church members would use it. We ended up combining our current library, Sunday School Superintendent's desk, and a lounge into one multi-purpose area with a secondary lounge in another part of the building.
$10,000 sounds like a lot of money but we soon realized it was not when you add together the cost of new ceilings, carpeting, paint, lights, shelves, and desks, chairs, tables, and glass walls. We had hoped to put a glass wall around one end of the library but that ended up being way out of our budget.
We also looked at new wooden library grade shelving but again it was much more expensive than we could afford. Fortunately a local public library was selling their old metal shelving so we were able to purchase used maroon shelving that matched our current black shelving for a much more reasonable price.
Our library will now be 42 x 18 feet and include an area for children to gather for storytimes, a large conference table for small group meetings, Sunday school superintendent and separate librarian work areas, and will be an inviting area for people to gather as they enter the building.
On June 29th we start moving furniture.
Below are the current and planned floor plan for the library.
Current Library
New Library Design
Please click on comments and tell us about your library remodeling experience or ask questions about ours.
Chris Magnusson
Our Savior's Lutheran Church Library
Hibbing, MN
