We met with Susan Evans and Jacob Sayles, owners of Office Nomads, at their 5,000 sq. foot office space on Capitol Hill. We talked about co-working and libraries in the digital age.

Jacob Sayles and Susan Evans

What’s co-working and what does it have to do with libraries?

Susan and Jacob explained:  Co-working is a response to increased demand for telecommuting and people who want less isolation while working from home. In the beginning people started going to libraries and coffee shops to work but those places weren’t originally intended for business use so co-working spaces developed. Co-working is all over the world. In the U.S. there are 60-80 spaces.

And what does it have to do with libraries?

Susan: I get excited thinking about the fit between libraries and co-working. People need to get out of the house when they’re working. We’re a good fit for people who can afford a little bit for a small office space but if we’re talking about making co-working for more people then a public option is an exciting idea. There are people in business who can’t afford 25$ a day.  The libraries aren’t like coffee shops where there are distractions but you can’t use your cell phone  or collaborate there and that’s limiting.  Wouldn’t it be cool though if there was a publically sponsored workspace?  There’s a lot of value in libraries. I think that everyone can also see there could be a lot more.

Jacob: There are some parallels. Libraries have a huge role in education and they have some of the structure for renting out space.  Maybe there could be an assessment of how libraries could be a casual co-working space. Maybe between the hours of x and y there could be places where, for instance, you could use your cell phone.

Susan: From a professional point of view, I think that public libraries could be a really great place to embrace the need for public business spaces (and/or job search spaces) and they’d serve a great community need by doing so.   I love our libraries but if we’re going to stay home more for our work then we need libraries to be more welcoming of co-working needs. Maybe rather than libraries letting business and work happen there they could support and embrace that.

Jacob: Ballard Library has done a great job of becoming a community hub with the municipal services next door. I love the Ballard library. But people are more and more shifting to building their own content. You can get so many things delivered to your house now that, generally,  libraries aren’t really the hub they once were.

Susan: Libraries are wonderful spaces. Clean, beautiful. Capitol Hill has meeting space. Sustainable Capitol Hill used to meet there. It’s one of the first spaces we think of when we need to meet. I think if we’re talking about libraries being an important place to access information or to even out the playing field then they have a huge value and they’re not a place that will diminish until we hit a day and age with free wireless all over or PDA’s in everyone’s life.

Jason: Even if we had free wireless all over and PDA’s there’s still a role for libraries. Once you have infinite knowledge you need the guidance of librarians. We see that here. It’s easy to Google everything but people often turn to us and ask questions. People go to other people for answers.

Susan: It’s a human reaction. ‘I want to talk about it.’ People like to share information. Maybe librarians are no longer keepers of information but they’re…

Jacob: aggregators.

Susan: tour guides. Public libraries are incredibly important community assets. Sharing resources is a key way to make cities more livable and save us all money in the long run!

Thanks to a grant from the Friends, the Seattle Public Library expanded its web site earlier this year to include more information for its patrons who speak Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, and to add information in Somali and Amharic.  To reach these new web pages, go the Library web site and see the Audiences column on the right hand side of the page.  The Library staff compared the number of Web pages that these audiences used from March 2008 – October 2008 versus March 2009 – October 2009, and were delighted to see significant increases in usage as follows:

Spanish:  2,003 to 9,761 web pages used

Chinese:  3,041 to 10,114 web pages used

Vietnamese:  1,038 to 8,168 web pages used

Russian:  1,364 to 8,632 web pages used

The Friends are able to make grants like these from donations, revenues from the FriendShop, and proceeds from the Book Sale, so we’d like to share these thanks with all of you who support the Friends and the Seattle Public Library:

Gracias a los Amigos de la Biblioteca Pública de Seattle por proporcionar los fondos para el sitio Web de la biblioteca en idioma español (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for the Library’s Spanish language Web site).

衷心感谢Friends of The Seattle Public Library为扩建图书馆中文网页提供经费。 (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for the Library’s Chinese language Web site).

 Xin cám ơn Thân Hữu của Thư Viện Công Cộng Seattle đã cung cấp ngân quỹ cho trang Web tiếng Việt của Thư Viện (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for the Library’s Vietnamese language Web site).

Благодарим Общество друзей Публичной Библиотеки Сиэтла за предоставление финансовых средств для веб-сайта Библиотеки на русском языке (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for the Library’s Russian language Web site).

Mahadsanid Saaxiibta Maktabada Dadweynaha ee Seattle bixinta kharashka lagu soo saaray horudhacan Maktabada (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for this introduction to the Library in the Somali language).

ለሲያትል የህዝብ ቤተ መጻፍት ጓደኞች ለዚህ የቤተ መጻህፍት ማስታወቂያ እርዳታ ገንዘብ ስላቀረቡ ምስጋናችንን እናቀርባለን። (Thank you to the Friends of The Seattle Public Library for providing the funds for this introduction to the Library in the Amharic language).

This summer The Planning Commissioners Journal ran a feature titled ” Libraries at the Heart of our Communities.” The author, Wayne Senville, wrote:

“The 21st century library has arrived. Its mission goes far beyond loaning out books and providing reference materials…

30 people waiting for the library to open on Sunday

the library has become the hub of the community,drawing large numbers of users. This is happening because libraries are providing programs, meeting space, computer access, and resources to a broader array of community needs.”

Seattle community members, responding to our neighborhood library survey, reflected the same experience locally. Preliminary results show that more than 94% of respondents think the library is an important asset to their neighborhood.

David Howry, Senior Vice President of Frontier Bank in Lake City, said, “I have been in the community 7 years and I think the Library was renovated five years ago, and it’s really come into it’s own since then, I see lots of kids going over there. It’s busier than it’s been. I hear people say, ‘Well let’s go meet at the library.’ I see a lot of business people there using the computers. A lot of our clients are older and don’t own computers so we send them over to the library for that resource.”

Beth Williamson Miller Executive Director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, wrote, “Our community organizations especially value the Library for its meeting space. This is really an important part of our community’s ability to meet to discuss issues and thus solve problems. Ballard District Council, one of the strongest in the city, meets there monthly. It is a civic gathering place.”

Koni Olson, in West Seattle, wrote, “The library is an important asset to our community! It gives kids a place to go after school to study or use the internet. It gives people in the community an opportunity to get info and use the internet if they cannot afford to have it in their own home. It is a place to gather and to find entertainment or just a quiet place to be.”

Margie Roe, in North Seattle added, “Libraries are an important neighborhood asset…lots of folks using the computers, meeting rooms, and just running into each other. Great community gathering place.”

Melissa Ropke summed up our library’s value to neighborhoods as, “A place for all to borrow books, a place for children to learn about books and to become literate. Public access to computers, to meeting spaces, to special programs. I could go on and on.”

The Seattle Public Library served 13 million people last year. All measures of use are increasing rapidly. In August visits were up 11% over last year and circulation was up 21%. Demand for online homework help was up 110% over last year and media downloads were up 68%. Online and in our beautiful library buildings, Seattle is discovering the free resources of our neighborhood libraries.

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Have you taken our five minute survey on library value? One theme we’re hearing from respondents is we love to walk there. ”I love being so close to a neighborhood library branch — we walk there 1-2 evenings/week and read stories with the kids and pick up our hold items,” replied Fremont patron Robyn Reed.

“One of the criteria for where we choose to live is if we can walk (or short drive) to a library,”  replied Sarah Hurt, a Douglass Truth patron. Douglass Truth has a walkscore  of 88. Its “very walkable” according to Walkscore.com.  More than 81% of our newly expanded library system is at least “very walkable.”  30% gets the highest  rating of  ”walker’s paradise” and all of the buildings are at least “somewhat walkable.”

“Libraries drive the walkability scores of a neighborhood,” said real estate agent Adrian Willinger. “People are returning to traditional values and want their resources within walking distance. They want to walk to their neighborhood services,  i.e., dry cleaner, grocery store, library. More and more people are looking at walkability.” Incoming Lake City Chamber of Commerce President and Realtor, Peter Lukevich concurs, “At the present time the existence of a library is generally believed to be a good thing for real estate values. The library and easy access to other government services is valuable and enhances the value of real property.” [Lake City library walkscore 94]

“Having Greenwood branch library in walking distance creates a sense of community for everyone,” Sara, a student at the University of Washington, told us. ”Three blocks one way — the grocery store. The other way — the library. Both are essential to a community’s well-being — food and knowledge. It’s a hub and a place to meet and a comforting addition to the neighborhood.” [Greenwood library walkscore 88]

In a July 2009 study, “Economic Value of Walkability,” from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, some of the economic advantages of a walkable neighborhood are: reduced transportation costs, special support for some businesses- such as walking tourism, and increased neighborhood interaction and community cohesion. “When you have a gem like the Ballard branch library near the business core it draws people and keeps people in the area of commerce, ” said Christy McDanold of Secret Garden Bookshop. [Ballard library walkscore 97]

C. Atalex tells us, “I work from home, so biking to the library and grocery store is a nice way for me to get out of the house and spend a couple hours around people. If we did not have a local library that I could walk/bike to, I would probably go very seldom, so I am very grateful for the refurbished Cap Hill branch.” [Capitol Hill library walkscore 100]

 If there was any doubt that your neighborhood librarians should be given superhero status, take a look at this New York Times article about how the economic downturn is putting new stresses on libraries and librarians. Librarians are facing increased demands as “first responders” to patrons who are seeking help in filling out job applications and unemployment forms, using the library’s computers and free wi-fi access, looking for language and citizenship training, borrowing books and DVDs for free entertainment, and dealing with the emotional strains of making do with much less. Even Nancy Pearl’s beloved Librarian Action Figure might find it difficult to deal with all of these demands.

So how can you help? First of all, take the time to thank your neighborhood librarians – a kind word goes a long way. Second, consider volunteering at the Library – there are many different ways you can get involved. Third, email City Councilmembers and ask them to preserve funding for the Library: jean.godden@seattle.gov, richard.mciver@seattle.gov, bruce.harrell@seattle.gov, sally.clark@seattle.gov, tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov, jan.drago@seattle.gov, nick.licata@seattle.gov, tim.burgess@seattle.gov, richard.conlin@seattle.gov.

If you’re looking for books that feature fictional librarians, here’s a list from the Library’s Shelf Talk blog. And although the following books don’t feature librarians, consider the book recommendations below from the Friends’ Board meeting in April. You can just click on the links below to get to the SPL site to reserve a copy of these books. Quoted book review excerpts are reprinted with permission from Booklist.

Bone [Vol. I], Out from Boneville, by Jeff Smith. “One of the most acclaimed new comics of recent years, Bone is a Tolkien-meets-Pogo fantasy about the Bone cousins, who leave their home, Boneville, for adventures in the outside world. . . . Smith, with his clean draftsmanship and flawless comic timing, has been compared to comics masters Walt Kelly (Pogo and Carl Barks (creator of Uncle Scrooge McDuck). Like Pogo Bone has a whimsy best appreciated by adults, yet kids can enjoy it, too . . .” — Gordon Flagg   This review was written in 1995, and there are many other volumes available.

Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism, by Muhammad Yunus with Karl Weber. Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank, which lends small amounts of money to poorer individuals to help them start small businesses. This is an inspiring tale about the possibilities of “micro-lending”, and businesses that are helping people while still being profitable.

Why I Wake Early : New Poems, by Mary Oliver. This is a lovely collection of poems about nature and contemplative ideas, and encourages us to slow down and appreciate nature.

Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese. This is Verghese’s first book of fiction, and starts in a charity hospital in Ethiopia while spanning three continents and several generations. This garnered a starred review in Publishers Weekly.

A Hand to Guide Me, Denzel Washington with Daniel Paisner. Actor Denzel Washington, a national spokesman for the Boys and Girls Club of America, has collected stories from over 70 celebrities (including himself) of how mentors made a difference in their lives. Contributors include Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Gloria Steinhem, Whoopie Goldberg, Bonnie Raitt, Cal Ripken, and more.

Readers, who are your favorite neighborhood superhero librarians?

Have you been checking out more books lately? Seattle Public Library’s circulation has been on a steady increase since 2004. In fact, since 2007, circulation and library visits increased rapidly.  This isn’t just a local experience. Libraries all over the country are experiencing spikes in use and borrowing. The Freakonomics blog (from the authors of the 2005 book by the same name)  sees a connection between double digit increases in library use nationwide and declining sales of books, CD’s and DVD’s.

Seattle Public Library is a great way to save money in your budget.  According to blogger responses to the Freakonomics post, checking out library books is also a good solution for clutter, a motivation for actually reading a book, and, a passageway to a world of related ideas.

Here’s a good Wall Street Journal article that takes a look at recent claims of declining reading rates in the US (Primarily the NEA report from last year). There’s a solid view of the math here and he points out quite a few places where changes were overstated in the report. Whew! Thank goodness -

It’s worth reading the comments – the question of how online reading compares to book reading comes up in a few places and is something to consider with respect to libraries.

I stand by my earlier challenge to Amazon - come up with a Kindle Loan Program!