The Space and Physical Access

The Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library, or Central as most customers and staff call it, is the central branch of the Virginia Beach Public Library (VBPL) system and is one of ten libraries. The Central Library is the main hub of VBPL and host a variety of departments services, and collections that are not found in the other locations. It is also the library I have worked at for the last 12 years. Opened in January of 1988, this two story library is located just past Virginia Beach’s town center and is very hard to miss from the road. While the library is easy to find with ample parking, the sheer size of the building does make it difficult to situate accessibility parking close to the main entrance so these spaces are located near a side entrance that features door opening button. The entire front side is curb free, which accommodates mobility aides and they allow temporary parking here for quick access as well.

Stepping into the building you will immediately see sunlight and books. The building is full of windows which makes the space bright and open but it also makes it hard to control the temperature so be sure to bring a sweater in the winter. Central recently underwent renovations and part of it was getting lower, more accessible shelving for our audiovisual equipment, relocating our children’s area to a larger and safer area downstairs, adding both kid-friendly and gender neutral bathrooms, adding desks of varying heights for accessibility needs, and rearranging our collections to be more user friendly. Inside you will find two study rooms, a coaching room used by volunteer career and resume coaches, over 40 computers, a computer lab, a Friends of the Library Bookstore, a dedicated teen space, a dedicated children’s space, and tons of tables and chairs and booths for studying. They also have two large meeting rooms and an auditorium for use in programs and outside groups. The main service desk is right inside the door and is staffed by 2-3 staff members at a time while there are also staff desk in the children, teen, and reference areas. Both the upstairs, downstairs, and youth desks have lower desks to accommodate kids and anyone using a wheelchair. Like many of our branches, Central also provides three scooters for anyone who needs help getting around the large space. Central is a good mix of large and open with some cozy corners to read in. Still, it is a bit intimidating walking through the front doors as you are almost bombarded with desks and books and people and computers and much more due to the open layout.

Staff, Collections, and Services

Being at the Central Library comes with a lot of opportunities to learn new things as many of our special collections and services are housed here. Some of the things Central offers include a seed library, 3D printing, a reference collection that includes special collections on grants and small business, a municipal reference collection, the local history and genealogy collection, the Edgar T. Brown Local History Archives, career coaching, a community art gallery, the Community Book Club Collection, and the Local Author Collection. Central staff also are entirely responsible for all emails, texts, and phone call that come in to the library and handle the majority of reference questions, tech helps, and 3D printer orientations for the system, though other locations also offer these three services. During Tax season Central also host AARP volunteers who help hundreds of citizens every year file their income taxes for free. Most recently, VBPL partnered with United Way to open the VB Thrive center, which is also at Central and provides service for families who might require mentoring, housing, workforce development help and more. In addition, Central has partnered with Social Services to help customers experiencing homelessness in our community, Central is a designated pick-up spot for anyone who needs to visit the Housing Resource Center (HRC) in Virginia Beach and they can ride from Central and the Oceanfront to the HRC for free. Central also has social workers in and out of our building several times a week as they reach out and make connections with some of the regular customers who need help with housing or food or other basic necessities.

Part of the reason so many services run through Central is the number of library departments in the building. One of the ideas that stood out for me in our readings was Rubin and Rubin’s statement that “Although dedicated reference departments still provide important information access services, this responsibility can be shared by several library units or by individuals who do not necessarily work in a reference department,” (Rubin & Rubin, 2020, p 96.). That is true of Central and having worked here for so long, it makes sense why I was particularly engaged by that philosophy. The Central staff is comprised of all of the system’s reference librarians in addition to 30+ circulation and information staff, but the building also hosts the Marketing, Technology Services, Materials Management, and Program and Community Outreach departments, all of whom provide information and library services to some degree. Central is a walking example of the aforementioned concept of reference in modern libraries not falling exclusively on the reference department. However while they do have a diverse amount of staff and a diverse amount of positions, the majority of degree holding librarians at Central are white women and the most diversity is found among the general circulation and information staff, or paraprofessionals. This harkens back to one of early readings regarding vocational awe that discusses how job creep and under compensation can often effect who can afford to work in libraries or seek out the required higher education to hold the title of librarian (Ettarh, 2018).

Last but not least Central offer programs for all ages on a variety of topics and are working to diversify those offerings as well. For example, in recent years staff have offered both Drag Queen Story time and English Conversation Club. The latter gives people a safe space to practice their conversational English with other learners and with native speakers. I personally specialize in adult programs, mostly in technology skills. I especially love providing 3D printer orientations and tech helps because I love seeing someone’s face light up when a new skill clicks. Right now, Central is in the middle of the annual Summer Reading Challenge for kids and tweens and Camp Evergreen for teens and adults. Camp Evergreen is a unique experience for teens and adults to read books and attend programs together to earn virtual badges like summer camp.

People (Customers)

Most of the space inside of Central that is not dedicated to books and computers is dedicated to seating and collaborative spaces as Central is mot frequented by people looking for a place to work or meet or study. More so than the branches, Central cultivates a customer base primarily interested in using the library as a meeting destination. On any give day there are tutors, seminars, workshops, meetings, teleconferences, and more taking place throughout the building. The number of computers available also brings in a ton of job seekers and remote workers who need wi-fi and printing.

Families and teens also tend to gather here due the large dedicated area for both groups. Teens in particular have a dedicated space just for them with teen librarians and teen programming staff who make connections, get to know them, and provide them with a safe space. Most branches have some version of a teen space, but Central has one of the largest and the staff goes out of their way to encourage teens to use the space in a way not every branch does.

Digital Access

Presently, VBPL is preparing for a website re-design and it is sorely needed. Central does not have it’s own website but instead falls under the VBPL website which exists under the larger city website. There are a lot of good things about the website, but the web address is not one of them. The website can be found at: www.vbgov.com/libraries and the major complaint and problem Central runs into with the website is the confusing coupling of both “gov” and “.com” in the address. Most people think it’s vb.gov.com/libraries and we get a lot of feedback about the difficulties this causes. Luckily, this will be changing to a longer, but less confusing web address in the near future. Still, the website is full of information and most of our services and materials can be found here. The catalog is listed right on the front page and it links to both our physical and digital holdings. Our programs, events, account logins, and popular pages can be accessed without too much difficulty, but the site has a lot of layered pages that lead to some long routes to get information. For example, to locate information about volunteering, you have to go to www.vbgov.com/libraries, click on “adults,” click on “volunteer,” click on “adults” again, and then click on a link to an external site. Even then the external link shows all volunteer positions, including youth and teens so it can be very confusing.

The website does list all of our locations, policies, hours, and branch managers, which does make finding things a bit easier and our technology services staff does a great job updating it regularly. It is rare to find out of date information on the website, though it does happen. Truthfully there is almost too much happening on the website and it can be a little overwhelming to figure out how to navigate it.

Other Thoughts

The provision of this wide variety of spaces and services at Central aligns with the VBPL mission statement which states “We meet the lifelong needs of our diverse community by providing access to quality resources, engaging programs and welcoming spaces,” (City of Virginia Beach Department of Libraries, 2021.).  Having worked at the Central Library for so many years, it was educational to examine my branch from an outside perspective to evaluate if we truly meet that mission. I was instantly amazed when I had to put to paper all the services that we provide, but that amazement was coupled with the realization of how much we have to improve. While Central does it’s best to be accommodating to everyone, there are still more ways we can manipulate such a large space and make it more accessible. We carry a lot of resources but the sheer overwhelming volume of special collections and services can sometimes mean that not every staff member you speak to knows how to use or access every single one of those services on an expert level, there are simply too many. Ideally Central would benefit from dispersing some things, such as library phone calls and emails, to other branches to better balance the load and avoid the risk of creating a single point of failure for information. Most of the branches at VBPL are neighborhood libraries and focus more heavily on their immediate service areas while Central is intended to structure their services to the city at large and be a hub of information and services. I personally prefer it because I get a chance to do so many things, but some librarians may prefer the more person touch you get to have at the branches. All of that being said, I strongly encourage everyone to visit the Central Library, even if it’s just to take a look around. There is always something interesting happening here!

References

City of Virginia Beach Department of Libraries.(2021). Our strategic plan: libraries leading the way 2021-2025. City of Virginia Beach. https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/about-us/Documents/STRATEGIC%20PLAN%2021-25%20SUMMARY%2012page%20Booklet-WEB.pdf

Ettarh, F. M. (10 January 2018). Vocational awe and librarianship: The lies we tell ourselves. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Rubin, R. E., & Rubin, R. G. (2020). Foundations of library and information science (5th ed.). ALA Neal-Schuman.