{"id":171,"date":"2022-07-21T11:33:24","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T11:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/?p=171"},"modified":"2022-07-27T05:19:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T05:19:03","slug":"library-visit-public-library-meyera-e-oberndorf-central-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/2022\/07\/21\/library-visit-public-library-meyera-e-oberndorf-central-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Library Visit-Public Library-Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

            The Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library is the headquarter location of the Virginia Beach Public Library system and is located at 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd. This location borders a large neighborhood and is just east of the Town Center area of the city. Public transportation is available on VB Blvd in front of the library. The Central Library, as is commonly known, is one of the largest libraries in Virginia Beach and is the home to the historical and genealogical collections of the library system and hosting the only microform machines. It is a large, two-story building with a circular drive and convenient parking on the front and left of the main entrance. Having recently undergone a partial renovation and reorganization, this location is striving to become more accessible and more inclusive for its patrons. The library entrance consists of a large, glass-walled vestibule. To the immediate right of the vestibule is a small dining area that has unsuccessfully hosted different small food businesses. That area also houses two large conference rooms and a small auditorium. These rooms are reservable to individuals and groups as well as the Virginia Beach City Public Schools during preschool enrollments and related informational meetings. No longer a drop in the bin, passing through the inner doors of the vestibule has patrons immediately passing over a strip of glass flooring that connects to the book return drop slot. Here the returned books can be watched as they are carried via conveyor belt under the floor as they begin their journey back to the shelves. Virginia Beach has recently installed self-checkout stations just inside the doors for patrons in addition to in-person checkout and information desks. Adjacent to the information\u2019s desks is a large community information wall that contains information\u2019s on programs, businesses, and offerings throughout the city. This information is directed at people across socio-economic backgrounds and language barriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first three decades of the library\u2019s existence saw the reference area and the children\u2019s area in the upper level. The renovation designated brand-new children\u2019s and teen\u2019s areas on the first floor with dedicated classroom space for kids\u2019 programs, computers in both areas to allow catalog access and age-appropriate gaming capabilities, and comfortable seating. Each area has its own library staffer available to answer questions and aside kids and parents alike. The teen area signage clearly declares it a teen-only zone. This is a vast improvement over the former upper-level location, which was inconvenient for young children and their families to carry armloads up and down the stairs. The children\u2019s collection is cataloged alphabetically and separated into picture books, fiction, and non-fiction. The picture books are on lowered display organizers that allow each access for younger children. Bookshelves for the fiction and non-fiction sections stand at about five feet and are welcoming to browsing. The entire area is tucked just past the main common areas of the first floor and are bright and inviting with a good circulating layout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large common areas grace much of the lower level. Comfortable, living room style seating with low tables sits invitingly to the left of the entrance near the magazines, newspapers, audiobooks, and video games. This area borders a wall length, glass display case holding city and library memorabilia and is interspersed with a couple smaller display columns filled with the same. A center aisle divides this part of the library from new, booth style seating with built in outlets for device-charging. These booths replace a bulk of previously installed study carrels and provide a casual environment for people to work, read, or gather and are laid out in a manner that is easily navigable for patrons with diverse transportation accessibility concerns. A few study carrels still sit to the rear of this area near the desktop catalog stations and printing equipment. Reservable study rooms sit behind the staircase. Past that staircase, well-lit bookcases are lined with fiction and non-fiction works. A station with tax forms adorns one interior wall. The rear of the building provides quiet workspace away from the bustle of the main common spaces and maintains a peaceful atmosphere. The common areas house 3-D printers free for patrons to use and a seed library taken care of a collections of businesses and a master gardening organization in Virginia Beach. Signage is clear and accessible throughout the downstairs, though it would benefit from better signage indicating that the new children\u2019s area is this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outreaching and educational programs are a large part of the library. Kiosks display flyers and other information on a broad range of classes and programs to engage members of the community at all levels of age, interest, and skill level. The upper level of the building contains a dedicated computer lab for teaching as well as a flexible class space previously used by the children\u2019s department. There are several study carrels and desktop computer stations for public use. The reference area has been relocated to the former children\u2019s area. The historical and genealogical collections, including filing cabinets full of microforms, are openly available to members of the community. A massive conference table sits in the center of the space inviting researchers to come and spread out all their work. The library staff on the upper level were helpful and knowledgeable with locating information and handling technological issues. Across the board, the staff was friendly and helpful but reserved. No one was particularly outgoing in their interactions with patrons. This was disappointing in the children\u2019s areas in particular but perhaps not unexpected as my visit took place in the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VBPL is informative and easy to navigate. The online catalog was recently reconstructed to be more user friendly for all patrons and shows the location of items across the city\u2019s libraries. The digital platform Hoopla is available at no cost to library card holders and allows the \u201cchecking out\u201d of six titles a month from the library\u2019s collection of ebooks, audiobooks, movies, and documentaries. The branch librarian\u2019s name is included with the location information for each library in the city and the upper-level librarians for the city are listed online but that is where the information stops. Without a good glance at the ID card hanging from the lanyards of library staff there does not appear to be any other identifying information about library staff or their roles in the building. This was surprising and something that should be worked toward remedying in this service-oriented world. Even small signs at each person\u2019s desk at checkout or the reference desks could be invitations to chat and engages patrons and staff in ways that would help build a stronger sense of community. The same can be said for the programming that is offered by the library. There are many excellent programs that cover a gamut of educational and entertaining topics but the two main interactions with information about programming are digitally and at small display pillars that hold fliers. Signage for programming should also be placed much closer to the entrance, in larger formats, and be actively promoted in multiple ways to encourage engagement with patrons across socio-economic spectrums and equity barriers. An expansion of library hours and programming availability into the evening hours would also expand opportunities for access and engagement of patrons that have difficulty reaching the libraries between 9 and 5. This would benefit the most at risk members of our community and could open up new outreach opportunities than currently exist. In today\u2019s world, closing at five is outdated and elitist. Thankfully, the Central library does offer extended hours Monday through Thursday until 8 p.m. which is a great boon for working parents and children and teens with limited options in need of a safe place to spend their time. This library was inviting and comfortable. Its updates inside removed an overwhelming feeling of datedness and is obviously well cared for and respected by the staff and the community. It was an enjoyable place to work and visit. The Central Library is open Monday to Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Sunday. More information on the Central Library and the Virginia Beach Public Library system can be found at their website: Virginia Beach Public Library :: VBgov.com – City of Virginia Beach<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An extra picture for all the conveyor belt book return fans, including my 8-year-old in the photo!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library is the headquarter location of the Virginia Beach Public Library system and is located at 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd. This location borders a large neighborhood and is just east of the Town Center area of the city. Public transportation is available on VB Blvd in front of the … Continue reading Library Visit-Public Library-Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/mlis-vmcfa001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}