Library board ponders space use at Nobles County Library in Worthington

Jan. 7—WORTHINGTON — After a long history of attempts to update the Nobles County Library — from proposals to build a new facility to moving the library to an existing space elsewhere to remodeling its home in the War Memorial Building, built in 1963 — library officials toured the building on Friday to view its current state.

The tour began in the basement, which until 2021 housed the Nobles County Historical Society.

Since then, the library has used the space for programming such as children's activities, author visits and teen programs. It includes a single, very large open room, where the Historical Society once housed its exhibits open to the public, as well as two smaller rooms that serve as meeting rooms that community members may reserve for meetings free of charge.

The largest of the rooms needs a divider that can be put in place or removed as needed, so that libraries can set up for adult programming as children's activities are still in progress, Library Director Beth Sorenson explained during the tour. The group included five members of the Nobles County Library Board, outgoing board member Kathy Craun, whose term recently expired, and Marci Moshier, library office support.

Bob Paplow, a Nobles County Commissioner who serves on the library board, emphasized the importance of staff input on any remodeling or space needs assessment, as architects aren't as familiar with needs as staff would be.

Craun drew on her years of experience to say that Nobles County has paid for multiple space studies, facility proposals, needs assessments and site analyses over the years, and said some of that information seemed to be missing and needs to be found.

The group visited both basement conference rooms and then paused in front of the back stairwell, which leads to staff offices upstairs, as well as an exterior door. In order to discourage library patrons from inadvertently wandering into staff space, a "Stop. Staff only" was installed near the steps, just a few feet past the public restrooms in the basement.

Some security concerns were raised regarding the space, and it was suggested that perhaps a door be added to allow limited access.

The group also looked into the boiler room and a small storage space behind it, and then viewed a much larger storage area farther down the hall, where the library stores its materials for children's programming, including crafting supplies and seasonal items.

They also saw the room where the library stores books for its book sales, which also features a small work area for staff. Sorenson said it might be possible to have the book sale in that space on an ongoing basis, as it takes significant staff time and isn't cost effective to set up and take down the book sale repeatedly.

The tour moved upstairs into the children's area, where Sorenson said she'd noticed that when children's programming in the basement ends, the kids normally head up the stairs and leave the library rather than hitting the library upstairs.

"It would be nice if it was like the gift store at a museum where you had to wander through" in order to leave, she said.

The children's space was originally built to serve as the Nobles County Art Center, and the children's room was all downstairs in the basement, which now houses the Art Center, Craun said.

Moving into the library's main open space, which houses much of its fiction as well as computers and other materials, Sorenson said the circulation desk could use some attention, as the library is getting busier and the desk doesn't offer a clear view of the door.

"It's just not always comfortable not knowing who's coming in and what's going on," she said.

In addition, a height-adjustable desk would help keep taller staff members from needing to hunch over to work and improve ergonomics.

The group visited the library's teen space, which contains bar-style chairs, a desk and the teen fiction and graphic novel collections as well as the words "BE AWESOME" emblazoned above the window.

The library has been phasing out its spinning metal paperback shelving and integrating all the paperback novels into the regular collection, apart from the westerns, which are still separated into their own space.

When the bookmobile served the smaller towns in the county, quite a few readers in those places only wanted to read books from the western genre, so those books were separated out at that point and located where they would be easy to access when it was time to load the bookmobile, Craun explained.

One of the goals of the library's new strategic plan was to make its collections look more user-friendly, Sorenson said, and that meant culling, straightening and reorganizing.

"It has improved... the feel of the space," she said, noting that typically a major book-weeding effort is followed by an increase in circulation. That hasn't happened yet for the Nobles County Library, but it may still do so.

Some of the spaces on the main floor of the library, such as the teen space and a space dedicated to books in languages other than English, are tucked away a bit and aren't as visible to patrons as Sorenson would like.

"I would like to open this up more, but to do that, we'll need shelving," she said, as moving books off the walls in order to remove the walls would mean that they'd need free-standing shelves — another expense.

Craun suggested adding a place for information about immigration, citizenship and studying for citizenship exams.

The library's references, genealogy and microfilm resources are also tucked away in a side room, and to get in, people must walk past a workstation. Sorenson plans to move the workstation in order to remove the obstacle and open up the space for patrons.

The group also looked at the library's office space, including the interior of the book drop, normally hidden behind a narrow door in the staff space. The office area also includes storage for office supplies, a small break room and shelves for materials from or for other libraries.

Following the tour, the library board viewed a summary of prior efforts to update the library in order to better meet the needs of Nobles County, and discussed their options for the library's future — a discussion that will continue during its regular meeting at 4 p.m. Monday at the Nobles County Library in Worthington.