Several sessions about reorganizing or library renovation were offered. One of the most interesting was:
GASP! - Mildly delirious libraries: recreating your library from top to bottom

This session was put on by the West Palm Beach Public Library (the part of Palm Beach where the worker bees live) and Mildly Delirious Design. In spite of the fact that it was put out by a public library, this session had some excellent thoughts on ideas for any library. The library was out of date and with low gate count and the decision was made to try to upgrade and re-design, but with a very limited budget. The library managed to hook up with the interior design firm: Mildly Delirious Design. The design firm had developed a process, inspired by working with the hospitality industry, which assists the customer in creating a brand and/or an identity. This process is called: GASP (Graphics (image projected), Ambience (the feeling in the air), Style (service approach), Presentation (personality and programs). The concept is to define the identity and translate it into a cohesive concept. The concept should be unique to the library and be used to guide decisions on creating spaces, choosing colors, furniture, graphics, and deciding on style of services and programs. (NOTE: I have a copy of the booklet in my office with the guidelines and worksheets for GASP, if anyone is interested.) The session explained how to come up with your brand/identity and showed us how West Palm Beach did. Their branding was incorporated into everything (and very clever) and their colors were used to liven up the library. Once they came up with their branding, their interior designer designed the library renovation around the colors and concepts decided on. This was achieved with a minimal amount of money. The result was that their gate count and circulation has increased greatly (goal achieved). One of the simple things they did was to weekly buy flowers for the library ($2000/year)

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