Hoping to make the local library "the community’s living room."
By: Jennifer Potash
The Princeton Public Library should be more than just a place to check out a book or look up information in encyclopedias. Rather, it should looked upon as "the community’s living room," according to Library Director Leslie Burger.
"A library is not just books," she said. "A library is a place that can provide exposure to new ideas and can provide an opportunity for people of all cultures to come together to hear a music program or a speaker."
And when Ms. Burger refers to a living room, she also means a place where one may take food or a cup of coffee.
"Where there had been a food prohibition-type policy before, I think we’re much more willing to recognize today’s lifestyle involves carrying a water bottle around with you or coming into a place with a cup of coffee," Ms. Burger said. "I think that is indicative of what we’re hoping the staff is doing all the time and that is tuning into what is going on in popular culture outside of the library. So we’re not this little oasis in the midst of a world we have nothing to do with, but we’re part of the world."
During her first year as director of the library – she was appointed director in November 1999 after joining the staff as interim director in June 1999 – Ms. Burger has sought ways, from e-mail stations nestled in a nook beneath the spiral staircase to colorful name tags for library staff, to make the library experience more user-friendly and accessible.
From the library’s Web site, patrons can not only look up books in the catalog, but place a hold on a library item and review what materials they have checked out and what fines they owe.
In the future, the library will offer other enhancements such as an automated telephone notification system for books being held for checkout and e-mail notices for overdue fines for patrons who choose that method of notification, she said.
Many of these changes would not be possible without a dedicated library staff eager to try new things, Ms. Burger said.
In addition to the physical changes inside the library, Ms. Burger has added new programs, all aimed at making the library a gathering center for the Princeton community.
"My approach is we should do whatever we can to accommodate our customers. They’re our taxpayers, they’re funding the library," she said. "So we really go out of our way, even if we may not always agree, to make sure they feel good about their library experience."
Children’s programs and events have always been held at the library, but adult programming received less attention over the years, Ms. Burger said.
The Chords of the Community program, which brought musicians representing many different cultures to the library this fall, was a great success, she said.
"So there’s an opportunity for some kind of experience that transcends the ordinary experience of checking out a book and walking out the door," she said.
Also, the library has received grants for more outreach with the Latino community such as more books and movies in Spanish and additional resources for learning English, she said.
"We’re bringing some programming to the library that reflects their culture and makes them feel good about being part of this community," she said.
Other grant funds will lead to the creation of a small genealogical database for African-Americans to trace their family roots, Ms. Burger said.
In the midst of the improvements to the library’s current services, Ms. Burger has also been deeply involved in planning for a new library.
"You just don’t stop what you’re doing and focus entirely on the expansion so we’ll let everything go in the current library until we open this brand-new shiny building," she said.
The library’s Board of Trustees has proposed knocking down the existing library at the corner of Wiggins and Witherspoon streets and building a new three-story library at the site.
The Hillier Group, the project architect, is working on the final design details that should be finished by year’s end.
The recent Princeton Borough Council elections had two unsuccessful candidates, Dorothy Koehn and Rodney Fisk, proposing to move the library down Witherspoon Street to the corner of Valley Road in Princeton Township.
But that site – currently home to Princeton Township municipal employees – is not without some of the space and parking problems as the present library, Ms. Burger said. That site would not allow for a shorter building, which some people have sought, she said.
"We cannot build a single-story library at that site – impossible, not enough land. It’s not going to happen," Ms. Burger said. "So we would end up with two-to-three-story building down there and I think it would be transferring a problem."
Keeping the library in downtown Princeton would preserve a quantity in short supply – public space, Ms. Burger said. Otherwise, she said, the location would be used for retail or office use.
"The availability of public space in downtown Princeton, a place where you can go and not spend money and not be purchasing something and be with your friends and neighbors, even if it’s just a meeting or at a program, would be lost (by moving the library)," Ms. Burger said.
Balancing all the tasks of daily library administration and helping to plan the new library may appear daunting, but Ms. Burger appears very calm about it all. Her desk, located in her second-floor office, is mostly clear of clutter and has a small Zen rock garden on one corner.
The key, she said, is listening to the staff, the patrons, the trustees and the Friends of the Library. It’s also a matter of being able to "multi-task," or do several things at once at any given point in time, she said.
Working in a library that the Princeton community treasures is a wonderful experience, she said. And the proximity of the library to her West Windsor home, where she lives with her husband and three children, is another plus.
Having her own library consulting business, which she has scaled back since taking the helm of the Princeton library, has taken her to libraries across the country. But Ms. Burger said she is enjoying staying in one place for a while.
"It’s very rewarding for me after so many years outside of an organizational setting to be part of a community, to be connected, and feel like I’m doing something of value for people," she said. "I love that feeling."