Gary and I were fortunate to attend a gathering of librarians from the 4 Corners region, a tradition begun by Rachael Anderson a number of years ago. This year we met at the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Library in Aurora. Our gracious host was our (formerly) own Jerry Perry! I took a ton of pictures and they are posted HERE.
Guiding principles behind the library’s design:
1. Natural light
2. Beautiful Colorado (brought inside)
3. Library faculty have windowed private offices; staff, substantial cubicles with direct and indirect natural light
Things that got my attention:
1. Evidence of the above 3 was present
2. Large faculty and staff offices and cubicles
3. Spaciousness all around
4. High, large windows and gorgeous views
5. 5 patios! (wipes everywhere)
6. Colors were very Colorado!
7. Lots of study rooms and other collaborative space (get #s)
8. Wonderful re-use of beautiful old furniture (Stickley and ?)
9. JP’s patio veggie starter garden
10. Permanent art and plenty of space for periodic displays of arts, see: http://hslibrary.ucdenver.edu/on-display/#PERMANENTexhibit --Humanescence by Rae Douglass
11. Lots of interesting public art on campus
12. Spacious and functional IT staff work and storage space
13. Plenty of space on campus and in the library for student hangout and collaboration
Since we in Phoenix continue to plan (and wish) for a version 2.0 of AHSL-P, this visit was especially useful to me!
We also discussed a number of agenda items, including budgets, CTSA activity, institutional repositories, use of space, engagement with social media tools, outreach, informatics and scholarly communication.
