1. Facility
1.1. Pick-up shelf for holds
1.2. Muted colours and lighting create a welcoming atmosphere.
1.3. Public computer terminals are aging technology. Open-Office instead of MS Office.
1.4. Library is used for multiple activities: study, toddler drop-in, reading, relaxing, napping in one case, borrowing books
1.5. Clean washrooms
1.6. Lots of outlets (for laptops?)
1.7. Library is broken into 3 main sections: kids, teens and adults. Individual sections are further broken into sub-sections for different languages and genres.
1.8. High ceilings near windows create an open feel
1.9. Fully WC accessible
1.10. Nickname is Ken Library
1.11. Decorated for Halloween. Titles related to Halloween and Thanksgiving are highlighted on top of the stacks
1.12. No long term parking. 1-hour limit. Had to find street parking
2. Partons
2.1. Patrons are a mix of ethnicity, age and gender.
2.1.1. Mix may be different if I visit at a different time.
2.1.2. Feels like a gathering place for the community. Living in the neighbourhood the people in the library are representative of the local area.
2.2. Come to the library for a variety of reasons: study, computer use, drop-in session, read, access stacks.
2.2.1. All seem task-driven, even those who come to read the paper come with that purpose in mind.
2.3. Patrons are all respectful of the rules, facilities and each other.
2.3.1. Noticed some mild rules breaking. Using study room to play computer games, adult sitting at the visibly marked teens only table. Staff didn’t appear bothered.
2.4. Patrons prefer to use self-checkout
3. Staff
3.1. It’s unclear where the librarian sits or if all staff are librarians. Everyone does multiple duties
3.2. Staff is very helpful and patient
3.2.1. A new staff member is being trained today, trainer still stopped to help patrons
3.3. Despite ethnic mix of the patrons, all staff are Caucasian and I didn’t overhear any speak anything other than English
4. Stacks
4.1. Small stacks compared to Central branch due to limited square footage.
4.1.1. Small stacks compensated for by VPL’s online database. Even the catalogue terminals used in the library connect to the same database.
5. VPL.ca
5.1. Online catalog of entire VPL
5.2. Site allows you to find a title located at any branch and have it held at Kennsington.
5.2.1. Each card is limited to 50 holds a year, so not a perfect system.