MAPLA and the new Library in Rockville

Sophisticated, urbane and just gorgeous - the new library in Rockville. This library seems to have it all. Visionary architecture and interior spaces; flagship status in the newly renovated downtown area; great quiet spaces; lots of computers for the public to use; a fabulous YA area ; etc.; etc. This is probably the most attractive, user friendly large to medium sized library in Maryland. The Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Howard County Libraries and the Hagerstown Library in Washington County have better materials collections.
One of the best things about the new library in Rockville is the way it fits into the new downtown area. The town plaza in front of the library can host entertainment, cultural events and other activities. The library is planning an expo featuring local green businesses in the plaza. The plaza is lined with restaurants and boutiques. There is a Gold's Gym across the street.

Highlights of the Maryland Administrators of Public Libraries meeting:

• Mike Stephens from Clifton, Gunderson reported on new auditing requirements. They currently don't impact our library.
  
• Howard County's Fritzi Newton reported on their LSTA grant funded project, Cultural Connections. Howard County used community liaisons to help form focus groups and develop surveys to design culturally appropriate library services. The county's growing Asian communities were the focus of phase one of the project. I'm proud to say that I worked with Fritzi at the Howard County Library in the early 1980's. Her project is truly ground-breaking.
  
• Learning Libraries 3.0 will be held in several regional locations this fall, including the Frostburg Library.
  
• The marketing vice president of Sirsi/Dynix was raked over the coals by the library directors. Poor customer service, poor product support, delayed and canceled upgrades and the possible demise of URSA 4.0 enflamed the group. MAPLA can be ugly when angered.
  
• It looks like Maryland will be participating in the National Collaborative Summer Reading Program next summer.
  
• The state will no longer purchase MPower cards for the county systems. Several systems have opted to return to their older non-lenticular cards or new designs that are non-lenticular but much cheaper. Please let me know when we start to run low on cards.