The reinvented library [PHOTO GALLERY]
Pam Sandlian-Smith, director of the Rangeview, Colo., Library District, says, “It’s very common for people to say, ‘Why do I need a library when I’ve got a computer?’ We have to reframe what the library means to the community.” (David Sarno / Los Angeles Times)
The DiscXpress machine at Anythink Wright Farms in Thornton, Colo., a branch of the Rangeview Library District. The DiscXpress “jukebox” machine holds 3,000 DVDs and CDs in six towers. Customers -- the library’s name for patrons -- check out movies using the computer interface, and watch as their movie pops out of one of the machine’s six towers. (David Sarno / Los Angeles Times)
A return slot at Anythink Wright Farms. When library users drop their books and other materials in the return slot out front, they’re fed to the automated handling system, which librarians call “The Beast.” It digitally checks in the items and then sorts them, using a conveyor belt, into one of 12 bins. Staffers can then more quickly return items to their appropriate shelves. (David Sarno / Los Angeles Times)
Children visit Anythink Wright Farms in Thornton, Colo. Wright Farms is one of four libraries built in the last 13 months in the newly reinvented Rangeview Library District, which calls itself Anythink. The library system was the beneficiary of a 2006 tax initiative that allowed it to raise $43 million to modernize its buildings and revisit the way it relates to patrons. The Wright Farms branch opened July 10. (David Sarno / Los Angeles Times)
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Children can watch DVDs, play games or do homework on computers at Anythink Wright Farms. In the Rangeview Library District, reference desks and study carrels have been replaced by rooms where kids can play Guitar Hero. Overdue book fines have been eliminated, and the Dewey Decimal System has been scrapped in favor of bookstore-like sections organized by topic. (David Sarno / Los Angeles Times)
