It's easy to look over and see all the bright shiny new things in the teen section of the library, but we made some improvements to Gering Library's adult section too.

To start with, we purchased new computers for the adults, as well as nice new computer desks. No longer do you have to huddle around a tiny table with two or three other people, balancing your papers on your knee, while the printer jiggles the table. These new desks provide some privacy and space to spread out a little. We set them at different heights so they will work with different sizes of people. One of these new desks was specifically left open so people can plug in a laptop or charge a cell phone without tying up a computer for others.

We also moved the round tables. One of the tables is near an outlet, so you can sit away from others and use your laptop. This is also a quiet place to visit or read the paper. The other round table is now closer to the copy machine, so people can spread out their documents to keep track of their project. 

Have you seen our new book display? We purchased a piece of furniture to display our new books. I searched the catalogs for a piece that would hold the most books with a bottom shelf that wasn't too low. Right now it's overflowing with new books, so come browse through them, you are bound to find something that you will want to read.

We know we aren't done. The adult section still has some issues; furniture comes to mind. The lounge area furniture is looking a bit threadbare. The Gering Library Foundation is working on replacing it. For more information about this, look at last week's column. The 1980s chairs that go with the round tables are starting to show some age as well. All of this is still in the works.

The circulation desk is something else on our list of things to change. The patron side of the desk works pretty well, it has two heights and two stations that people can visit to check out their items. Behind the desk is another story. It's crowded, inconvenient, and the wrong height for computers and also the wrong height for sitting. It hides a lot of wasted space. I found some old pictures the other day of when they were installing our circulation desk in 1980. In 1980 we were still using a literal card catalog and keeping track of who had what checked out by filing cards in drawers. The desk has served its purpose these past 40 some years, but it was not designed for computers, and the storage behind it is, in a word, dreadful.

Those may seem like the good old days, but card catalogs take up a lot of real estate. Where we used to have rows of card catalog furniture, we now have computers and a maker space. 

Some of the changes just make life better for the librarians. I have gone from having no desk, not even a drawer to my name to having a desk and a credenza. As space opened up, I moved to a spot where I can see if anyone needs help at the desk. I even have my own phone line now. Staff reused the monitors from the old adult computers and now instead of having 36 tabs open on two different browsers on one screen, we each have two screens. 

Be looking for more changes in the library. We are pretty much done rearranging the big things, but more changes are on the way, changes to make your library experience better.