Focus Groups Offer Insight

Library consultants Ethel Himmel and Bill Wilson spent four days in Cape Elizabeth in early August conducting ten focus group discussions to elicit thoughts and ideas from the community regarding library services and the adequacy of the current library building.

The focus groups included general library users, pre-school and K-4 parents and children, middle- and high-school students, senior citizens, town officials, community and business leaders, members of the Cape Elizabeth Arts Commission and Historical Preservation Society, Friends of the Library, and library staff. A total of 103 residents and eight staff members participated.

Emerging Themes

Some of the themes that emerged across multiple sessions were:

  • People like/love the Thomas Memorial Library, even though they see a need for many physical improvements:
    • • Entryway is cramped and unwelcoming
      • Adult, children’s and teen areas are cramped
      • Study and research spaces are needed
      • People want comfortable space to sit and read
      • There is a lack of suitable handicapped access
      • The current Community Room is cramped, unattractive and not technologically up-to-date
      • Library staff do not have adequate work space
      • Building layout limits sight lines

    People think the current location is good and would not like to see the library moved away from the Town Center

  • Any remodeled or new facility should retain the look and feel of the Town Center and should blend in

  • Any remodeled or new facility should be “green” or largely so

  • The Friends of the Library, Cape Elizabeth Historical Preservation Society, and the Arts Commission are appropriate to house in the library, but all need more and better space do to their work

  • People like and use Minerva, the online public access catalog

Needs Assessment Report to Come

During the course of the summer, the Himmel & Wilson team, including the architect and technology consultants, also interviewed several town officials and members of the Study Committee one-on-one. All of the information gained from those interviews, the focus groups, and a kickoff visioning session held with town officials and the Study Committee in July will be incorporated into a Needs Assessment Report.

Also to be included in this report will be the results of a scientifically-selected random telephone survey of 300 Cape Elizabeth households by Critical Insights, Inc. to collect additional information from citizens on their thoughts and perceptions of the Thomas Memorial Library.

The Needs Assessment Report will be the culmination of Phase I of the project and will be ready for Study Committee review and approval in October. The next two phases, Library Improvement Recommendations and a Building Concept Design, will follow.

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