LAWRENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY
707 VERMONT STREET
LAWRENCE, KS 66044-2371
August 30, 2005
To: Lawrence City Commission and City Staff
From: Steve Clark, Gould Evans - Library Expansion Project Prime Consultant
Craig Penzler, Library Board Member and Chair, New Direction Task Force
Bruce Flanders, Library Director
Re: Library Program Consultant Recommendation
A review committee composed of the library expansion project prime consultant,
Library Board members, Library staff, City staff, and Mayor Highberger
interviewed prospective library building consultants ("library program
consultants") earlier this month, and recommends that Jeffrey A. Scherer
(Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle, Ltd. – MS&R – Minneapolis) be engaged
to provide Library Program Consultant services to the City of Lawrence.
(The MS&R proposal, attached, mentions an associated firm, Library Planning Associates – LPA. These two firms will work together under the leadership of MS&R. The City would contract for services with MS&R.)
Scope of service and cost proposal
information from this consultant are attached as Exhibit A, B, and C.
We respectfully request that the Lawrence City Commission approve the
recommended consultant, and we would ask City staff to enter into a contractual
agreement for these consulting services.
Role of the Different Consultants
Currently, there are three consultant roles planned for the library expansion
project. To date, the Library Board has decided to ask for the services of two
consultant firms, Gould Evans (Prime Consultant) and MS&R (Library Program
Consultant). A third consultant, a Library Architect, will be engaged when the
work of the first two consultants has been completed. In order to provide
further clarification, these three consultant roles are outlined below.
1. Gould Evans, Prime Consultant
The role of the Prime Consultant will be to act as an agent for the Lawrence
Public Library New Direction Task Force (NDTF) and Library Board of Trustees in
order to provide direction and process management throughout the preliminary
planning for the Library facility. The Prime Consultant will work to
incorporate the library's needs and aspirations into the broader political,
planning and development/funding context and work towards successful
implementation of the project. The planning role will explore how several
current uses, including the existing Aquatic Center, parking, retail shopping, residential uses and other
significant elements could influence the design and utility of an expanded
public library facility. The Prime Consultant will oversee a process that
insures that expanded parking needs are defined and included in the
decision-making process. This work would include the generation of
public/private alternatives, preparation of preliminary project budgets and
evaluation of all proposals/alternatives.
2. MS&R, Library Program Consultant
The Library Program Consultant will provide Library board/staff and community
facilitation that builds consensus for specific library services for the Lawrence community. The
Library Program Consultant will compare local library service and space uses
with those of public libraries in similarly sized communities in order to
assist in the development of benchmarks and goals. The Library Program
Consultant will then produce a program document that both identifies the
aspirations of the Library and quantifies operational and functional needs
(including the specific quantity of parking required for the expanded library).
This will result in a very specific listing of spaces needed in the new
facility.
3. Library Architect: (to be selected at a later date)
The selected Library Architect will use the program document and within the
broader planning and project context design the architecture of the Library
itself. The broader context as defined through the Prime Consultant's work, and
the program as defined by the Library Program Consultant's work, is how the
Library Architect will know what to design, how big it should be, and
specifically how much parking will be required and what qualities it should
have.