Library Round Table Discussion

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

The TRIAD team recently was host to another virtual round table discussion, this time focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on Ohio libraries. The conversation centered around the challenges and opportunities encountered by these libraries and the communities they serve.

Participants from Community Library, Delaware County District Library, Licking County Library, Muskingum County Library System, Worthinton Libraries, and TRIAD attended the roundtable.

Participants from Community Library, Delaware County District Library, Licking County Library, Muskingum County Library System, Worthinton Libraries, and TRIAD attended the roundtable.

The challenges brought about by the pandemic have spurred innovation and emphasized the library’s integral role in the community.  How each library has approached technology access, patron engagement, and facility usage has sparked creative and unique solutions.


To distill the information, discussion topics were broken down into three categories.

To distill the information, discussion topics were broken down into three categories.

TECHNOLOGY ACCESS

As students transitioned to virtual learning early in the pandemic, the digital divide emphasized the inequity and sheer necessity of reliable internet access for all. The Community Library in Sunbury, OH, in tandem with Big Walnut Schools, ensured students had hot-spots for remote learning. Similarly, community members looking to connect with family or set up telehealth appointments were able to take advantage of the 24/7 Wi-Fi availability at Muskingum County and Worthington Libraries.

Since March, there has been an increased awareness among the public of Ebooks, audiobooks, and other virtual offerings. Libraries also shifted much of their public programming, including public meetings, to the internet. George Needham of Delaware County Library noted that they have had an uptick in attendance and reached new sectors of the community after making Board Meetings available on Facebook. As more aspects of everyday life have been pushed into the digital space, the need to balance virtual and physical offerings becomes apparent. How can library systems engage the community in the current socio-political climate?  

PATRON ENGAGEMENT

In a recent episode of the Dewey Decibel podcast, Susan Nemitz (director of Santa Cruz Public Libraries) emphasized that, “there are very few places that we collect as human beings across ethnicity, age, [and] political spectrums,” as one would in a library. Library systems have been able to accommodate the spectrum of patrons they serve in unique ways:

  • Licking County Libraries have seen a 174% increase in drive-through window usage. Their 24-hour lockers have been used more as well, allowing families to check out materials in a safe and efficient manner.

  • Staff at the Worthington Libraries have consistently reached out to seniors that frequent their branches, checking in over phone or email.

  • Community Library has started special interest groups for students to provide variation in virtual learning.

  • Curated reading lists have given Delaware County patrons another way to learn about social issues such as Black Lives Matter.

  • In response to patron engagement and the digital divide, Muskingum County Library staff partnered with local radio stations to provide story-time for kids throughout the week.

Modified operating hours have given staff the ability to work on the above solutions while library leadership revisit their core services and envision future opportunities. How will innovative practices, emphasized during the pandemic, impact current and future facility usage and design?

FACILITY USAGE

While some future facility planning has stalled due to proactive budget measures, ongoing facility renovations and construction projects have largely been completed at a faster rate as buildings are less populated. Decreased occupancy in the building has also allowed library staff to repurpose meeting rooms as quarantine areas for materials.

The pandemic has emphasized various aspects of library planning and design. Future facility considerations include operable windows, automated doors, and restroom fixtures, and meeting rooms/flex space that can be quickly repurposed. The increased popularity of drive-up windows and curbside service areas will likely inform site design and necessitate coordination with traffic patterns in and around the library.

The ability of these library systems to be nimble and imaginative in the face of COVID-19 speaks to their dedication to the communities they serve. TRIAD appreciates the insights shared by all participants and we hope to continue this type of dialogue and look forward to designing adaptable spaces that best meet the changing needs of the community and our clients.

Special thanks to the participants:
Chauncey Montgomery, Director of Community Library
George Needham, Director of Delaware County District Library
Babette Wofter, Director of Licking County Library
Stacey Russell, Interim Director and Fiscal Officer of Muskingum County Library System
Stephanie Freas, Assistant Director of Muskingum County Library System
Monica Baughman, Director of Support Services of Worthington Libraries
Brent Foley, TRIAD Architects
Jena Kessler, TRIAD Architects
Megan Stuart, TRIAD Architects
Lauren Turnage, TRIAD Architects

Written by Lauren Turnage, Project Associate

Municipal Round Table Discussion

DATE: JUNE 17, 2020

As a continuation of our Round Table Discussion series, we recently had a virtual conversation with our clients and municipal leaders to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted them, and what strategies and tactics they have been implementing in their communities. TRIAD’s Brent Foley began this session by asking participants about experienced challenges and opportunities that have transpired during this time.

To distill the information, discussion topics were broken down into three categories.

To distill the information, discussion topics were broken down into three categories.

TECHNOLOGY
Technology has played a critical role in keeping everyone connected and maintaining business as usual. As with most organizations, the community leaders all talked about how they had to adjust to the circumstances.  Jennifer Chrysler (City of New Albany) helped inform the group about how they started to utilize remote building inspections on many of the local construction projects.  Since these new procedures have been put into action in New Albany, it has helped for a quick turn-a-round on inspections and has kept projects on schedule.

The electronic public bidding has also been a change that has seen a lot of success on the community projects.  Moving forward, the participants want to see this as a permanent change.  Alan Rothermel (City of Sunbury) expressed that “live streaming meetings have been positive and will continue.” Steve Studenmund (Columbus Metro Parks) disclosed that because many facilities are closed, they had to adjust how they accept bids and have also started having bid openings outside.

As great as technology can be, it sometimes comes with challenges and frustrations. Connectivity issues were to be expected due to the increased number of people working from home as well as the school systems utilizing online learning.  There have also been challenges with some older employees getting accustomed to and comfortable with virtual meetings.  This was something that some participants had to overcome, but Jane McJunkin (Village of Lockbourne) said most enjoy it once they got used to it.

CONSTRUCTION
One topic that much of the group agreed on was that construction has not slowed down, especially regarding certain market sectors such as roads, education, etc. In some cases, it has given participants more opportunities, and additional projects were even coming in under budget.

With companies furloughing employees, participants have experienced some inspection delays. There have also been other delays and cancellations on specific projects in the hospitality sector.

COMMUNITY
The pandemic has brought up many questions for community assets. Particularly playgrounds, state parks/trails, restaurants, and office buildings. What will these look like moving forward?

  • Playgrounds: It’s been a struggle keeping children off playgrounds. Sanitation initiatives are being prioritized for the health and safety of the community.

  • State parks/trails: With everyone stuck inside, state parks and trails have been a way for people to get outside and get fresh air. Steve Studenmund (Columbus Metroparks) mentioned that it’s important to make social distancing a priority and educate the public on these efforts.

  • Restaurants: The city is working with restaurants to provide additional seating, fencing, and establish a temporary patio extension. Obtaining liquor licenses for temporary patios has been a challenge that city officials are working through. Downtowns and the service industry may suffer as they need people to come to their restaurants to survive.

  • Office Buildings: What will office spaces look like in the future? Will there be empty offices/garages? Are we normalizing working from home?

Joseph Henderson (City of Upper Arlington) said that they’ve opened City Hall and have adjusted to an open office layout. They’ve had to reallocate space for people who need to be in the office. Offering flexible in-office hours and the ability to work from home is being taken into consideration for many companies. Participants have found that in some cases, there has been an increase in productivity when working from home due to little interruptions.

Shown above is a screenshot from our Zoom discussion.

Shown above is a screenshot from our Zoom discussion.

Recovery and reopening seem to be more challenging than shutting everything down was, but this discussion helped everyone brainstorm new ideas. Participants have adapted and made adjustments that they’ve never had to make before. The TRIAD team looks forward to more insightful conversations with this group. Thank you to representatives from Dayton, Delaware, Lockbourne, Marysville, Metro Parks, New Albany, Sunbury, and Upper Arlington for participating!

Educator Round Table Discussion

DATE: MAY 28, 2020



A few weeks ago, the TRIAD team hosted a virtual round table discussion for educators and administrators around Columbus to share the impact the COVID-19 Pandemic has had on their schools. To begin this discussion, Brent Foley (Partner, TRIAD) prompted the discussion with one over-arching question: What are challenges and opportunities you are facing during and transitioning through the COVID-19 Pandemic?

To distill the information, discussion topics were broken down into four main topics.

To distill the information, discussion topics were broken down into four main topics.

TECHNOLOGY

Education Roundtable.jpg

At the forefront of the discussion, participants shared technology’s extreme benefit in all this. Technology has provided student-to-teacher face-to-face interaction without physical contact via computers, allowed for creative lesson planning, and increased architect-client interaction via video conferencing. Scott Dorne (Westerville City Schools) mentioned that he is enjoying seeing live changes to building projects via Zoom on weekly meetings with the TRIAD team and intends to continue these virtual meetings in the future. Although, these opportunities are perhaps overshadowed by the larger challenges educators are facing: How do we ensure connectivity to all students? Being unable to connect to students (due to no internet connection and/or no device) poses a barrier to instruction. This raises questions about the inequity divide growing even greater during this pandemic. What happens to students who lose valuable instruction due to their lack of connectivity?

FACILITIES

So how does all this impact the future classroom? This brings us to what the TRIAD team sees as our constant challenge (and opportunity): How do we design the best classroom for tomorrow, today? As the discussion moved to facility-implications of the pandemic, administrators discussed potential shifts in the building they are seeing. Perhaps entries and exits might change for students and staff to ensure safe entry and departure. How does this impact class size (and classroom size)? Handwashing stations may need to be set up while communal drinking fountains become blocked off for all students and staff.

CURRICULUM

In thinking of the success of students, it seems there is a common question on everyone’s mind: is online learning working? John Kellogg (Westerville City Schools) suggests that it may be more complicated than that. He describes that this two-month period has been what he and his colleagues and calling “The Biggest Experiment in Public Education.” Online instruction might work, but what about supervision? How do we get the economy back up and running while children still need supervision at home? There also exists a great concern about grades. How do educators hold students accountable? How can grades exist if barriers such as connectivity prevent students from being able to perform their online schoolwork? Kellogg suggests that perhaps a bigger question exists: What do parents (and students) want from their child’s education? Do grades need to better reflect a goal that students/parents have set for themselves? In thinking of this, Foley (TRIAD) brought up the idea that perhaps this student-set achievement method could lead to a more individualized way of learning. He brought up the School of One, which functions as a “learner-based-learning” environment where each student has an individualized educational experience best suited to them.

STUDENTS

This leads to another question: For the students that have connectivity, how do we keep students engaged in instruction and learning? This is perhaps one of the most challenging aspects educators are facing in the online classroom. Kim Gattis (St. Francis DeSales High School) shared one challenge she has faced is as simple as having a hard time getting students to read the instructions posted online. However, Gattis is seeing creativity in assignments from engaged students as a result of the flipped classroom. Perhaps as a result of the pandemic, the successful strategies to engage students virtually can be explored to increase student success in the future.

Perhaps most notable from this discussion is the interconnectedness of all these challenges and opportunities. Each question encompasses more than just one technology opportunity or one facility challenge. All challenges and opportunities are clearly connected to the functioning of the school as a whole.

To capture the interconnectedness of the discussion, questions were organized into a Venn Diagram.

To capture the interconnectedness of the discussion, questions were organized into a Venn Diagram.

Since this discussion, I have had some time to reflect on these implications. The way we have responded to these challenges shows perhaps the biggest opportunity of all. Educators, students, administrators, companies, and organizations involved in the education sector have shown an increased ability to be adaptable, resourceful, and resilient more than ever before. The TRIAD team looks forward to continuing to work with educators and administrators in the future to best adapt to the ever-changing needs of classrooms to contribute to student and teacher success.

Written by Jena Drago, Project Associate

Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Day

DATE: APRIL 29, 2020

Last quarter, our team stepped out of the office and into the community to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is a “nonprofit housing organization working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S.” who work together to build homes for those in need. We spent the day with hard hats on our heads and hammers in our hands working on various projects. We laid the structure for plumbing, helped build the outdoor shed, and other tasks assigned to us by our project leaders. For some of our team, it was the first time volunteering with Habitat but a few members have dedicated their time helping in the past.

Near the end of our workday, a family who would soon move into the house when it’s complete, stopped by to check out the progress. Families are required to work a number of hours on their house during the construction process. It was especially moving to see the excitement on the little boy’s face, who would soon move into the home that we helped build. When houses are complete, Habitat holds a dedication ceremony for the families moving in. Our team had a wonderful experience with Habitat and will be back again to help out!

Learn more about Habitat for Humanity and how you can get involved here.

TRIAD's Response to COVID-19

DATE: APRIL 24, 2020

“…to thrive and grow in a world of rapid change and unpredictability.” – Dan Sullivan

I love the quote above.  Today it has more meaning than it did when I first read those words.  Our Strategic Business Team had finished our annual company meeting in mid-February and planned our next 12 months.  Not a single person on that team even considered the scale of disruption that COVID-19 would have on our families and communities, let alone the business world.  We talked about the potential economic slowdown after a decade of substantial growth.  We may have even discussed the political impacts given a presidential election year.  But I am certain a global pandemic was not on the discussion board.

We have spent the last 18 months redefining our firm around why we do business.  We focused on our values; we built efficient processes that are core to our firm; we built an organizational structure with clear accountability.  By doing this when the times were over-achieving expectations every year, we were prepared to adapt when the times changed drastically.  We have built a team that can “thrive and grow in a world of rapid change and unpredictability.”

It’s important to stay connected during this time, so our team enjoyed a "virtual” Happy Hour!

It’s important to stay connected during this time, so our team enjoyed a "virtual” Happy Hour!

The Entrepreneurial Operations System, or EOS, provided us the tools and framework in which to evolve TRIAD Architects from the company we were, to the company we endeavored to become.  Our Vision became the centerpiece of the firm’s focus and discipline.  Our team understands the importance of our investment and continues to stay the course without compromise to that Vision.  The tools of EOS that helped us define and grow our firm, are helping us now navigate the daily challenges of the pandemic.

We transitioned our company to full remote working; we expanded our sick time policy; we modified our technology infrastructure, and we acclimated our team to alternative communication methods.  We did this as a firm over a weekend and nearly 8 days before the Ohio “Stay at Home” order took place.  We were prepared to make strategic decisions, provide clear direction to our team, and enact policy changes.  We did this because we ultimately had taken the steps 18 months ago to handle times like these, we just didn’t know the full power of those steps until now.

These tools and processes that helped us effectively react to the workplace change in March will be the same tools and processes that help us reinvent and shape our transitioning workspace and workforce.  That clarity, that sense of vision, will remain in focus as we consider our associates, our clients, our communities, and our families.  Developing an agile workplace through new investments in technology, staff training, and refinement of how we interact on all levels of our business must continue to allow effective adaptability when things beyond our control occur because our approach is clear, the right people are accountable, and communication is open and honest.  What we left behind in March, and what waits for us in May, we are certain our goals and aspirations will remain unchanged.