Building with a Team: A Team-Facilitated Approach to New Building Planning and Execution

Abstract

A concrete (pun intended) method of team building is managing a new building program from wish list to grand opening. Using Appalachian State University’s experience with its new $30 million, 215,000 square foot building as a starting point, Lynne Lysiak and Mary Reichel will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a library team approach to a building project. At Appalachian State, the Library’s Internal Building Group comprised of 15 faculty and staff was the coordinating group for library decisions related to the building and its furnishings. This experience has helped the presenters think about questions such as how do you shape a building to meet future needs of personnel and users? How do you balance the necessity for keeping the big picture in sight while dealing with thousands of details and individual decisions? How do you have technology which is pervasive, user friendly, and flexible enough to meet today’s and the next decade’s need? How do you weigh the investment of many people’s time in the building project while still running the library? And, overall, was building with a team, a true team building experience? The presenters will share their thoughts and ideas and ask the audience to engage in discussion and participation on building for the future.