Track 1:  Strategic Space Planning & Specialized Library Functions

Location:  Gentry B/C

Redefining Library Spaces:  Establishing the Allen Lastinger Center for Florida History
Presenters:  Jennifer Murray, Paul Mosley, Hilary Streifer; University of North Florida Thomas G. Carpenter Library

Academic libraries are evolving beyond their traditional roles to become dynamic hubs of innovation, collaboration, and learning. This presentation will focus on the creation of the Allen Lastinger Center for Florida History at the UNF Thomas G. Carpenter Library and will demonstrate how reimagining library space can foster interdisciplinary research, enhance academic engagement, and create a global resource for scholars, researchers, and community members. Attendees will gain insights into the planning, implementation, and management of a research center within an academic library, with a focus on lessons learned, continuous evaluation, and adaptability to meet the evolving needs of the academic community.

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Track 2:  Transformative Renovation & Future-Forward Libraries

Location:  Room 159

Revitalizing Jacksonville’s Urban Branch Libraries to Address the Needs of the Community (Brentwood Branch Library)
Presenter:  Christopher Allen, Haskell

This architecture-based presentation will focus on innovative ideas for revitalizing Jacksonville’s urban branch libraries to address the needs of the community. The focus will be on the current Brentwood Branch Library project.

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Track 3:  Designing for Accessibility, Belonging, & Well-Being

Location:  Room 162

Free to all?  How to Produce Environments that Encourage Welcoming and Belonging
Presenter:  Jeffrey Hoover, Tappe Architects

Planners and designers (who are always working in the future) need to imagine a library future that transcends current goals and obstacles. So, as we rewrite and expand the narrative around the traditional library goal of being “Free To All” we will need new understandings of how exterior architectural expression, interior architectural environments and even library site/landscape design can reflect broad spectrum community identity and reinforce broad spectrum community participation.

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Track 4:  Spaces for Children, Teens, & Emerging Learners

Location:  Room 163

Creating Inspiring, Functional Spaces with Limited Space or Budgets for Your Youngest Users
Presenter:  Brooke Breiner, HBM Architects

Children’s areas are often the heart of the library — a place of wonder, discovery, and community connection. But how can libraries of all sizes create inspiring, functional spaces for their youngest users, even with limited square footage or budgets? In this session, interior designers explore innovative design strategies for creating vibrant and flexible children’s areas in libraries of every size. Whether you’re planning a full renovation or just looking to refresh your existing space, this session will leave you with actionable ideas and inspiration to make your children’s area a true destination.

The following vendors will be available for consultations throughout the day:

Track 1:  Strategic Space Planning & Specialized Library Functions

Location:  Gentry B/C

Library Design with Nature in Mind
Presenters:  Marcel Maslowski and Keenan Johnson, FGM Architects.  Nancy Fredericks, Retired, Pasco County Library System (Panel Discussion)

When libraries plan new spaces, they aren’t just building for function—they’re shaping environments that affect community health, staff morale, and long-term sustainability. Research shows that Incorporating nature into building design improves staff and patron health and wellness. The term library designers use when incorporating nature into interior spaces is ‘biophilia,’ the idea that humans are wired to connect with the natural world. In this session, you’ll learn how to incorporate nature into new and remodeled library buildings. The presentation will include examples of library facilities designed using biophilic concepts.

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Track 2:  Transformative Renovation & Future-Forward Libraries

Location:  Room 159

Working With What You’ve Got:  Reorganizing Existing Library Spaces with Existing Assets
Presenter:  Brandy Black, Clay County Public Library System

Discusses the many changes the Clay County Public Library System has made (and are in the process of making) over the last decade or so to create warm, engaging, comfortable places for people to spend time with us in the library.  The session will focus on better utilizing the furniture and space you already have without a huge outlay of funds.

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Track 3: Designing for Accessibility, Belonging, & Well-Being

Location:  Room 162

Community Collaboration in Action:  Creating a Sensory-Friendly Library Space
Presenter:  Rachael Elrod, University of Florida

As academic libraries seek innovative ways to redesign existing spaces to better support diverse user needs, sensory-friendly environments have emerged as a critical yet often underexplored approach. This presentation describes the creation of a Relaxation Room in an academic library designed to support neurodivergent students and others seeking a low-stimulation space for regulation, rest, and focus. The project was grounded in a survey of students that explored their experiences in library spaces, sensory challenges, and desired supports. Survey findings directly informed decisions about room purpose, design elements, policies, and furnishings. The library also partnered with campus experts outside the libraries, including professionals in disability services, counseling, and student wellness, to ensure the space reflected evidence-based practices and aligned with broader institutional support structures.

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Track 4:  Spaces for Children, Teens, & Emerging Learners

Location:  Room 163

Designing for Interaction:  Immersive Environments in Children’s Libraries
Presenter:  Mandy Wannen, Kaleidoscope

This presentation explores the design and impact of interactive children’s libraries that engage young users through immersive interior environments. By thoughtfully integrating thematic elements, adaptable furniture, and dynamic lighting, these spaces move beyond traditional reading rooms to become experiential learning landscapes.

Track 1:  Strategic Space Planning & Specialized Library Functions

Location:  Gentry B/C

Renovations Big and Small:  Future-Forward Libraries on Today’s Budget
Presenters:  Amy Hardin, Gresham Smith

Library leaders everywhere face the same challenge: how to adapt and renovate facilities for future needs while working within today’s financial realities. Whether tackling minor updates or large-scale capital projects, decision makers must balance vision, funding, and community expectations — all while ensuring that renovations remain flexible and resilient for decades to come. This session will equip attendees with strategies to plan multi-tier renovations that can be phased in over time, ensuring long term goals stay on track while incremental funding is secured. Participants will also learn how to evaluate existing infrastructure and make informed, budget conscious decisions — selecting durable materials, identifying underperforming spaces, and maximizing limited resources.

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Track 2:  Transformative Renovation & Future-Forward Libraries

Location:  Room 159

Libraries as Community Resilience Hubs
Presenter:  Lindsey Piant Perez, Little

I bring an interdisciplinary perspective at the intersection of resilience planning, the built environment, and community-centered design, with a focus on the role of public spaces, such as libraries, in supporting community resilience. My work explores how these trusted, accessible civic places can be intentionally designed, retrofitted, and programmed to serve as resilience hubs that support communities before, during, and after disruptions such as extreme heat, flooding, public health crises, and social or economic stressors. Drawing from resilience frameworks, risk assessment methodologies, and real-world implementation in public-sector and community projects, I focus on translating high-level resilience goals into practical, scalable strategies.

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Track 3: Designing for Accessibility, Belonging, & Well-Being

Location:  Room 162

Wellbeing by Design:  Using Biophilic Spaces to Transform User Experience
Presenter:  Trina McCowan-Adams, Flagler College

Libraries are rapidly evolving to meet the diverse sensory, cognitive, and aesthetic needs of today’s learners. At Flagler College’s Proctor Library, this evolution sparked a series of redesign initiatives that combined sensory-friendly study environments with a refreshed visual identity shaped directly by student feedback. This session introduces Cultivating Calm and Color, a project that transformed underperforming or visually discordant areas into welcoming, purpose-driven spaces that support focus, comfort, and community pride. Attendees will learn how the library created the Robbins Serenity Garden Study Room, a cost-conscious, biophilic, and acoustically balanced space designed to provide sensory relief within a noisy open-layout building.  This session offers practical strategies for libraries of any size seeking to redesign existing spaces through intentional sensory design, collaborative art selection, and community-centered decision-making.

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Track 4:  Spaces for Children, Teens, & Emerging Learners

Location:  Room 163

From Quiet Zone to Activity Hub:  Working with What You Have to Create Dynamic, Flexible Library Spaces
Presenter:  Patricia Phillips, Newberry Elementary School

This session will focus on utilizing strategic design to create engaging library environments, on a variety of budgets. We will discuss strategies for transforming the library from a traditional silent setting into a dynamic, multi-functional activity space that fosters inspiration, collaboration, and a renewed love for reading!

Track 1:  Strategic Space Planning & Specialized Library Functions

Location:  Gentry B/C

Right Size Your Library
Presenters:  Marcel Maslowski and Keenan Johnson, FGM Architects.  Nancy Fredericks, Retired, Pasco County Library System (Panel Discussion)

When designing a new library or remodeling an existing library, how do you determine the right size of the various spaces within the library? You know the overall square footage of the building but what size should the meeting rooms, children, adult and work areas be? In this session, learn the basics of library space planning and methods of determining the right size of library spaces based on current research.

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Track 2:  Transformative Renovation & Future-Forward Libraries

Location:  Room 159

Exploration of the Oceanway/New Berlin Library in Jacksonville
Presenter:  Chris Kaye, PQH Group Design

This discussion explores the Oceanway/New Berlin Library in Jacksonville, Florida—a 30,000 SF civic library that reinterprets traditional rural vernacular to create a modern, welcoming community hub. It highlights how architecture, materiality, and spatial experience support learning, connection, and a strong sense of place.

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Track 3: Designing for Accessibility, Belonging, & Well-Being

Location:  Room 162

From Research to Relaxation:  Supporting Students Well-Being Through Recreational Reading Spaces
Presenter:  Stacy Ewing, Cera Keene, Dharma Sandvik, University of Florida

As academic libraries continually rethink how existing spaces can better support student needs, this case study highlights a strategic redesign that transformed an underutilized area into a welcoming recreational reading space focused on students’ well-being through reading. This presentation will explore how a humanities and social sciences branch library repurposed a small area into a recreational reading space supporting relaxation, reading engagement, and connection. After flood damage impacted the space, the library took the opportunity to replace low-use café-table workstations and outdated seating with a more inviting, student-centered environment. Attendees will learn how thoughtful planning and design choices shaped the space, including furniture selection, layout, shelving, displays, and accessibility considerations.

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Track 4:  Spaces for Children, Teens, & Emerging Learners

Location:  Room 163

Offering Food Pantries in Library Spaces
Presenter:  Miranda Beard, Suwannee River Regional Library

Being in a rural, low-income area, many of the residents covered by the reach of the Suwannee River Regional Library system have struggled to find affordable or attainable food sources. In response to this, the White Springs Public Library has set to establish a long-term food pantry for the residents of Hamilton county, providing many residents with a welcomed source of food that is local and free for those in need. This presentation aims to address various facets of tackling food insecurity through the establishment of food pantries and food literacy programs within library spaces.

Hosting Teen Art Shows in Library Spaces
Presenter:  Josiah Cook, Suwannee River Regional Library

For close to a decade now, we have hosted annual Teen Art Shows at the Live Oak branch of the Suwannee River Regional Library. These grand displays of artwork highlight the talents of young local artists while also completely transforming the otherwise standard Teen Zone into an art gallery that draws patrons and fellow artists into the area. In this session, I will go over all the steps we take to make these art shows possible, from the inception of the idea to seeking artist applicants, the team-building activity in which library staff participate by casting their votes to judge the artwork, and finding the just-right way to display that artwork. At this session, we will describe everything you need to know to creatively modify your space to accommodate this phenomenal addition to library programming.