Gili Meerovitch Contributes Her Expertise to Library Expansion/Reconfiguration Guide

Gili Meerovitch, CID, IIDA, LEED AP, considered a leading voice in the design of academic learning spaces design, has helped shape the evolution of 21st century academic library and learning space design. She discusses the defining and building consensus around a shared vision before launching the design process in her chapter, “The Visioning Process,” in Creating the High-Functioning Library Space,” a planning guide to the expansion or reconfiguration of existing library space, edited by Marta Mestrovic Deyrup, PhD, and published by Libraries Unlimited.

Instrumental in the renovation and expansion of such noteworthy libraries as the I.K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia, Seattle University’s A. A. Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, and UC Santa Barbara’s University Library, Gili draws upon her experience to examine the resistance to change, the new purpose of the 21st century academic library, adaption to organizational changes, and strategies for realizing a transformative vision.

The book presents both the perspectives and experience of library administrators and management personnel as well as the insights of accomplished library architects and designers. It provides thorough, practical, and current guidance in a process that library administrators often find daunting and "risk immersive."

Barbara Chung's review of the book in PLQ (Public Library Quarterly), states ". . . Editor Marta Mestrovic Deyrup once again demonstrates that librarians are pros at finding information. By gathering the best of the best in one volume, Dr. Deyrup enables librarians to better plan and integrate design changes in libraries that will serve the technological and cultural needs of their patrons. . . . Although written as a result of her experience in academic libraries, Gili Meerovitch's chapter, titled 'The Visioning Process,' provides a framework that can be utilized by any type of library. The importance of a sterring committee and the need to define the library's purpose and audience are key take-a-ways for librarians about to embark on a renovation or expansion project."