Blueprint for Resilience

摘要

SOMETIMES, JUST ENVISIONING something can set change in motion. That's what's happening at the Belgrade Community Library in Montana. That little library was named LJ's Best Small Library in America in 2015 and effectively leveraged the honor for local interest and investment (ow.ly/kGKN30bg72b). A few years later, the library, under the leadership of Director Gale Bacon, continues to make the most of its opportunities, now via design that is helping to set the community's sights on a possible future. To make something real, you first must be able to see it clearly-and bring others to see it, too. The design process helps do just that. For Belgrade, with little resources but plenty of will, the dream to expand took form through a partnership with fifth-year architecture students at Montana State University's (MSU) School of Architecture, Bozeman, who embraced the library as part of an annual design challenge the school conducts under the guidance of Tom McNab, director of MSU's Community Design Center. (See one rendering from the effort, pictured, and read more on p. 38.) The process and results, while so far only theoretical, have prompted vital conversation among stakeholders and the public about what they imagine when they dream on the library Belgrade needs and desires.