December Member Highlights: Library Facilities Summit in Review
On October 28, 2025, more than 40 library professionals gathered at OhioNet for our Library Facilities Summit. Participants from libraries of all types and sizes came together for this single-day summit focused on how libraries can fix, maintain, and design facilities to best serve their patrons and staff.
It was inspiring to see such a large group of librarians and library staff dedicated specifically to understanding the challenges and opportunities inherent in managing library facilities. “Facilities don’t often get highlighted with their own programming,” said Hannah Rosen, Director of Strategic Purchasing and Professional Development at OhioNet. “It was very impactful to see people from all kinds of facilities share solutions and inspiration with each other.” The program was jam packed with presentations to spark ideas and encourage the exchange of practical insight.
The day started with a keynote presentation from Wendy Tressler, Planning and Strategy Officer for Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML). Her talk, “Small Spaces – Big Design,” demonstrated CML’s design principles through a showcase of library spaces, and invited attendees to think creatively about how to combine practicality of design with unique features when designing library spaces.
The next session, “Lessons Learned!,” featured Julia Warga (John Carroll University), Suzanne Johnson-Varney (Shawnee State University) and Dee Peterson (Ohio Wesleyan University). Each speaker shared lessons learned from their experiences dealing with facilities issues long in the making, including delayed maintenance, renovations already in progress, and even a building closure. Each speaker offered a valuable look at helpful strategies to plan for, prevent, and deal with unexpected circumstances.
Lynn Yandell and Molly Haines from Bibliotheca presented “Designing the Modern Library,” a showcase of facilities technology solutions. Yandell and Haines used American public library examples to discuss technology solutions to facilities issues such as self-checkout stations, remote lockers, and after-hours access systems. Special thanks to Bibliotheca for being our vendor sponsor for this summit event.
The last session before lunch, “Managing with Limited Resources,” featured two speakers from small libraries, Kari Siders (Wilmington College) and Sarah Thomas (Ashland Theological Seminary). Both speakers provided very practical advice for participants, with Siders providing step-by-step instructions for how to create and advertise a facilities plan, and Thomas showing how to build and sustain momentum in small but impactful changes within a library space.
Our second featured speaker, Ryan Burley, Deputy Director of Library Operations at the State Library of Ohio, spoke right after lunch. Burley outlined his facilities journey and described the unique challenges inherent to housing and moving the State Library’s collection.
During ”Facilities Design,” presenters Erika Losey and Alice Henry (The Ohio State University Health Sciences Library) and Tina Franks (The Ohio State University) shared how strategic planning, patron feedback, and intentional marketing can help transition patrons and staff through facilities renovation projects.
The event concluded with ”Facilities Toolkit,” a pair of talks that featured Nathanael P. Davis (Cedarville University) and Michelle Hahn (Ohio University). The topics focused on affordable, actionable steps that can be implemented within any library, including affordable temperature monitoring and easy accessibility wins.
We’re planning to offer facilities-related programming online in early 2026, starting with “Managing Facilities Change on a Shoestring Budget” on January 27.
A huge thank you to all who presented, participated, and helped us build a library facilities community! View additional photos from the day below.
