Library Consultation Services in Saskatoon
Offering a range of consultation services in Saskatoon, Brockmeyer Library Consulting strives to meet the requirements of libraries and librarians. With a specialization in library leadership and design consultation, we help increase the efficiency and usability of library resources. We utilize our skills and knowledge to determine the scope and goals of a library project. We then analyze the vital features and provide advice and direction for completing the project. Through these consultation services, Brockmeyer Library Consulting aims to assist in developing the library community.
(Credit: the above floor plan was achitually designed and drafted by Edwards, Edwards, McEwen; and, Robb and Cullman Engineering).
Get in touch to learn more about our services.
Our Services
For a customer base that includes librarians; small, mid-sized and large libraries; and individuals, we offer services such as:
- Library leadership
- Library design consultation
- Archives and local history
Archival collections offer the promise of unique connections between the library and its users, particularly when the archives relate to local history. Experienced in multiple archival repositories, we provide guidance on creating a new archive as well as reinvigorating an existing one. - Development of donors and donor recognition
Finding potential donors can be a challenge, and almost all libraries hit the wall when it comes to fundraising. Working with your leadership team, I can help libraries reach out to potential donors, and assist in securing government or corporate funding. - Institutional or personal book management
Through collection development and maintenance, we guide library staff to select and maintain the library’s materials and to inform the library community regarding the selection. This service provides information, education and recreation to the community it serves. - Research services for individuals or institutions
If you, as an individual or an institution, need help with research, I can assist you. I have an undergraduate High Honours degree in Sociology (University of Saskatchewan), a Masters of Library and Information Studies (University of Alberta) and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Policy (University of British Columbia). Private individuals
If you have personal book collections for which you need to find a home, I can assist with that. I can evaluate your books, assess their quality and uses, and help you find them a home.
Home Library Consultation
I can assist you with your home library. If you want to build a home library, I can help you to create and design a space that is premised upon your interests, tastes and aesthetics. If you already have a book collection for which you would like to find a new home and pare down the books you have, I can assist with that as well.
Contributions of Dr. Brockmeyer to the Library Renovation Project at St. Thomas More
College architects generally do a fantastic job when designing a new building or renovating an existing one. Complimenting that, when it comes to libraries, the design can often benefit from the assistance of librarians, especially those who take an interest in library design. I have done so; I began by studying library buildings during my Masters Degree, and have since then toured many libraries throughout North America and Europe.
From the beginning of the renovation project at the Shannon Library, St. Thomas More College, I met with the architects Edwards, Edwards and McEwan, as well as building managers and construction crews. During that time, I designed and presented my vision of an old world, renaissance library, many of which I had seen in extensive travel throughout Europe. The vision I drew contained barrel vault ceilings, rich earth tones and a copper color consistent with the three sets of copper doors well known at the college that are part of its heritage. I wanted to highlight that heritage and allow it to lend richness to the renovation project.
As well as the copper color from the entry doors, I wanted to retain as much light as possible. I wanted light to flow from the south windows all the way into the existing library. I wanted a seamless symmetry of grandeur which would inspire the students to an esteemed sense of self through which they could become positive forces of agency in the world, thereby improving the human condition. Believing, as Sir Winston Churchill intuited: “We shape our buildings, and thereafter, they shape us.” To achieve this, I considered everything in the overall design, including structure, walls, ceiling, lighting, flooring, shelving, furniture, and many small details. It should be noted that while exciting, this entire project was expedited through in a very short timeframe, and under trying circumstances, so the resulting achievement, for all involved, was significant.
While architects do foundational design and planning, librarians, who know function as well as context for a library, can help in a real and significant way. In this project, I contributed to the following. (Please see the Gallery page for images.)
1. North wall: The appealing and natural curved north exterior wall, with large windows, which otherwise would have been square and flat, and resulted in a square box addition.
2. Barrel vaulted cathedral library ceiling: Which otherwise would have been low and flat, or designed in a low wave.
3. Gothic chandeliers: Which were locally sourced and otherwise would have been small white modern tubes.
4. Bronze colored ceiling in the Reading Room and white in the new build, which otherwise would have been all white.
5. Lower height book stacks to allow sunlight to transfer from the north side to the south side of the library, which otherwise would have been tall and blocking all light. The proposed height would have also exceeded Occupational Health and Safety standards at 103", and I brought that down to 93”.
6. Wood finish on the newstacks: Which otherwise would have been grey metal.
7. Periodical shelving on the ends of the stacks, which otherwise would have required additional periodical shelving at additional expense.
8. Large doorways without doors to allow for a joining of the two spaces, the old and the new, which otherwise would have been standard sized small closed doorways.
9. Bookshelves built in the covered-up window wells, which otherwise would have been plain dry-walled walls which would have wasted valuable book space.
10. A traditional gas fireplace: Which otherwise would have been a drywalled space.
11. Furniture–locally sourced: Which was all on sale, durable, practical and which the students love.
- This library has become the preeminent Catholic College library in Western Canada.
- It won a Heritage Award of Merit in the Sensitive Addition category in 2018.
