While downtown Fargo is temporarily without a library until April 25 when the New Main Library opens, we thought we would give some glimpses into what will be coming in the new library. For those driving by on 1st Avenue North, you can already see many things happening inside the library.

As part of those glimpses inside, you may see some very bright colors. There are bright yellow-greens, orange, magenta, various shades of blue, and summery golds. For some folks, these colors may be, well, a bit interesting.

The colors within the new library have their roots in the public meetings held in 2005 and 2006. When the architects from Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle asked those attending the public forums what they wanted in a new library, there were several comments along the lines of “Fargo is white and grey six months of the year; we don’t want a white and grey library anymore.”

The architects listened. At the next meeting, they came back with a concept board. This board was a collage of photographs taken in North Dakota. As they presented it, Jeff Scherer and Jack Poling said, “look around you; there are many colors here in your region.” And yes, there are. There is the intense yellow-green of the first shoots of corn in the fields. There is the bright reddish pink of a prairie sunset. There is the glowing orange of sunrise on the plains. Yes, there are somber colors of brown and grey as fields lie dormant for the winter. But to balance that there are the brilliant blue skies, gold sunflowers, and purple canola fields in bloom.

The concept board with the photographs and paint colors pulled from the photos is on display at our Carlson Branch, along with the floor plans for the New Main Library. As the plans have gone through revisions and slight adjustments, the concept board and the colors have stayed constant.

So even during this week when we returned to a white world outside, as we work inside the New Main we are surrounded by the colors of our landscape.

Suzanne Morrison, one of our very own board members, has been awarded the 2007 Spirit of Law Librarianship Award from the American Association of Law Librarians. From the announcement:

The award committee is pleased to announce that Suzanne M. Morrison, U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Branch Librarian for North and South Dakota is this year’s recipient of the Spirit of Law Librarianship Award for her outstanding commitment to international service. Under the auspices of ABA/CEELI, Ms. Morrison has made six trips in the last ten years to troubled parts of the world to help law schools recover from national or regional strife. Her visits have ranged from one to several months where she has taught legal research skills, evaluated law libraries and offered advice to libraries that were in various stages of development. Her work has taken her to many countries throughout Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including the West Bank and Gaza, Krygystan, Tajikistan, Kosovo, Slovakia and Albania.

When not on the road serving struggling law schools overseas, Ms. Morrison serves her home community by serving on the Fargo (ND) Library Board, works with the YWCA, League of Women Voters, Veterans History Project and volunteers for the local hospice.

Ms. Morrison will be honored at the State, Court and County Law Libraries Special Interest Section’s reception at this year’s annual meeting of AALL to be held this year in New Orleans.

This award is given to a law librarian, or group of librarians, who have used their position and skills as a law librarian to make a meaningful contribution to a social cause, or used their professional training in service of others in some significant way.

We’re very excited for Suzanne and would like to congratulate her on this major accomplishment. Fargo’s lucky to have her overseeing its library.

ReadND is a relativly new organization that promotes North Dakota literature with book lists, discussions and author interviews. Their focus 2007 is on memiors so check out their great list of North Dakota memoirs.