Hey everybody. This is Lisa from the Greater East Side District Two Community Council, and this is D two and you. Today we are talking to Marika Stalac from the St. Paul Public Library. Marika is here today to talk about a very exciting project for the greater East Side, the Hayden Height. Library renovation and what we can expect in the future. So welcome and thanks for coming on the pod today. Thanks for having me. I'm delighted to be here. Wonderful. Let's start a little bit by telling everyone a little bit more about you. Okay. How long have you been with SPPL and what exactly is your role? I have been with SVPL for a very long time. I started in 2001, so it's like I know for a very long time, I've been working for the libraries, but I've had many, many roles. My current role is the library project manager, so I take on some of these bigger projects and make sure that library visions of like what we need for our patrons and our staff are represented in some of our bigger projects. Like these, transforming libraries projects, and one of them is in Hayden Heights Library. I'm so excited. What is the most difficult part of your job? Hmm. I think, it's probably also my favorite part of the job, but it's just that things are always flying, very different things and so I have to. Hold them all. So everything from, what kind of mulch we're gonna have from, what kind of light switches and, sometimes I'm, I, I have a strong opinion and sometimes I have to do some research before I can actually have that opinion. So that's been, both a challenging part, difficult, but I also love it. It's like a big puzzle. It's lots of, plates spinning on sticks. Very much so. Very much so. Yes. And is that your favorite part of your job or is there something else? I really love that my job is, all over the place, so I'm always learning about new things. But it's always rooted in what's best for community and that feels really, really good. I think that's my favorite part of my job right now, is that I always, at the end of the day, even if it's been really stressful about, you know, a timeline, a deadline or whatever, I always know that I am. Helping move the needle, on behalf of community that really appreciates libraries. I think a lot of people really love their libraries and so that, that's my favorite part of my job right now. What is one thing that people are surprised to find out about you? I mean, I really like learning new things, so I'm constantly learning how to do random things. I think the most. Random thing like that, people would be surprised to find out about me. I really like doing the flying trapeze actually on the east side, in the Old Hams Brewery building. Mm-hmm. There's the Twin Cities Trapeze Center. It's a lovely place. If you haven't checked it out yet, highly recommend. Um, yeah, it's a. Fact about me, color me. Surprised that's that. I think that's a first from what I've heard from folks. So what drew you to working with the libraries? What, excited you about coming to work for the libraries? Yeah. I mean, I graduated from college with an English degree, writing degree and then social justice minor and I just. I didn't know what I wanted to do with that. I, I really was not one of those people that went to college knowing what I wanted to do. But I learned about. This AmeriCorps Vista position that was happened to be inside of the St. Paul Public Libraries. I don't think I even understood the transformative power of libraries when I applied for that job. But through being there and seeing the people that use the library for all the different. Reasons. It made me really excited about libraries. I've really been about community and, neighborhoods and it just feels really good to, I don't know, be part of this kind of movement of How are the resources changing? When I first started in libraries, it was about giving, a homework center to what was then the Lexington Library. Yeah, for the first time it was a very new thing for the librarians that were working there at the time because they were used to, having a very transactional way of working with, patrons. And this was a very different way of looking at things. And so I think that's why I really enjoyed. This work now too is, it's very similar to that. You have a problem and you need to figure out creative ways of solving it. And, usually it doesn't mean one person has all the answers, so it's a lot of times connecting all the people, that have different perspectives. And so it's like, you know, the architects and the, construction workers, but also the community who will be using it need to be the ones helping inform the design and that kind of thing. So. It's been really fun. Very good. Very good. Yeah. Yeah. So let's pivot a little bit and talk about the Hayden Heights Library and this project, and the exciting renovation. I mean, we are super excited. We've been waiting for this for. 50 years. My first time entering, I won't talk about how old I am, but I entered into Hayden Heights Library when I was like eight or nine and it's been a part of, my growing up. I grew up over here on the east side and so what is some of the reasoning behind. The proposed improvements? Is it, strictly Yeah. Age, or is it time? Time. Really good. It's definitely time. It's definitely past time. No, we are so excited to look at this building. It has very good bones and that's what, like the architects keep saying that too. And so I think that's why it hasn't been, it hasn't had to have emergency. Upgrades because the bones are really good. It's a really good building. But it was built, the same year I was born, which was pre-computers, pre-internet being a really big source of how we are. I mean, obviously computers were around, but they weren't like how people engaged with, the resources that we have. And, It, it's more that the building is not serving the functions of that the community really could use. Yeah. And so we are just looking at a reset. It, it wasn't like one thing, there wasn't anything major, structurally that needed to get changed, but we were like, there's so many pieces that we know from how communities engage with. Their neighborhoods too. And so, that area is really starved for green space. There's not a lot of green space. So we're like, how do we connect to nature? How do we build a garden for story times? How do we have like visions of a rain garden from a tea, the teen area? That kind of thing is super exciting. How do we, have a multipurpose room that isn't this like dark kind of room tucked away in the corner, but instead have it be. A room that can be really flexible use where we can open it up when it's a really large, program. And then a big piece is that the building was built. I mean, a lot of people pass by it and they're like, there's a library there, there's a big sign that says library up front. But you might, it's very easy to drive right by it, Without knowing what's inside. And so part of the renovation is to really open up that front facade to show, to, have windows that will show people from the outside. What they're walking into, but also we'll bring in that daylight and we'll be like a lovely space for people that are inside to also be able to see what they're walking out to. Is it snowing outside? Is the bus like going by? That's a big piece too that we've noticed that big brick building is, it is a little bit foreboding if you don't, if you've never been inside before to walk through those doors. It's not super welcoming and we wanna be a welcoming space for the community. Exactly. I, think, you mentioned, it was built at a time when computers were still kind of on the dawn of being everybody's friend. Yes. I was also gonna say it was a time when windows weren't very important either. Yes. but With that enormous skylight that's in the center of the library. Yes. It's always seemed very bright and open. Yes. Once you're in. Yes. Right. So now the skylight is not going anywhere, is that correct? Correct. That is correct. Excellent. So we will retain the skylights. There are those kind of. What we call the beam me up, Scotty? Yes. Skylights too that come down and it was, built in 1978, so in the heyday of Star Wars and Star Trek and yes. those lights will remain, but the shoots that look like you're gonna go into outer space, those will be gone. And it will just, you'll be able to see the light even more. So yeah, we are trying to retain some of the character. It is old enough that like the orange shelves are becoming chic again. So yes, we'll keep some of those orange shelves around in the orange plaque. Um, but we'll have new wood surrounds to make those shelves really pop and really look new again. So we are gonna try to retain some of those like. Features that are super, iconic to the building. But then just refresh the whole space. So you mentioned green space. Yeah. You mentioned, obviously windows. So what are some of the improvements there we can expect with this renovation? You mentioned a multi. Use room. I know the Bearden. Mm-hmm. Uh, is, is needs some love, but you know, functioning Bearden plus. I love it. Yeah. So what are some of those improvements that we can expect? I think the biggest thing is like a really big flexibility of space. Right now it feels very much like one big open space when you walk into the Hayden Heights Library. Obviously parceled off with the kids area in one area. But now, in this new renovated space, it will have a children's area that will have sound baffling over it. So the. Kids can be playing without feeling like they're disturbing the people that might be studying in the other side of the building. So really looking at the space in a way that, allows for play, which we know is very important for the youth, for their brains. And then also has three study rooms, for people to Have that quiet space where they can plug in, take a phone call, take a video conference call, and we don't have a lot of those spaces right now. It'll have the large community room and then also a flex room where, we can offer some programming with community partners. So we worked with a couple of community partners to ask what they would need out of a space. They suggested Hard floors so that if they offered food or they were doing nursing or something, that needed to have a hardwood floor that could be, or a hard surface floor that could be, cleaned easily. It's gonna have locking storage in there. So if somebody was to do an ongoing program, they could leave their stuff behind and it could be locked up overnight, that kind of thing. So just really looking at the space as, the flexible use and we know that the public, I mean, I know that as soon as we open this new library, the public will be. Using it a lot more. So how do we maintain, spaces for loud, spaces for quiet spaces for meeting? Yeah. And then there'll be kind of like a living room area by the, windows the newspapers will be there and the magazines. And you could just sit and enjoy your community. In a probably a little bit more quiet space. It's the farthest from the children's area. And then the teens will have their own little space that is not by the kids or the adults area that will have access to, or visual access to, kinda that green space, outlets everywhere. So that's huge and was not thought of in the 1970s. Now we will have outlets, so that people can plug in their devices or whatnot. Better site lines and better accessibility from the reference staff. So the reference staff will be centered near some of the high touch areas, which are like the fax machine, the scanner, the things that people often need help with, the computers and then with sight lines to the children's area, the teen area, and the adult living room area. So it'll be, just a better, use of. Of space, it's already a really beautifully large building and the um, mm-hmm. Again, like the good bones and the nice skylights, it would just be reorienting things so that it feels like, as a patron you could walk in and, self navigate the space. That's really important. Um, so where did the money come from? And how was the decision made? I mean, you had mentioned the good bones of the building itself. How was the decision made to just renovate versus start from scratch? Yeah. Really the big, the good bones, it was, I mean, LSE was like, this is such an exciting. Building to look at because l is the architect, correct? LSC is the architect, yes. Thank you. Yeah. We never even had demolishing on the table. It just felt like it's such a good, location. It's got good parking, it's got good lot. Really no substantial problems with the building. And so we can, do a lot with just renovating. We received money from many different sources. We have, we are lucky to have a really robust, friends of the St. Paul Public Library, fundraising group, and they're fabulous. Shout out to them. They've done a lot of good work. They've done such great work. So they've done a lot of fundraising and advocacy for us. And so some of it is coming from private dollars and then we did receive some, We have received and will be receiving more federal earmark money. Betty McCollum has really come forward in a really great way for us. There's some city funds that we're looking into, folding into it as well. So it is really a partnership between the friends, the, private public partnership. That's a lot of peace. Yeah. To fund it. But as soon as we got the money, we were like, okay, let's go. It was like we were ready. Exactly. We had been working with LSC to make sure that. All of the documents were up to a hundred percent as soon as we got close to getting the money. And then once we got the money, we just hit the ground running. So this is pretty recent and we are excited to move on it. Oh, I'm so glad that we have so many champions for the libraries. Me too. I know. It makes it so fun to Yeah, just, just move on It. So, where are we at the process? I think, the last day to pick up books I think is the next week. Yes. With closure, I believe on Wednesday. So the 25th? Mm-hmm. I wanna orientate everyone who's not maybe listening to this today. We are looking at closing March 25th. 2026. So what is the timeline from there? So, something that's kind of exciting that, People in the Hayden Heights neighborhood might be interested in is that if you check out a book before we close, you can keep it until we open again, because we would rather have it be in your homes and loved than in a box and in storage. So by all means, if you would like to take care of some books, come grab'em now. So we are gonna be closing for construction. After we close, we have to get everything out of the building. So furniture and all the office supplies and all those programming supplies, but then all the books as well. And those get packed up in order, by a company and then they get stored in a. Humid safe, environment so that they don't get warped while they're in storage, which is lovely. And once everything is out construction that we are anticipating will begin in April. So really quickly. So we're just really quickly, we're trying to move as fast as we can.'cause we know, the faster we get going on this, the faster we give the neighborhood a new library. Construction is expected to take up to 18 months. And, we have made a contract with Stahl, construction. So they will be the ones doing the construction. So you can expect to see a fence go up probably around mid-April. Then, the lot will be secured so that they can put up a trailer and do all the good work that they do. So exciting. And then mm-hmm. So, 18 months. That brings us to about end of summer 2027. Is that right? That's about, yeah. Fall, yeah. Fall of 2027. Yeah. Something around that. See, I'm optimistic. I say end of summer we'll say, okay. I like that. I like, yeah. Stall will help give us their, timeline once they get going. They haven't started yet, so once they start, we will have maybe a updated timeline at some point. But, Yeah, it's, they're the same construction company that's been working on the Hamlin Library, so we're excited to be able to continue working with them. They've been fabulous to work with, at Hamlin as well. Good to hear. Yeah. So 18 months is quick. It'll go by quick. It'll go by quick. It's kind of a long time to go without having a library that's, you know, walking distance from a lot of folks' homes. Where can folks go to get books and or access computers? Copy machine. Right. Where do they go? Yeah. It's hard to replace a library'cause libraries are so many different things to different people. It's the hub. It is the hub. So we try, with several different things. First, while I hate Nice is closed. There's several libraries nearby. There's Sunray and Arlington Hills. If, you're able to Transit around North St. Paul and Maplewood libraries are in Ramsey County Library System, but your library card from St. We'll work over there. So, or if you need to make a new card, they will help you make a new card for St. Paul from, our Ramsey County partners. And you can return books from St. Paul to Ramsey County. No problem. We have a complete, working relationship with them, so. That would be an option. All four of those libraries are fairly close, but additional, we do have the mobile library that goes around, that we call mobi and that will continue to make steps in the greater East side neighborhoods like Ames Lake and Edgerton Highrise. Even though they're at like a highrise, anyone can pull up and go into The mobile library recently rebranded as the mobile library. While it's parked. So if you ever see it, feel free to pop on. And we've, been looking at like maybe doing pop-up events, that kind of thing. So we will be watching for opportunities to serve the greater East Side. And the schedule for that is all on our website to. We'll see if there's any place we can go. And then we're also looking into hosting, pop-up library service events in the Hayden Heights service area in the summer. We know that, a lot of. Families use the library for entertainment and getting their kids connected to reading programs and that kind of thing. So that would be a way to, stay connected to some of those programs. And then of course there's always, like our parks, and Rec have like wifi and that kind of thing. So we'll just, we continue to work with them to make sure that they have what they might need to help serve. So we're just. Continuing to like make sure that, we listen to the community about what their needs are while we're closed. Because we are often helping people with many different things and so we're trying to, ensure that all of those are bases are covered. Right. Right. That's great. And it, I, attended the open house at the library last week, I believe, and, staff Director Hartman, we're very open to, let's figure out ways to work with the community to make sure that there's access. So it was heartening to know that although 18 months is a long time, that there will still be opportunity for folks to. Read, get their books, and also have access to the other services, the many other services that the library provides. Yes. So we know about Hayden Heights and we know that Hamlin is underway. What other libraries are being renovated right now and what's coming down the pike? Yeah. So, so we have this Transforming Libraries campaign, which are Hamlin and Hayden Heights. And then the, last of the big renovations will be the Riverview Libraries. That's the next one after Hayden Heights. And we are still fundraising for that one. Okay. And then as part of the Transforming Libraries campaign, we're also doing a, Play and learn upgrades in all of our library spaces. So that is where, we focus on, kids zero to five and the families that help serve them and make sure that we are creating interactive play environments that are free, safe, and also encourage repeat visits. We know that like it's one thing to go to a museum and see everything once, but if you have to see it all over again. So how can we rotate things, make sure it's, exciting, For somebody who might come weekly or even more than once a week. And then we all are also looking at, renovating all of our spaces for technology rich spaces. And that means looking at how people en engage with technology in our spaces. Sometimes it's adding technology, sometimes it's adding. Quiet spaces for people to access that technology. So that's, an example in this Hayden Heights, building is adding the study rooms so that if somebody needs to make a video conference call, they can, have that, available to them. Another thing that we're looking at in technology rich spaces is like our large meeting rooms, having hearing loops so that if somebody uses a hearing aid, they could connect to the microphone. So they're not forced to sit, right next to the speaker. They can, sit anywhere and still be able to hear. And so just using some of those technology, having hybrid. Meeting solutions so that if you wanted to have a hybrid event, you could host it in our libraries. And, just really trying to make it a consistent experience. So all of our libraries have similar, technology, and like quiet spaces for people. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, probably a little daunting too. How many, St. Paul public libraries are there? There are 13 plus the mobile library. Mm-hmm. Wow. That's great. So if folks want to get involved or follow the process, where should they go? Yes. Our website has, a transforming, library's website. And on that website we have, a way to sign up for a newsletter. That's probably the best way. Just to keep track of all of the things that are going on. We update about all of our libraries, but, Hayden Nights will definitely be the one, or that gets a lot of attention soon. And so if you go to sp p l.org. Slash transform that will bring you to that, website where you can sign up for the newsletter. It also has an archive of our old newsletter. So if you're wanting to catch up to speed and see what we've been sending out to people, it's all there. And there's also ways to, see the renderings of the, designs So if you just hearing about this for the first time, you can see all the photos of what the windows will look like in the green spaces and all that. Great. We'll put the link in the show notes too. Wonderful. To wrap up, there are a couple of questions that I ask all the folks that we interview. So what is your favorite thing about the east side of St. Paul? I know it's a toughie. It is a toughie. I, oh, I, oh, that's hard. Okay. I think my favorite thing with the east side of St. Paul, I just love the diversity of things to do and eat and see and be with people. So like I go to the east side of St. Paul to do trapeze and I also go to wonderful libraries, wonderful food, wonderful events. I just. I just love that you side of St. Paul. Yay. We love you too. Um, if you met someone today who has never been to the east side, where would you send them and why? I mean, I have to say the library, but, of course, that's really, I, I think it'd be really fun to see the difference of the libraries. Actually, I would send them, I know that's kind of cheating, but I would send them to all three. Of the East side libraries. So Sunray, Arlington, Hayden Heights, just to get the flavor for all the different, I mean, each neighborhood feels so different. Yeah. And they bring different, ideas and vision and art and all of that to their libraries. Caden Heights will get some of that art and all that beautiful things too very soon. So very great. I think that's where I would send someone just to kind of get a feel for the diversity of the greatness of the East side. So I would be not doing my job if I didn't ask you. What was the last book you read? Oh, um, I just finished Wedding People and it was a really fun read. It was a really fun read. I I, I like a good character driven book. And, I, when I knew that it was just gonna be this woman just kind of speculating on all the guests at a wedding, I was like, oh, this is my jam. This, it was really good. It's fun. Have you ever read the Guest List by Lucy Foley? No. Okay. I'm writing it down right now. So it's a thriller, but it's about guests at a wedding and it is great. It's great. I recommend wedding people if you haven't, and I will definitely check out guest lists. That sounds exciting. Oh, yes. So are there any final thoughts that you would want to leave with our neighbors? I mean, I just wanna think that people hate Heights Library neighborhood, because we started talking about what. They wanted and needed back in 2018, and that's a really long time to wait for change to actually happen. And instead of getting like, you know, upset or frustrated with us, they just kept asking like, when is, is it gonna happen? When is it gonna happen? And it was oh, it was so nice. I was like, you, you all deserve a new library. We're trying. And so I'm just so grateful to the neighborhoods for giving us such great feedback over the years and really I hope. That this transformation really shows what has been wanted. So I'm excited. Oh, well, we are excited as well and we're looking forward to having a great new library. Great new hub. Mm-hmm. As you mentioned, you know, this is the center of our community, almost literally, geographically, but also, yeah. For all of the folks who, moved to our neighborhood, that's their first place they go. So we are looking forward to all of these wonderful changes that are coming. You mentioned sp.org/transforming libraries. Is the library system on socials. Do you have, any other links that you want to throw out there or? Yeah, I mean, I highly recommend following our Instagram page, if not only just because it's very entertaining and, we've got a really great. Crew of folks, I would say, if you wanna know about Hayden Heights, get on that newsletter. So yeah, we're on, SUPL is on socials as well, and I'm sure, we can get you those links for the show notes as well. The newsletter's probably the best way for the Hayden Heights community to really get connected to the work being done. Wonderful. Well, thanks Marika for coming down today. Thank you for having me. This was a delight, and we will hopefully set up a time to chat maybe right before ribbon cutting or a grand opening. I love it. I love it. That'd be great. Thank you for listening to today's episode of D two and you. If you are new here, welcome and Be sure to hit follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. Check on our website@greatereastside.org for further information on what is happening in the neighborhood. Thanks again and we'll chat with you next time.