Karen Watson is an Architect of 37 years’ experience. Architects are problem solvers who use a specific set of skills and vocabulary to help meet a library’s design program; Librarians are information professionals devoted to the transmission of knowledge and facilitating communication. By communicating well, understanding each other’s roles and working together as a team these two disciplines complement each other to achieve an excellent solution for a library building.
Together Karen and Robert are a consultancy partnership called PLAN22 Archibrarians, devoted to helping librarians determine community needs and gather user/staff requirements that are the foundation of effective communication between client and designer.
Recent Workshops/Webinars:
•10 August 2016, for LLAMA/ALA; Webinar: Communicating Effectively with Design Professionals-Shaping the Outcome of Your Library.
•May and June 2016, SOLS/APLL Course Update and Webinars: Overview and Making the Case for your Library Building Program for SOLS.
They are co-authors of Making the Case for Your Library Building Project – Library Development Guide #5, and the associated APLL course content for the Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS). Together they developed and present both webinars on this topic for the librarians participating in Term 4 of the SOLS-Advanced Public Library Leadership (APLL) program.