Name: From Idea to Impact: First Steps to Transforming Your Library
Start: 2026-09-10T16:00:00-0600
End: 2026-09-10T17:00:00-0600

From Idea to Impact: First Steps to Transforming Your Library

Thursday September 10, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm MDT

Reference Ranger Breakout Room 2

Libraries evolve with their communities. Whether you’re expanding, renovating, refreshing, or building a new facility, knowing where to begin can be the biggest challenge. This session will guide librarians, staff, and trustees through the essential first steps. It starts with community engagement: listening to residents, understanding what they need, and building the case for investment. From there, we’ll explore facility planning, including phasing projects, maintaining operations during construction, and using case studies and analysis to support decision-making. Finally, we’ll discuss funding pathways, from mill levies and library districts to municipal budgets, bonds, and private funding. Attendees will leave with a clearer roadmap for turning community needs into actionable plans, and the financial support needed to make their next library project possible.

Speakers

Rob Cullin

Rob brings over 20 years of experience working with libraries nationwide and internationally. As co-founder of ReThinking Libraries (RTL) and a former leader at Kimberly Bolan & Associates (KBA), he has supported thousands of libraries and visited more than 1,000 facilities. His work focuses on strategic planning, facility planning, and community engagement. Rob’s expertise includes library space programming and design, demographic and usage data analysis, technology planning, and organizational assessment, helping libraries translate community insights into practical, data-informed decisions., ReThinking Libraries

Wells Squier

Wells has more than 29 years of professional experience working with public sector clients, and has a proven record of success with library projects in Colorado. He is known for his gracious demeanor and collaborative approach, successfully bringing clients, communities, and design teams together to create legacy projects., Anderson Hallas Architects

Rebecca Silva

Rebecca brings hands-on experience managing library projects from concept through completion, each grounded in robust community engagement. Her work is driven by a passion for holistic, context-sensitive design that connects people, place, and purpose, ensuring library spaces reflect and support the communities they serve. She also brings expertise in evaluating and implementing sustainable design strategies, helping libraries create efficient, resilient, and future-ready facilities., Anderson Hallas Architects

Thursday September 10, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm MDT
Reference Ranger Breakout Room 2

Breakout Session

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CALCON 2026 Courageous Libraries Resilient Communities

Rob Cullin

Wells Squier

Rebecca Silva

Attendees (1)

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Success you have shared X tickets.

CALCON 2026 Courageous Libraries Resilient Communities

Rob Cullin

Wells Squier

Rebecca Silva

Attendees (1)

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