About Us
ReThinking Libraries, established in 2020, is an offshoot of Kimberly Bolan and Associates, LLC which was started in 2004 by Kimberly (Kim) Bolan and Rob Cullin. They built the business around helping clients to see their institutions differently and embrace changes to become more vibrant, future-ready libraries.
In Fall 2019, Kim decided to make the move back into library administration and took a position with the Allen County Public Library (IN). With this move, it became clear to Kim and Rob it was once again a time to rethink things. As a result, in 2020, Rob, together with his new business partner, Janet Nelson, established ReThinking Libraries, LLC, and acquired KBA. Janet joins Rob with over 20 years of experience working with libraries and educators, complementing his background and providing added strength in the areas of facilities planning and marketing.
Over the past 18 years, the RTL Team has been involved in numerous facilities projects, strategic plans, building programs, and other consulting work with hundreds of libraries across the United States. Clients range from small rural public libraries to large urban facilities, and everything in between.
Areas of expertise include:
New approaches to strategic planning
Community engagement and marketing
Facility and space planning and design
Future-ready library services and transformation
Our team is passionate about understanding what it takes to be a successful and thriving 21st century library. We work hard to uncover issues important to libraries and their communities and have been presenting at state level conferences on overall library trends for over ten years. In addition, we have participated in numerous other consulting and speaking engagements, training hundreds of librarians across the U.S. and abroad.
Change occurs every day with shifting demographics, newer and better technologies, increasing real and virtual competition, not to mention, a somewhat uncertain financial outlook. We help libraries adapt and adjust to these uncertainties using a holistic approach. In addition, we assist libraries with understanding and implementing successful forward looking services and spaces, increasing the efficiency of operational processes such as circulation and information services, incorporating and managing technology, streamlining behind-the-scenes activities, improving web-based access, and more.
Our Team
Rob Cullin
Rob helped launch Kimberly Bolan & Associates in November 2004. Rob's primary involvement with KBA began in 2005 when he and Kim co-authored Technology Made Simple and began writing and presenting together across the United States. Since then, Rob has been involved in many of KBA’s strategic plans and facility planning projects. Through his previous work as President and Co-Founder of Evanced Solutions, LLC (later acquired by Demco, Inc.) he was involved with thousands of libraries across the USA, Canada, and Australia. With a broad set of experiences reaching beyond libraries, Rob has direct specialties in strategic planning, community engagement, complex data and demographic analysis, marketing, service and organizational design. He was also a Library Journal recognized “Mover & Shaker” in 2008.
Janet Nelson
Janet has nearly 20 years of experience in the education market, 17 of those years with Demco, Inc. She started as a Furniture Product Manager but moved into a variety of more strategic roles during her tenure. Her focus has always been directed toward helping librarians to better serve their communities. Janet began collaborating with Kim on teen library spaces through the Demco Library Interiors division in 2006 and over time, that evolved into more comprehensive projects and shared speaking engagements on library trends. Additional projects at Demco involved engaging with industry partners and library leaders/staff to better understand and create dialog around the immediate and future needs of libraries across the U.S. Her specific areas of expertise include strategic planning, marketing strategy, research and development and space planning.
Partnerships
We partner with other Associates, Professional Organizations, Architects/Designers and Service Providers, as needed, to extend our offering and best serve our clients.
Mission, Vision, and Values
MISSION
Guiding libraries as they engage their communities, examine their purpose, envision their future, and evolve to meet their future needs.
VISION
Libraries are inspired to listen deeply, move decisively, and meet the evolving needs of the constituents they serve.
VALUES
Passionately believe in libraries
Listen deeply
Act with integrity
Foster creativity and innovation
Guide through collaboration