Library Design for the 21st Century

Collaborative Strategies to Ensure Success

Diane Koen, Traci Engel Lesneski, Diane Koen, Traci Engel Lesneski

• Editore: De Gruyter Saur
• Anno: 2018
• ISBN:
  9783110614824
• Edizione: 1
• Argomento: Languages & Linguistics
• Categoria: Library & Information Science

Library design in the 21st century has one common theme: collaboration is at the heart of innovation. Designing modern libraries is a complex process involving many stakeholders and participants. Libraries of all types work with an almost limitless range of constituent groups for input, buy-in and successful implementation. Securing support for new library buildings and renovations of libraries engages many people: library clients, community members, faculty, funding agencies, donors, governing authorities, librarians, architects, interior designers and planners. Telling the right story and getting to the end game demand carefully crafted approaches, wide-ranging skills, a unified vision and productive teamwork. The IFLA Library Buildings and Equipment Section has selected the best papers presented by award-winning architects and international thought leaders from the academic and public library sector at our recent satellite conferences and seminars: "Collaborative Strategies for Successful Library Design" (Chicago, Illinois), "What comes after the Third Place?" (Columbus, Ohio); "Key Issues for Library Space: International Perspectives" (Maynooth, Ireland); "Storage, the final frontier" (Munich, Germany) and "Telling and selling the space story" (Wroc?aw, Poland). The stories by the library and design professionals within this publication illustrate how powerful a role partnerships, outreach and cooperation play in a library project's success.

Part 1:Collaborating with Stakeholders

Many different constituent groups, including users, staff, the community, faculty, politicians and funding agencies, are involved in the planning and design of library buildings. This section describes effective means of engaging with, and leveraging ideas from, all stakeholders involved.

Janette Blackburn and Kelly Brubaker

1Collaborating for a Successful Master Plan – Art or Science?

Abstract: As libraries continue to evolve, there is the opportunity to reimagine these places to meet the needs of contemporary and potential users. The library master plan provides a road map to answer the question: what is the library of the future? Through an integrated process that combines art (quantitative evidence) and science (qualitative aspects), architects and designers can work with library communities to re-envision spaces and programmes based on progressive pedagogy and opportunities for new interactions.

Keywords: Library planning; Master planning; Change management; Budgeting; Library management; Strategic planning

Introduction

What is the library of the future? What does it look and feel like? How does it interact with its surroundings and users? Where do these conversations happen and who are the decision makers?

As leaders in library design, we help clients approach and answer these questions every day, reinventing libraries for contemporary use. The most creative solutions are born from conditions that challenge designers to think outside the box and problem solve collaboratively with institutional partners and the communities that support them.

One of the best opportunities for creative thinking is the chance to reimagine a library through the creation of a master plan. A library master plan provides a road map that guides an institution from where it is to its dream destination. It includes mile markers, pit stops and even detours. Not only is the master plan an opportunity to re-envision library places and programmes, but it can also act as a catalyst for change in how a community learns and interacts. As library communities engage in dialogue about where they are and want to go, the solutions are frequently larger than simply space, touching on operations, organisational structure and cultural shifts.

The Art and Science of a Library Master Plan

In any library master plan, one of the most sizable pieces to understand is the importance of including both breadth and depth in the planning process. The final destination is not arrived at through a single lens of cost analysis, usage data, experiential goals or advancements in technology. Rather, the possibilities of tomorrow’s libraries are progressed by engaging stakeholders in both science (quantitative evidence) and art (qualitative aspects) to make a successful plan that is:

–Visionary, heartfelt and delightful,

–Justified with supporting data, and

–Ultimately, implementable in terms of operations and funding.

It is equally important to note that the process is not linear, with first science and then art to follow. Rather, for a successful master plan, science and art work in tandem, playing off one another with each holding the other accountable.

Science: Listen to the Data

Libraries are complex organisms that must meet exacting and complex functional requirements for organisation of space components, accommodating flows of people and materials, security controls, lighting, acoustical and technology performance as well as environmental conditions. A careful framework for these performance requirements must be included in the master plan, as sound understanding of space requirements based on empirical data and tested solutions will result in a well-planned library with adequate space for all activities.

Strategic decisions informed by usage statistics and comparative data are important to gain support and approvals from funding sources and administrative leadership. Institutions will often have space standards that the library is required to honour. However, through review of comparative data and analysis of the needs of a specific library’s constituents, an understanding of if or why the library might need to deviate from such standards can be gained. For instance, do all staff members operate and perform similar functions and require the same square footage? Are there unique patron patterns of use that will affect seating metrics? As part of the evaluation of science, it is important to identify shared goals and priorities for the project. Rules of thumb to guide scientific analysis include:

–Identifying what brings the most value to an individual institution

–Including existing and aspirational peers to reach beyond the everyday and explore new possibilities

–Articulating challenges and opportunities specific to one’s library and community

Shifting Metrics

Benchmarking has been an integral piece of master planning for decades. However, it is important to note the actual quantitative information collected and used to inform the science of today’s successful library master plan is vastly different from that of even 10 years ago, and will be unique to individual libraries.

Historically, libraries were measured by volumes per student or staff per square foot. However, as libraries have evolved, more and more institutions are benchmarking patron spaces. What will create the right experience for library users? There are three universally relevant metrics that libraries of the future typically look at: collection shifts, usage shifts and space allocation shifts.

When benchmarking institutional peers, it is important to recognise that they, too, may be engaged in a process of reinvention. Their current built environment may not match their aspirations. It can be difficult to compare apples to apples, as other libraries may quantify space differently or could be starting from a completely different place, with entirely distinctive goals and values.

Comparative analysis is most effective when it begins with a clear definition of desired information and parameters to be considered during data collection and evaluation. It is important to continue identifying how an institution excels beyond today’s norms, as well as the key themes where clients need data to move their libraries beyond their current state.

Collection Shifts

While print collections are not going away, they are being shifted to other locations either off-site or stored more efficiently to make way for people, growing user populations, new types of learning, community and cultural spaces, as well as new programmes and services.

So how do libraries use metrics to uncover new possibilities for physical collections and determine what works best for that institution? Being more objective about what libraries keep on open shelving by tracking circulation, for instance, will inform decision makers with hard and fast numbers. However, depending on the library’s mission, circulation rates may tell only part of the story. A range of filters should be considered in collections tracking, including:

–Intensity of use via circulation data

–New forms of both physical and virtual browsability

–Searchability

–Conservation requirements

–Staff resources and capabilities around material retrieval, cataloguing or digitisation

–Institutional culture and priorities regarding access to historical materials or artefacts

Many central public libraries and their branches have instituted collection evaluation systems and a rotating collection model, in which collections are shifted from library to library, based on requests from the community. This systematic evaluation of collection use allows libraries to analyse how much space and flexibility they need for physical collections in each branch location.

On the other hand, academic library facilities that dedicated more than 50% of a library’s space to physical collections in the mid-twentieth century are now planning for dramatic reductions in the amount of central library space used for book stacks. Often collection storage occupies 25% or less of the total building footprint (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1: Twenty-first century academic library space allocation (graphic by Shepley Bulfinch).

Usage Shifts

As libraries become increasingly user focused, benchmarking library seating as a percentage of patron population has emerged as an assessment of space needs rather than metrics tied to collections or staff. Standards documents and guidelines vary considerably (IS0 2012; Latimer and Niergaard 2008; Poll and Boerk-horst 2007), with figures ranging from 8–25% depending on the type of library, with a focus on 15–20% as an average for academic libraries. This is a stretch goal for many institutions and a variety of factors will influence the actual target. For example, at large public universities, the percentage of students seated in the library is likely to be lower than for smaller schools. Beyond size, other considerations include provisions for other study spaces on campus along with the needs of residential versus commuter communities as well as institution type and location.

Both public and academic libraries are turning their focus to providing a variety of seating types for their patrons and understanding what good quality study environments entail. Master planning metrics can provide an accurate measure of seat counts, as well as targets for total space allocated for seating.

Space Allocation Shifts

Programme distribution comparisons do not tell the whole story, but can be useful benchmarks. Libraries are shifting priorities, focusing more on the user experience. This is reflected in the proportion of space allocated to various uses.

Forty years ago, a typical academic library would have allocated 50% of space to collections, 25% of space to staff and 25% of space to patron services. Today, library space use is better characterised as a rich mosaic of different but complementary space types and services. As academic campuses plan for the future of their libraries, 50–75% or more of available space will be allocated to patron use. Often less than 25% will be allocated to collections, while 25% or less will accommodate library staff, along with staff for a range of partnerships that expand services offered to patrons such as career centres, innovation hubs, technology and academic support programmes (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2: 50% of available space is allocated to patrons (graphic by Shepley Bulfinch).

In public libraries, the distribution of spaces and functions is often identified as collection/seating, public/social and staff/services. Combining collections and seating allows for the distribution of spaces to change within the footprint allocated to that function. As collections relocate to other libraries, or as the physical collection reduces in footprint, the seating can expand. Libraries can plan for this shift by providing flexible spaces that have the correct lighting and infrastructure in place to accommodate seating areas of stacks equally well.

In addition to shifts in the mix of spaces and how space is allocated, the amount of space needed for each patron is increasing to accommodate technology, working with multiple formats and the needs of diverse user groups. Overall building efficiency has decreased. Historically, the assignable area of a collection-focused library would be 70–75 % of the total area; in today’s more patron-focused libraries, the assignable area is typically 62–65% of the total. This shift reflects current building and accessibility regulations, as well as increases in user-centric spaces and decreases in densely packed collection storage areas. The results of these new metrics have been vibrant and versatile contemporary libraries, in which the interconnecting spaces between dedicated functions are vital contributors to the building’s rich palette of activities and experiences.

Art: Consider the Intangible

While most facility teams are familiar with the components, collections, seating and staff areas that have long been library mainstays, it...