Library Life

Like museums, libraries seem to be the sort of spaces where we’ll either think great thoughts or gather the ideas required to do so.  You may have a library in your home or may visit one regularly, and some of the information used to design libraries outside your home may be useful for the design of ones in it.  Civic libraries are being asked to do much more now than they did in the past and many are becoming, for all intents and purposes, community centers, local maker spaces, and much more (so designing in flexibility for future uses, and different uses from one hour to the next, is a good idea).

People researching libraries have learned:

• That people like to read, learn, and explore materials, for example, in different ways and that library design needs to support these differences (not a big surprise here, humans are not clones of each other). A visitor might also have plans to use the library one way on one trip and another way on another trip.  Also, sometimes people only spend time alone in libraries and other times they collaborate, meet, etc., with others at the library—so much of what’s been learned about workplace design (discussed in this article), is relevant as libraries are developed.  Libraries should generally be relatively low intensity, restful places to be; designing these sorts of calm environments is discussed in detail here. People concentrating/focusing in libraries need to be able to mentally refresh from time to time and how design can help them do just that is discussed in this article.
• Libraries are great places to apply principles of biophilic design, which boosts mental performance while cutting stress levels. More information on biophilic design is available here. Seats in libraries tucked into alcoves or corners (or even ones that just have high backs) with a view out into the surrounding floor (another option, a table much like a tall restaurant booth that looks toward the entrance of a space) are hot commodities in libraries, for example, and providing them is one of the prime principles of biophilic design.
• In a library, people are drawn to other people, windows, art, and colour (again not a surprise to people with much familiarity with design-related psychology research).
• Library-specific research has shown that the sorts of conditions that are prized in other environments and that have been shown to optimize mental performance and wellbeing (such as being bathed in natural light), are also key components of library design.
• Seeing other people working in a library can spur someone to buckle down and get on with what they’ve planned to do, so glass walls can be handy.
• Students in libraries like to sit on the floor and put their laptops on low tables, at least in part because sitting on the floor allows those students to spread their materials out around themselves.
• Plentiful electrical outlets, in walls, floors, and furniture, are a fundamental requirement in modern libraries.
• Seeing one or two green leafy plants optimizes library users’ mental performance and creativity, while lowering the stress levels (which also makes them better able to get along with others).
• People get lost a lot in libraries; particularly in larger ones there can be few truly memorable landmarks, just bookcase after bookcase stretching into infinity. Research supports the sort of electronic maps/guides to collections often found in museums and provides a lot of support for distributing library employees throughout the library so that people can simply ask other for directions (old school, low tech  methods prevail!).
• If you are responsible for developing a library outside your home, you should visit the American Library Association’s website (ala.org)–its packed with library design related materials.