Planning the Modern Public Library Building (Libraries Unlimited Library Management Collection)

PLANNING THE

MODERN PUBLIC

LIBRARY BUILDING

Gerard B. McCabe

James R. Kennedy

Editors

LIBRARIES UNLIMITED

PLANNING THE

MODERN PUBLIC

LIBRARY BUILDING

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PLANNING THE

MODERN PUBLIC

LIBRARY BUILDING

Gerard B. McCabe and James R. Kennedy, editors

THE LIBRARIES UNLIMITED LIBRARY MANAGEMENT COLLECTION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Planning for the modern public library building / edited by Gerard B.

McCabe and James R. Kennedy.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN 1-313-32155-8

1. Library buildings—planning. 2. Library buildings—Design and construction. 3.

Public libraries. I. McCabe, Gerard B. II. Kennedy, James R. (James Robert), 1943–.

Z679.5 2003

—dc21 2003051649

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright © 2003 Gerard B. McCabe and James R. Kennedy

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be

reproduced, by any process or technique, without the

express written consent of the publisher.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2003051649

ISBN: 0-313-32155-8

First published in 2003

Libraries Unlimited

A Member of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881

www.lu.com

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the

Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National

Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).

10987654321

CONTENTS

v

Preface ix

Jay R. Carow

Acknowledgment xi

Introduction xiii

Part I. The Planning Begins 1

1. Early Planning for a New Library 3

William W. Sannwald

2. Before Sizing Your Building, Reinvent It: Think New Services,

Collections, and Equipment 17

Andrea Arthur Michaels

3. Greening the Library: An Overview of Sustainable Design 31

Alexander P. Lamis

4. An Ounce of Prevention: Library Directors and the Designing of Public

Libraries 47

Valerie L. Meyer

Part II. Rallying Support 53

5. Community Involvement in the Library Construction Process 55

Carol Speicher

6. Getting to Yes: The Public Library Building Process in Henrico County,

Virginia 67

Janet C. Woody

Part III. Key Issues for Planning 73

7. Retail Technology Applications

and Their Role in the Modern Library 75

John Stanley

8. A Guide to Selecting Library Furniture 89

Robert W. Fetzer

9. Landscape Design, Establishment, and Maintenance 113

James J. Flott and Merri A. Hartse

Part IV. Joint-Use Libraries 127

10. Joint-Use Libraries: The Ultimate Form of Cooperation 129

Alan Bundy

Part V. Services for Children, Young Adults, and Seniors 149

11. Designing Library Space for Children and Adolescents 151

Lesley A. Boon

12. Using Teen Patrons as a Resource in Planning Young Adult Library Space

in Public Libraries 161

Sondra Vandermark

13. Creating a Senior-Friendly Library 171

Rebecca Wenninger

Part VI. Technology 175

14. Wireless Networking in the Library: Creating Network Connectivity

Throughout the Library—A Decision-Making Guide for Planners 177

Kenneth D. Clipperton

15. Considerations in Planning and Managing Computer Services 187

Cathan Cook

16. The Importance of Lighting 199

James R. Kennedy

17. New Concepts for Technology in Library Design 205

Gerard B. McCabe

Part VII. Notable Buildings 215

18. Pustaka Negeri Sarawak: Sarawak State Library and Multimedia

Centre 217

Donald Bergomi

19. Historic Libraries and Their Enduring Value: 229

Brooklyn Public Library Renews Its Historic Buildings

Elisabeth Martin

CONTENTS

vi

Part VIII. Bibliographic Essay 247

20. Annotated Bibliography: Planning, Designing, and Building Public

Libraries 249

Sandra D. Trezzo

Appendix: Prequalification Form for Library Furniture Manufacturers 257

About the Editors and Contributors 265

Index 269

CONTENTS

vii

PREFACE

ix

As an architect specializing in libraries, I have been caught up in the rapid

changes affecting the planning and design of libraries, new technologies, com￾puters, rethinking of services and mission, effective use of personnel, and the ef￾fects of all of these on the functional and the aesthetic plan. At no point in

history have there been as many changes in every aspect of the library. The dis￾play, storage, movement, recording, and retrieval of books—and even the very

nature of books—are in a state of flux.

Libraries had a major revolution once before, in the nineteenth century,

changing a system that had been static since the time of the Greeks and Ro￾mans. Books over the preceding centuries were treasures kept in closed collec￾tions monitored by caretaker librarians. With the revolution, books for the first

time were placed on open shelves, the result of Dewey’s development of a classi￾fication system that placed books in a universal order. Each book was assigned

digits that placed it in line among all books. The public flocked to the open li￾brary shelves, accessing unrestricted materials for every possible purpose, espe￾cially education—the truly free library was born, and access to information

bettered and advanced our democratic societies.

Now we witness a second major revolution in information allowing infinite

access to all information from anywhere. This revolution also centers on dig￾its—great, long lines of bits read by microchips anywhere at any time. This ac￾cess to universal information provides a broad betterment for the world and its

people. The library of Dewey’s day is gone forever, replaced by the new library as

a center for all forms of information and an equally important hub of commu￾nity activities.

In Managing Planning, my fellow colleagues and friends offer their individual

wisdom, advice, and assistance to the reader in what Andrea Michaels terms the

“ongoing reinvention” of the library. We plan for the next twenty years but are

encouraged by Bill Sannwald to think about fifty years. We learn from the au￾thors how to improve the planning processes, to gather support for library im￾provements, to become more effective through broader sharing of space with

others and meeting the needs of youths and seniors, and to adopt the best of cur￾rent technological changes available for our buildings. For further information,

we are directed to other sources by Sandra Trezzo’s annotated bibliography. All

this is of value to readers seeking to gracefully and successfully plan a new or ex￾panded library.

The bringing together of cost-effective and enhanced library services, and

doing so by listening to the community and the experience of others, is a re￾peated theme of our authors. Another theme developed in Part VII by Donald

Bergomi and Elisabeth Martin is that libraries capture the history, image, and

spirit of the communities they serve. I believe we agree that libraries have a

value beyond the sum of their parts when they are more than just warehouses.

Understanding the heritage of libraries in general and the needs and image of

the communities served is an important consideration in the planning process.

The broadest and fullest use of libraries will be made if they are representative of

our time and place in history, in the same way that the Carnegie libraries were

representative of their time. According to the architect Le Corbusier, “There are

living pasts and dead pasts. Some pasts are the liveliest instigators of the present,

the best springboards into the future.”1 Let us draw upon the library’s graceful ar￾chitectural heritage, combine it with the available technologies of today, and

create a new form of public building—open and free, wonderful, joy-inspiring

places to join with our neighbors and children in finding information and guid￾ance toward a better life. Let us dream the best library and find the way to build

that dream.

Jay R. Carow, AIA, ALA

Chicago, November 5, 2002

PREFACE

x

1. Charles Edouard Jeanneret Le Corbusier, “When the Cathedrals Were White,” quoted in New

York Times Magazine, 11 November 2001, 23.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

xi

We wish to extend our thanks to independent editor and library consultant

Mary-Elinor Kennedy for her wise perspective and narrative review.

INTRODUCTION

xiii

When we began our planning for this book, we discussed topics via email and in

person at conferences. Both of us have library building experience, and we

wanted to identify topics that would interest our clients and other librarians in￾volved in planning for buildings. In our discussions, we reviewed what our indi￾vidual consulting experiences had taught us, where there was a need for more

information, and what we saw as future possibilities for libraries. In our prospec￾tus for recruiting authors, we said, “The intent of this book is to offer public li￾brarians insight into current activities in the sphere of building planning.”

Furthermore, we didn’t want another handbook, and authors were to discuss is￾sues from a management perspective. To recruit authors, we sought among col￾leagues and used the Internet. We believe we have found excellent people from

the United States and Australia to write these chapters.

The subjects covered the range from planning basics to advanced technol￾ogy. Not overlooked, however, are important subjects that relate to operating li￾braries, including marketing, landscaping, furniture selection, services for

different age groups, and gathering support from the community.

In our experiences with renovating or expanding existing buildings, we

found quite often that the children’s spaces (and, even more, the spaces for

young adults) were too small or virtually nonexistent. It was not unusual, in the

late 1990s, to find the children’s population undercounted in some communi￾ties. In a 1999 publication of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, William P.

O’Hare (1999, 1) explained that the Bureau of the Census estimated that more

than two million children were not counted in the 1990 census. Census 2000

did better. Although the new census figures have been helpful, the possibility

exists that about one million children were missed (O’Hare 2001, 3). To plan

spaces for varying age groups and especially for children and other young people,

very accurate population figures for library service areas are quite essential.

Some issues that are important to library planning are usually left to later

consideration. Marketing of the library collections and the library services is one

such topic, but awareness of it is important to space design. Planning for land￾scaping of the exterior grounds shouldn’t be put off for too long. It is part of the

design that helps make the library building an inviting place.

As experienced consultants, both of us are sensitive to operating costs for li￾brary buildings. So some attention is given to energy efficiency, quality lighting

at a reasonable cost, and even future prospects for power generation. At Storm

Lake, Iowa (home to one of us), a geologic formation known as Buffalo Ridge

begins and leads into Wisconsin. From this beginning, a series of windmill farms

for power generation appears along the ridge. Awareness of power needs and the

means for creating and conserving power are critical.

Hardwired computer services are being supplemented by wireless connectiv￾ity for computers. There is a need for better understanding of this new technol￾ogy. Library dependence on computer-based procedures is increasing, and when

computer technology is combined with other technologies, striking develop￾ments can occur (witness radio frequency identification systems for controlling

circulation activity).

Last, some reports about experience in recent planning and the gathering of

the human and other resources essential to the project can only be reassuring to

those who are about to begin the process leading to improved library services

and a building that operates successfully. Please read and enjoy this book. It was

written for you.

Gerard B. McCabe, Catonsville, Maryland

James R. Kennedy, Storm Lake, Iowa

REFERENCES

A Kids Count Working Paper. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation.

———. 2001. The Child Population: First Data from the 2000 Census. A Kids

Count Report on Census 2000. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation

and the Population Reference Bureau.

O’Hare, William P. 1999. The Overlooked Undercount: Children Missed in the De￾cennial Census.

INTRODUCTION

xiv