Spotlight: The New Library

For a while, libraries seemed to be on the decline as new technologies and easier, more personal ways of consuming information became widespread. In reality, these institutions and community spaces were not disappearing, but rather changing face.

New library and learning center designs now often have open, expansive spaces with airy, light-filled aesthetics, seemingly fewer books, and more gathering spaces. They are social spaces with far more than just reading going on in them; which sounds a lot like what’s happening in workplace design. Libraries are becoming “hubs” that must be carefully designed to bring people together in ways that make sense in each space, and workplace design professionals have very similar challenges and goals.

To see one of the coolest libraries around, head to Seattle, WA. The city’s flagship public library, designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus of OMA/LMN with structural engineering by Magnusson Klemencic Associates and Arup, is an 11-story glass and steel structure in downtown Seattle that will make you want to geek out there on a regular basis. Inside the Seattle Central Library, bright flashes of color and industrial aesthetics jet through light, airy expanses on each floor.

Although not a brand new building (it opened in 2004), the Seattle Central Library holds several keys to current library and learning center design thinking.

According to the architects’ project proposal, the building was conceived as a celebration of books; despite the arrival of the 21st Century and the “digital age,” they believed that people still respond to printed books. In addition, their philosophy was to let the building’s required functions dictate what it should look like, rather than imposing a structure and making the functions conform to that.

For example, the “Books Spiral,” a major section of the building, was designed to display the library’s nonfiction collection without breaking up the Dewey Decimal System classification onto different floors or sections. The collection spirals up through four stories on a continuous series of shelves, allowing patrons to peruse the entire collection without using stairs or traveling to a different part of the building.

Other internal features of note include the Microsoft Auditorium on the ground floor, the “Living Room” on the third floor (designed as a space for patrons to read), the Charles Simonyi Mixing Chamber (a version of a reference desk that provides interdisciplinary staff help for patrons who want to have questions answered or do research), and the Betty Jane Narver Reading Room on level 10 (with views of Elliott Bay).

But some municipalities and library administrators want to push library and learning center design even further. In places around North America, public partnerships are creating innovative new libraries to serve varied groups including town residents, college students and K-12 schools. Cities that have recently undertaken these projects include Virginia Beach, VA, San Jose, CA, Clearwater, FL, and Missouri City, TX.

The arrangements are “rare but not unheard of,” according to Library Journal, citing as an example the partnership between Tidewater Community College and the city of Virginia Beach, VA, to create a dynamic 125,000 square foot joint-use library designed by Carrier Johnson + Culture, along with RRMM Architects and Anderson Brule Architects.

These joint-use libraries are all about sustainability and efficiency.

For one, library administrators do not need to duplicate books. And high price tag items in the building’s construction can also benefit; the Tidewater library, for instance, has one elevator, where two would have been necessary if the community college and city had decided not to collocate.

“Through planning, and teamwork, two institutions share a single facility that delivers more services using fewer resources,” said Ray Varela, design principal for Carrier Johnson + Culture, in the project description.

Certified LEED Gold, the Tidewater Community College / City of Virginia Beach Joint-Use Library enables universal access for patrons, staff and faculty through a village-inspired motif. Its design philosophy mirrors that of the Seattle Public Library:

“We positioned the sequencing of things in ways that complement the various uses,” said Gordon Carrier, design principal at Carrier Johnson + Culture. “We needed to create an orientation scheme that makes very clear how to move about the space.”

Projects that address multiple populations no doubt require more research and collaboration, and present more hoops to jump through. But these projects have the ability to draw people together in a constructive way, if done properly.

How can we do things differently in our designs of shared spaces of all kinds, such as lobbies, shared waiting spaces and cafes?

A good way to start is to ask, “Who are all the potential benefactors of this new space?” How can you make one space, or a set of spaces, work for multiple groups with very separate needs?

“There is a difference now in the notion of libraries and what they are meant for,” said Mr. Carrier. “They used to function purely as physical vessels of storage, and the design was really all configured around the stack.

“Today, we know we have to store books, but we don’t need to house all of the books in an open stack format. Libraries today are very socially driven. They serve as a city or campus’s living room, or hub. They’re about information transfer, not the books. We actually go to libraries to learn how to learn – how to do research in all its forms.”

Designers working on library and learning center projects are making use of cutting edge technologies, and it would be interesting to see if any had a crossover purpose in standard office design. The Tidewater library uses compact stacks that allow for a much higher level of efficiency, both in space allotment and use, along with the latest technology features in many other areas of the library.

Currently there are 1 million items in the Seattle Central Library collection, and 9,906 shelves devoted to books. All of those books move around the building in a high-tech book-handling system that operates for the most part out of public view. Other new functions in the space include automatic book sorting and conveyance, self-checkout for patrons, pervasive wireless communications among the library staff and more than 400 public computer terminals.

The concept of joint-use libraries suggests the idea of coworking on a larger scale, taking what is now largely an independent coworking function to the next level. How would a joint-use office with more than one company look? Would there be value in that? How should it be designed?