Library Architecture: Art, Color, Natural Light, Furniture, Lighting, Collections, and Technology

I have always been fascinated with architecture. As a kid, I built an endless array of house and other building with Legos. This was when Legos just consisted of blocks, doors, windows, and maybe a few wheels. Some of this interest probably came from my father who was always building something, including several houses. In 9^th grade, I took a drafting class because I thought it would be a good background for thinking about being an architect. It soon became apparent that I could not draw a straight line with a ruler, let alone anything complex. Maybe architecture was not to be my calling.

Years later, as I began my library career I discovered I had a good sense of space; an ability to look at a space and envision it in different ways. In all of my library jobs, I soon found myself making suggestions to re-arrange furniture, shelving, or in one case the layout of the entire library. These were good skills but were done in the era before there was significant research about learning space design or how the arrangement of furniture, spaces, etc. affected how students learned.

During my career at Colby College, I had a multitude of opportunities to think about library architecture. I inherited a library building that was both iconic and terrible in its design. The original building, modeled after Independence Hall, was designed by Jens Frederick Larson. It quickly became Colby’s iconic building. A modernist red brick barn addition was added to the back of the building in 1983. In and of itself the modernist structure was not bad, but in adding the addition, the architects destroyed almost all the historic interior of the original building, including the grand entrance, and the reading room. The two structures co-existed but did not work well together. It quickly became my goal to restore some of the original building’s grandeur, including the grand entrance and historic reading room.

For my sabbatical in 2009, I went to Australia and New Zealand to visit university libraries with the specific intent of looking at the intersection of technology, space, and services. Libraries down under were early adopters of learning commons, shared reference/IT service desks, and a furniture style which I dubbed as “alone together”. In 2010 I visited 17 university libraries in the UK, again looking at the intersection of technology, space, and services. The UK libraries also had innovative learning commons, technology-enabled services, and spaces that catered to student needs in ways that were more obvious than many US libraries at that time.

In 2012 on a trip to Berlin, I visited the Philological Library at the Free University of Berlin. Designed by Sir Norman Foster (Foster and Partners – UK), the library is shaped inside and out like a human brain. The design inside, shows two distinct hemispheres and the seating areas undulate around the outside edge with easy access to the collection directly behind the user. The library only supports quiet contemplative study but none of the creative synergy of groups, or creative work that modern technology affords. Libraries support both right and left-brain work. The brain metaphor, while quite interesting, is not completely borne out by the building’s architecture.

As libraries have transitioned from being predominantly collection centered to user-centered, library architecture has become, in my opinion, more interesting. More time is being spent on thinking about how students use the building and how furniture, lighting, and aesthetics support different learning and social behaviors. New modes of information delivery, new technologies, and new types of pedagogy and scholarship have also influenced building design.

Rethinking libraries and library space is challenging. Almost everyone who uses a library has an opinion on what a library is, what it should contain, and how it should be organized. Classroom faculty’s thoughts on libraries are formed by their own academic experience as well as by their discipline and its ways of using information. Students’ views of libraries are influenced by their own experience or lack thereof with libraries in their schools or in their communities as well as by their experience with mobile technologies. Librarians, of course, have their own varied views of libraries. Academic administrators, who have broad concerns about space needs, student success, as well as faculty scholarship and research needs, represent yet another view of libraries.

In thinking about the 21^st-century library, especially from a design/architectural perspective, architects and librarians must balance these competing concerns, interests, needs, as well as the institutional mission, in developing a vision for the library building. Because building costs are always an issue, it is easy for administrators to overlook or minimize the very important role that aesthetics play in learning. While students are certainly interested in having space to do their work, they have very real expectations of and need for nice furniture, good use of color, natural light, and art as well as easy access to collections, and technology. We should pay attention to each of the following.

Art: Libraries, in my opinion, serve as the hub of intellectual discourse, creative curiosity, and a venue for learning and scholarship; scholarship that goes beyond writing and research to include the scholarship of creation and performance. Having art in the library is an important part of the cultural and aesthetic mission of the library. Art not only provides an opportunity to expose students to art as a historic and cultural expression, but the presence of art also reinforces the creative role that libraries play in the creation of new knowledge.

Libraries should include art (paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures) but also provide spaces and technologies that facilitate the creation of art. While there is no set program for what art should be included, it is helpful, when possible to include some art that represents the cultural heritage of the students that the library serves. Providing a space or program that student art can be exhibited on a regular basis also reinforces the libraries creative role.

Examples of libraries which have a strong art presence are Grand Valley State’s Mary Idema Pew Library and Los Angeles Public Library.

Figure 1. Art at Grand Valley State University’s Mary Idema Pew Library - Courtesy of Corey Seeman - (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Figure 2. Murals at Los Angeles Public Library - Oaxacan artist collective Tlacolulokos – Photo by Clem Guthro

Color: I have visited too many libraries where the predominant color palette is white/eggshell/light beige or some equally bland color. From my experience, the “lack of color” usually comes from facilities management which supports a limited color palette, rather than from architects or designers. There is significant research that shows how color affects learning but also how color can be used to set the mood or expectations of how a particular space is to be used. While there may be a temptation to use the universities official colors as the color palette, this should be resisted as the colors may not fit the purpose. University logo and some university colors can be incorporated for things like donor walls or other official purposes.

Many public libraries are leading the way in the use of color. Madison Public Library (WI) and Hastings Public Library (NE) are two examples of color that comes from paint, furniture, and fixtures.

Figure 3. Madison Public Library - http://photo-tour-madisons-central-library/

Figure 4 Hastings Public Library - Clark Enersen Partners - https://www.aia.org/showcases/187046-hastings-public-library-renovationaddition

Natural Light: The use of large amounts of natural light is one of the predominant changes that has taken place as libraries have moved away from being primarily focused on the print collection. The brutalist buildings with few windows, the gun fortress buildings with their 6-inch-wide windows, buildings with no windows, are being renovated or replaced with structures that make significant use of natural light. North Carolina State’s Hunt Library with its majority glass walls is a stunning example of the transformational power of natural light to a space that is intended for working, studying, and creating. Likewise, Goucher College’s Athanaeum shows the power of glass to transform the exterior of the building as well.

Figure 5. Hunt Library - North Carolina State University - Courtesy of Mal Booth - (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Figure 6. Goucher College Athenaeum - George Sexton Associates - http://www.gsadc.com/goucher-college-athenaeum/

Furniture: I will admit that I am a bit of a library furniture junkie. At every American Library Association conference, you can always find me at the Exhibit Hall giving some of the latest furniture a test drive. I usually come home with one or more furniture brochures and some pictures.

Library furniture has come a long way since the Soviet-style metal carrels and inflexible plastic chairs of the 60’s. The wooden library tables that are reminiscent of the historic library tables are popular again, especially in historic reading rooms. Outside of a nod to past history, there are new individual workspaces, collaborative media spaces, and group study spaces, all created with an attention to the user’s needs and how they best learn. Steelcase, Agati, and Shapes and Surfaces provide some great examples of the newest offerings.

 

Figure 7. Brody Worklounge - Steelcase - https://www.steelcase.com/products/desks/brody/#specifications_product-range

Figure 8. Agati Media Station - https://www.agati.com/product-type/media-stations/

 

Figure 9. Study booth - Shapes and Surfaces - https://www.shapesandsurfaces.com/sectors/education

 Lighting: If you have ever been to Kmart or Walmart you can see examples of bad lighting; lighting that is industrial and certainly not providing an ambiance that makes us want to stay and spend the day. Likewise, you can compare the lighting from your neighborhood McDonald's with your local Starbucks. One encourages you to eat quickly and leave, the other invites you to stay and talk, or work, or study.

TV programs, movies, theatre productions all employee lighting engineers who play a critical role in their success. No producer or director would want to mount a production without well-qualified lighting professionals. While we see the role of the lighting engineer as essential for Hollywood, it is equally interesting that we have paid significantly less attention to the lighting in our academic libraries, given the strategic importance of libraries to student success, and the long-term nature of a library building.

Lighting in today’s academic libraries should be exceptional and fit to purpose whether it is to provide illumination for reading, writing, talking to your friends, working on a group project, or trying to find a book in the stacks. Great lighting not only facilitates the activities that we want our users to be able to do, but it also sets the mood, helps define the space, and gives users a sense of how the space should be used. On the flip side, bad lighting can discourage use through eye strain, headaches, and providing an ambiance that does not encourage study, reflection, creation, and discourse.

Figure 10. Lighting in Princeton's Firestone Library - http://www.lampartners.com/portfolio/princeton-firestone-library/

 

Figure 11. Lighting designed to showcase study tables. - University of Chicago - Mansueto Reading Room - Tom Rossiter - http://news.lib.uchicago.edu/blog/2012/05/14/mansueto-librarys-lighting-design-wins-ge-edison-award-of-merit/

 Collections: Physical collections can and should play a role in today’s libraries. Planning for collections in today’s libraries is a challenge as there is significant debate on the amount of physical collections that should remain in the building. The presence and visibility of books, for many, is the essence of the library. We do know there is at least anecdotal evidence that students value the presence of print collections even if they never consult them. It makes the space feel academic, thus inspiring them in their studies. One of the more remarkable modern architectural designs that showcases the print collections is the Thompson Library at The Ohio State University; large-scale class atriums that show floor upon floor of collections. It should be noted that much of the collection was moved to storage, but the library still shows that books are valuable. Similarly, we could refer to the Kings Library as the centerpiece of the British Library.

 

Figure 12 Thompson Library, The Ohio State University - Courtesy of Michael Barera - (CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Figure 13 King's Library - British Library - Courtesy of Daniel - (CC BY 2.0)

Technology: Technology is pretty ubiquitous in today’s libraries. Some of it is provided by the library and much is carried in by students. While in many libraries we are still seeing large installed groups of PCs and Macs, the more interesting technologies being seen are the technologies of makerspaces, virtual reality, and large-scale digital visualization. These technologies are part of the new tools of scholarship that libraries are facilitating. Of course, these technologies require new spaces, new computer technologies, and an abundance of electrical outlets to power all of the pieces. Interesting examples of these technologies can be seen in University of Texas at Arlington Libraries’ FabLab, Georgia State University Libraries’ Curve, and University of Oklahoma Libraries’ Innovation @ the Edge.

Figure 14. Makerspace. University of Texas at Arlington FabLab - https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/139392.php

 

Figure 15. CURVE Data Visualization Wall - Georgia State University Libraries - http://sites.gsu.edu/curve/interactwall/

Figure 16. Virtual Reality stations at University of Oklahoma Libraries - https://campustechnology.com/Articles/2018/01/31/A-Hub-for-Innovation-and-Learning.aspx?Page=2