Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- About the Authors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Libraries after 2020
- 2 Project Management
- 3 Project and Design Teams
- 4 Partnership and Community Engagement
- 5 The Design Brief
- 6 Design Quality
- 7 Space Planning and Access
- 8 Occupancy and Post-occupancy Evaluation
- 9 Building Libraries for the Future: a Summary
- Bibliography and Further Reading
- Appendices
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- About the Authors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Libraries after 2020
- 2 Project Management
- 3 Project and Design Teams
- 4 Partnership and Community Engagement
- 5 The Design Brief
- 6 Design Quality
- 7 Space Planning and Access
- 8 Occupancy and Post-occupancy Evaluation
- 9 Building Libraries for the Future: a Summary
- Bibliography and Further Reading
- Appendices
- Index
Summary
This updated, practical and accessible book is an invaluable guide, not onlyfor new entrants to the library profession, but also for experiencedpractitioners who are approaching the task of creating a new library ormajor refurbishment of existing facilities.
The new edition has been revised to cover trends and developments sinceoriginal publication in 2009 – including:
• new perspectives on library offers
• the need for flexible and adaptable library spaces
• the trend towards multi-use, multi-purpose buildings toserve community cultural and educational needs and aspirations
• a customer-centred approach to service delivery
• heightened focus on health and well-being for allstakeholders
• the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and customer accessneeds on design and layout
• the rapid growth of digital services.
Libraries today are faced with rapidly shifting populations of users withdiffering needs, who require a range of new communication links that aretransforming our concept of the library space. This developing role hascreated a set of new and complex challenges for those delivering libraryservices across sectors and continents.
Libraries are never really finished – they continue to evolve andadapt to the changing needs, preferences and preoccupations of their users.The global COVID-19 pandemic originating in 2020 is a case in point andrequires us to rethink our library spaces and layouts to ensure customerscan keep safe distances from each other and feel safe while continuing to beable fully to access the services on offer. In one sense, the COVID-19pandemic has accelerated a trend that was already under way in librarybuilding design from the turn of the new century, to accommodate more open,flexible spaces, attracting visitors through their welcoming entrances andmaking good ventilation and appropriate lighting key features of newbuildings. The first years of the twenty-first century have also witnessed aglobal realisation of the need to address climate change, responsible use ofthe world’s resources and environmental sustainability in allbuilding projects and as the fundamental considerations of librarydesign.
Libraries as spaces have an enduring appeal, from the library of Alexandriato modern-day facilities, continuing as centres not only for learning butalso for artistic and creative activities.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Better by DesignAn Introduction to Planning, Designing and Developing Library Buildings, pp. xix - xxPublisher: FacetPrint publication year: 2022