As with other aspects of project management, space planning involves takingdecisions within a finite timescale and within the resources available.Space needs should be forecast and address both present and projected futureneeds, based on the library's collection and service aims. Spaceplanning is an important part of library design and will contribute to thesuccess of the library in terms of efficiency.

This chapter begins with the generalities of space planning from the point ofview of health and well-being and in particular, the implications of theglobal COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 onwards.

Response to challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

The contribution of libraries of all kinds to the health and well-being oftheir users has long been noted, but this has been brought into increasingfocus by the COVID-19 pandemic and the issues of isolation and socialdeprivation felt by many, which have resulted in increased incidence ofpeople reporting mental and emotional health difficulties.

Research by Painter and colleagues in 2013 into learning space design inacademic libraries in the USA addressed the psychological factors in playwhich contribute to the environmental impacts of a library space onlearning. Using the concept of evidence-based design (EBD), as inevidence-based medicine, the literature was reviewed both to see how thephysical design of library space affects activities and learning outcomesand also to draw conclusions for future design.