Bird noises and building design
Friday, May 9, 2008 at 08:52PM Here is my story about why I became interested in facility design (from "Building Digital Libraries for Analog People: 10 Common Design Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them" KQ, May/June 2000):
I once caught a glimpse of what purgatory must be like for school librarians. While student teaching in the mid-70’s in a small Iowa town, I watched the most hapless librarian I have ever met trying to do her job – which at that time was mostly keeping study hall students quiet and busy.
Her media center was, as are too still many yet today, two classrooms pushed together with perimeter shelving and a high circulation desk at the front of the long room near the door. The floor held just two tables near the circulation desk. The main seating was provided in rows of tall-sided study carrels running in long aisles down the length of the room. (See figure one)
The librarian spent most of the time I observed her running up and down those aisles of carrels trying to detect which students were making the little bird noises they knew drove her crazy. I believe this happened every hour of every school day. At least it was going on each time I visited the library. (That school building has since burned down. I like to think it was the act of a merciful God.)
A few years later when I was a school library media specialist myself, I overheard my principal say that he thought tall-sided carrels would be just the ticket for helping students work quietly in the new media center we were planning. My ears pricked up quicker than a dog’s. I decided it might not be a bad idea to be a bit more involved in the library design process.
Ah, it's good to be able to find oneself amusing. But it's my story and I am sticking to it.
Anyway, a short list of articles and columns I've written on facility design...
Next up: How does where we place computers in our buildings reflect our philosophy toward technology?
Reader Comments (3)
Thanks for the links, Doug. I can use them. Sorry for the long comment, but this is all so timely with what's happening here at my school as I write this. It's kind of amazing that even the 10+ year old articles are still very useful.
We recently passed a large school bond in our district and $125M+ will be spent at the HS. We are 20 classrooms short at this time, so it is long overdue. In the third phase of the project, when the 4 classrooms that have always been part of the library building are moved into new spaces, the library will be gutted and a new place will be built inside the brick walls. Being the pushy, inquisitive person that I am (and the only librarian in a district with 10 schools - 1 HS, 3 MS, and 6 elem) I have made myself a part of any committee that even mentions libraries. It might be 5-6 years before this begins to happen to the library, but I have had the privilege of meeting with the architects and have actually been able to change the original plans considerably.
My 3 main points of emphasis were: expanding the number of seats available, a media teaching room with all the presentation bells and whistles they are putting in the classrooms, and more room for textbooks. Like many high schools in CA, we administer, store and distribute textbooks from the library. When texts were first barcoded and moved to the library, there were approximately 20,000 texts (including novel sets), but now there are 80,000 for a school of 3,700 students. Half of the texts are distributed at registration in the summer, but the other half sitting out in the library keep the library closed to students for the first month of school every year.
The first schematics for the library allowed for 30,000 texts and I quickly pointed out that this wouldn't work. They asked me why and I was able to show them what was happening now and what would make it better. They came back with an entirely new plan that takes the texts into account, expands seating from 100 to 200 seats, and leaves the shelf space for about 40,000 library books. I don't think we need more books than that, in spite of current standards, but that is another discussion. They have also created a plan for a glass-walled media classroom that can be opened and used by students when a class is not being taught in it. This will double the number of student computers we have now and make teaching in the library much better for the librarian and the teachers.
I was interested to see that you have a link to DesignShare in your list. I recently received an email telling about this year's awards and found this image of the library and a tech classroom from Auburn High School. I am sharing the pics with my architects, but this seems very like what they have proposed in this library. http://www.designshare.com/index.php/projects/auburn-project-flansburg/images
You can click on the "Natural Daylight and Technology" images to see what I'm talking about.
Now if I can just make sure they can figure out how to put some windows in this 1965 building. Maybe at least skylights and a glass entryway? I'll keep you posted. No pun intended.
I almost forgot. The plans include a student lounge opening off the library with snacks and drinks, as well as a comfortable seating area in the reading room. Barnes & Noble and Borders better watch us!
Hi Jan,
I am glad you are making your voice heard in the planning process. It sounds like you are being able to describe needs, functions and programs and the architects are listening. Wonderful.
The only thing I am wondering about is the seating for 200. At a high school level, I am not sure how that many kids are supervised, let alone helped, without adequate staffing. I also worry that places with too much seating, the library becomes a place to do testing, have large group meetings, and other non-library events. If you see this as means of your library serving your school's needs, not problem, but be aware it can become an issue.
Happy to hear about your coffee shop! Did you see:
<http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2005/10/13/a-jolt-of-java-your-library.html> ?
Keep me "posted" on your progress!
Thanks,
Doug