Libraries are no longer quiet spaces where the staff shush noisy undergraduates or children. Although quiet areas in libraries remain, library users and staff now talk out loud to each other on a regular basis in the public areas of all types of libraries. Computers and printers add to the noise level of a library; children are allowed to act like young people in their designated area; and in areas where the collaborative use of computers is encouraged, conversations occur.
Acoustical issues for libraries were discussed by Jack Wrightson (principal acoustical consultant with Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon, and Williams, Inc.) and Jeffrey Scherer (principal with Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle) at a 1998 American Library Association program entitled “Not Just Shhh Anymore: Improving Library Acoustics.” Wrightson identified three categories of acoustical prob-lems that may occur in libraries: intrusive noise or noise that is not wanted in a particular space (such as noise from adjacent meeting or activity rooms), overly reverberant spaces (such as spaces with vaulted ceilings), and lack of speech privacy, especially in staff areas.
Intrusive noise in a building may be controlled by the grouping of spaces and by the layout of rooms within the library. Architects have traditionally grouped noisy elements of a building next to other
noisy spaces. For example, main HVAC units are usually placed close to a receiving or mechanical area, rather than next to a quiet reading area for the public. Sometimes large bookstack areas where little con-versation occurs serve as a buffer between a noisy area such as the reference center and a quiet area like the periodical reading area.
Where lifelong use of libraries is the accepted norm, public library users accept the fact that children’s areas will be noisy.
Babies and toddlers (and their parents) cannot enjoy a trip to the library if children are constantly told to sit still and be quiet. In order to keep the noise of a children’s area from annoying adults, chil-dren’s areas are usually placed in a different wing of a library from adults, placed on a different floor of multistory libraries, or sepa-rated from adult areas by glass or walls.
Overly reverberant spaces may be avoided by consideration of acoustical treatments in building design. The materials used on walls, floors, and ceilings; the location of doors and windows; and the acoustical treatment of ductwork all affect sound control in a library. Hard, reflective surfaces on walls, floors, and ceilings result in a noisy space. A monumental library entrance or circulation desk area constructed with granite walls and floors and plenty of glass may be an aesthetic masterpiece but an acoustical nightmare.
Architects and interior designers are responsible for selecting build-ing materials and architectural elements that will provide adequate sound control in a library. Local planners should be aware of the need for sound control in their buildings and should ask architects about acoustics during building design.
Public, school, and academic libraries are expected to provide areas for quiet study and reading, as well as for computer use.
Jeffrey Scherer suggests that libraries should be designed with com-puter-free zones, where users wanting traditionally quiet library spaces can enjoy relative quiet in a library. With computers in use in many areas, library planning should include the design of quiet rooms with soft, comfortable seating, as well as seating at carrels and tables. For the sake of visual control, quiet rooms may have some glass walls to allow for visibility into the room.
In large library projects, an acoustical consultant should be hired to plan the sound-control elements of a new or renovated building. In libraries with large meeting rooms or auditoriums, an acoustical consultant is a necessity. In many small and medium-sized projects, the architect and the interior designer are responsi-ble for handling the acoustical decisions in the project. Local plan-ners should be aware of the need for sound control in their buildings and should ask their architects and interior designers about the acoustical treatments to be used in their library.
Lighting and Acoustics
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he interior designers who were interviewed in the course of gathering information for this book were asked how library interior design differs from the design of other types of build-ings. One designer replied, “It’s not your house.” The scale is entirely different in a library than in smaller buildings. Another designer said that library projects are difficult because there are so many parts and pieces of different sizes and uses that have to fit into a library.Academic libraries are sometimes difficult to design because of the large number of organization officials involved in the process.
All of the interior designers who were interviewed asked that clients trust the judgment of the architect and the interior designer.
Everyone involved in the planning process should come to the project with an open mind. When a client offers a suggestion to a designer, the client should explain the logic behind an idea and explain where the idea came from. Clients should work along with the pace of the architects and interior designers. Many decisions must be made during the design process, but there is an order to the timing of decision making. Some decisions are made early in the process and others are made later.
Interior designers, architects, and building owners need to have a shared understanding about their expectations for a new facility.
Architects and interior designers need to know the internal chain of command of the client—who is going to make the final decisions.
Likewise, the clients should know the chain of command of the design team. In order to keep the project on schedule, the client, as well as the designers, needs to make timely decisions. Both the client and the design professionals should feel free throughout the project to ask why something is being done, why a particular finish has been selected, etc.
Except in unusual circumstances, funding for a new project is always a concern. Both the design professionals and the client must understand the budget expectations at the beginning of a project.
Jeffrey Scherer, principal with Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, tells clients that in cases where funding is an issue, they can dictate two out of three considerations in building a new facility: cost, size, and quality. For example, a client may pay for the high cost of quality and sacrifice some of the size of the building. Or a client may want a
CHAPTER 9 Conclusion
larger building, but is willing to sacrifice some of the quality in mate-rials in order to get the desired number of square feet in the facility.
Much of the information provided in this book is related to the functional aspects of library interior design. Effective adjacencies, the use of durable materials, and satisfactory lighting should result in a functional building; however, the truly distinctive elements of outstanding interior design in any library are the result of the cre-ative work of architects and interior designers. (See plate 8.) Unusual architectural features; effective use of windows and varied ceiling heights; creative use of color, materials, and decorative details; and custom furnishings and floor coverings are just some of the elements that design professionals combine with functional components to create an award-winning library interior.
Conclusion