Shelving calculations
Library as Place
There has been a great deal of discussion in the last few years about “Library as Place” trying to incorporate the new concepts of the digital collection, the internet and the debate on what impact this will have on the library space requirements and design in the future.
1) Frieda Weise in her Jane Doe Lecture in 2003 spoke about this concept. Weise, Frieda. “Being there: the library as place,” J Med Libr Assoc 92(1) January 2004.
2) Library as Place: Symposium on Building and Revitalizing Health Sciences Libraries in the Digital Age, Association of Academic Health Science Libraries, November 5-6, 2003.
3) “Library as Place: Rethinking Roles, Rethinking Space” Council on Library and Information Resources, Nov. 2005 white paper
4) “The Library as Place: The changing nature and enduring appeal of library buildings and spaces”, Univ of IL /Champaign Clips compilation of articles, etc., Sept. 2006.
5)Ludwig, Logan. “Library as Place: the results of a Delphi Study“, J Med Libr Assoc 93(3) July 2005
6) “Library as Place: Where People want to be“, handouts from a Library Learning Network Broadcast, College of DuPage, March, 2005.
7) At a Library Summit held March , 2004 by the University of Texas, Austin, qualitative information was gathered to be used in stategic planning using LibraryQUAL+. The comments gathered here on Library as Place are interesting.
Posting Oct. 2006 by Peter Bromberg to the blog Library Garden on “Library as Place” discussing the library as transformative
place.
Since space is such a tricky issue in hospitals and prime space with windows, convenient to reach, etc. is a political hot potato in many hospitals, I wondered what trends hospital libraries are seeing in their facilities. Since “everything is online anyway” does the library need to be any bigger than a closet? Is the “library as internet cafe” a luxury that hospitals feel isn’t for them? What’s happening in hospitals throughout the country? MLA is tracking changes in library staffing but what is happening to the library as a physical space in hospitals? Please add links or bibliographic references that deal with this question.
Connor, Elizabeth. Planning, Renovating, Expanding, and Constructing Library Facilities in Hospitals, Academic Medical Centers, and Health Organizations. Haworth, 2005