Countdown to a New Library


Book Description

Provides advice to librarians overseeing building projects, including guidelines on communicating with architects and contractors, keeping within time and budget constraints, and meeting standards and ADA requirements.




Better by Design


Book Description

Libraries today are faced with rapidly shifting populations of users with differing needs, who require a range of new communications links that are transforming our concept of the library space. This developing role has created a set of new and complex challenges for those delivering library services. There is no such thing as the 'perfect' library building. However, a well designed building will enable a project both to gain local acceptance more easily and to ease the process of securing planning permission. It also needs to be cost effective to run, support the organization's objectives well, offer an improved service to the user and make an impact on the community. This much-needed book takes as its starting point the fact that few architects know very much about libraries, and fewer librarians know about architectural planning and designing. It steers a clear path for library managers through the language and processes that they need to understand as members of a team overseeing the planning of a new library building project, major refurbishment or remodelling of an existing library. Key topics include: twenty-first century libraries developing a business case project management the design/project team selecting an architect partnership and community engagement the design brief design quality space planning and access occupancy and post-occupancy evaluation building libraries for the future. Appendices offer top tips and checklists, together with a glossary of common terms used within the construction environment to help further de-mystify the design process for librarians. Readership: This practical and accessible book is an invaluable guide not only for new entrants to the library profession, but also for experienced practitioners who are approaching for the first time the important task of creating a new library or major refurbishment of existing facilities. It will also be of great relevance to architects unfamiliar with library building requirements.




Project Management in Libraries


Book Description

A recent study showed that only 53 percent of projects come in on budget and only 49 percent on schedule. So what does it take to be an on-budget, on-time finisher? Successful project management may seem like a quixotic pursuit, but it doesn't have to be.




Library Building Projects


Book Description

Based on the author's experiences, this handy guide offers the kind of information not found in standard texts. You will learn how to get maximum coverage from your local newspaper; how to sustain staff morale during months of dust, noise, and confusion; and how to understand constructionese. Pithy, practical, and full of useful ideas, this is one book every librarian considering or involved in a construction project should read. Floor plans and elevations included.







Planning Public Library Buildings


Book Description

Planning a new or refurbished public library means considering not only facilities for collections, services, staff and users, but examining also the local context, reviewing the library image, and developing relationships with other community facilities and agencies. This book examines the entire gamut of challenges confronting the planning and development of contemporary public libraries; their mission, their roles, and key issues such as lifelong learning, social inclusion, community and cultural needs, regeneration and funding. The helpful presentation and readable style guides the librarian through the preliminary information-gathering and decision-making process that ensures a successful library building for all concerned. Using practical case studies, plans and photographs, the author tackles the critical issues of siting, size, plans and design concepts, and provides a helpful guide to weighing up the alternatives of refurbished, converted and new buildings. Separate chapters focus on the planning, briefing and construction process; security, safety and sustainability; key characteristics of successful buildings; identity, decor and signage; and interior layout and facilities. The text draws together a vast resource of real library examples from all over the world which provide best practice models and lessons to learn. For funding authorities, librarians and architects of public libraries this is a highly informative book that will help to ensure wise decision-making and prevent costly mistakes.




IFLA Library Building Guidelines: Developments & Reflections


Book Description

The information society and the information age are changing library services as well as library premises. This raises questions about what needs to be considered when planning and designing new library buildings in order to achieve attractive, efficient and future-oriented new library spaces. This new publication provides information and guidelines for the building planning process, whether you are planning a new public or academic library building. It reflects on fundamental issues, on new development trends and on the planning process. The library building process is seen from both the library manager's perspective as well as that of the architect and designer. Issues covered include what to consider when investigating the need for space, library design from a marketing viewpoint, green management and sustainability relating to library buildings and a layman's guide to reading plans. This publication and the IFLA guidelines provided are not seen as a traditional set of recommendations to be rigidly adhered to since this would be unrealistic in a fast-changing and global context. Rather, library managers and architects should read them in order to inform their thinking on key issues and establish a planning programme. They must then relate them to their own countries and circumstances by making the relevant local adjustments.




Post-occupancy evaluation of library buildings


Book Description

Architectural realisation of a building and its opening to the public with a range of services are central components of the building and design process of libraries. Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is the final step in this process. It provides a opportunity to assess whether the construction and design of the building has indeed met the library's and users' requirements and how effectively the building functions.




Public Library Buildings


Book Description

This go-to guide covers the entire process of building or renovating a public library—from initial planning, to maintaining the completed space, to measuring success. In light of current social and technological shifts, libraries are reinventing themselves. Meeting place, makerspace, community center, cultural hub, multimedia lender—today's public library is all of these and more. Whether your library is undertaking a simple renovation or redesign or looking at a full-blown building project, the voice of the librarian is important to the project, and you need to understand both the processes involved and the questions to ask. Beginning with the development of a pre-construction vision, the book guides you through the entire process. It covers everything from making a case for the project to the authorities and the community through fundraising, budgeting, and site and team selection. You'll read about space programming, the design phase, pre-construction preparation, staff management, and moving the library, as well as about post-construction management and maintenance. Measures of success are included, as are helpful forms and an invaluable glossary of relevant construction terms. With this guide in hand, you and your team can plan efficiently, avoid common pitfalls, and create a library you and your community will love for many years to come.




Planning for a New Generation of Public Library Buildings


Book Description

The public library director needs information that helps in understanding what is involved in planning for a public library building project. This applies whether the subject is a free standing independent building, a branch library, a joint-use facility with a museum, a senior academic library, a community or junior college library, or a school library. Reading this book will not turn a reader into a qualified specialist on library buildings, but it will help librarians and others learn what should be known about a project so that they may function effectively as part of the planning team. The concept of modern libraries is moving toward interactive connections with information sources far beyond the immediate community. For the contemporary public library, this means connection to a network, with several terminals constantly online to the Internet. New library buildings must be constructed with these and other needs in mind. The public library director needs information that helps in understanding what is involved in planning for a public library building project. This applies whether the subject is a free standing independent building, a branch library, a joint-use facility with a museum, a senior academic library, a community or junior college library, or a school library. This book will help librarians and others learn what should be known about a project so that they may function effectively as part of the planning team.