Library Design—Flexibility and the Future by Doug Johnson

Library Design—Flexibility and the Future by Doug Johnson

Fact: Technology will change and resource formats will change. School libraries must plan for future changes. One way to do this is to try to design your library space so that it can change or be re-arranged as easily as your technology will. Make sure there are plenty of outlets and if you can arrange it, try to place classrooms next to your library, so if you need more space in the future, you might be able to incorporate the classrooms into your space. Or make sure the library is next to an outside wall, so you could eventually add on if needed.

Don’t try to plan for technology that isn’t here yet. Things change so rapidly, that the technology that you plan for, for the future, may never happen.  The important design lesson: Make your space flexible! I think everything on wheels is a good policy. I learned that from working at Borders. The corporate offices would plan a fixture move and nothing was on wheels, so it was a nightmare moving books and shelving units. Also, if you can have removable walls, it might make things easier in the long run.

Citation:

Johnson, Doug. “Library Design - Flexibility and the Future.” The Blue Skunk Blog 14 May 2008. Web. 28 May 2011.

 <http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2008/5/15/library-design-flexibility-and-the-future.html>.

 Lori Jane Perdew

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