Library Design and the Value of Libraries
There is an article in Module 8’s (New Models) resources about library design (HBM Architects, 2023) that reviews the many details architects must consider when designing a library. HBM Architects write that successful library buildings reflect their community. Much like librarians themselves, library architects must understand their library users. They research who lives in the service area and what their cultural make up is. They must consider if the population is growing or aging. Architects look at the location and context, asking if the library is in an urban, suburban, or rural area and if users will mainly access the library by foot, public transit, or their cars. They consider the architectural style of the community and surroundings when deciding on the building’s exterior aesthetics. Last but not least, they look to the future and do a bit of trendspotting. Library architects may analyze a city’s 5, 10, or 20-year plan and the local real estate market to discover the selling price and size of homes. These details inform the needs of a library. I am in awe of how architects investigate all these factors about the community and then translate it into a building design. It is truly impressive!
However, in the face of cuts to library funding and grants, are there any new library buildings popping up at all? The answer is YES! Our peer @ali0 wrote about a new library in Sonoma County, CA that she is involved in designing. @michael posted about Gwinnett County’s Snellville Branch (Figure 1) opening last fall and the Lawrenceville Hooper-Renwick Branch (Figure 2 – below) opening last month.
The new Westchester Square Library in the Bronx, NY (Figure 3) is expected to open later this year, designed by Snøhetta, the same architects who designed NC State’s Hunt Library (Price, 2023). Finally, I just saw a job posting for a Supervising Librarian at the still-under-construction Irwindale Public Library (Figure 4 – at top of post). Irwindale, CA is a neighboring town to mine. These new libraries, plus many more, indicate that communities, cities, counties, and even countries value libraries so much that they secure funding and resources to build these incredible new structures.
I hope these new libraries start off on the right foot by following The Hyperlinked Library Model. They can assess their value not by looking at library statistics and circulation data, but instead by considering their impact on the community. Lauersen (2024) introduces the idea of the Impact Compass (Figure 5), a tool for understanding the impact of cultural experiences on the public. The Impact Compass consists of four dimensions of impact – emotional, intellectual, social and creative, and 12 parameters.
Together, they form a framework to reveal what people experience in their encounter with libraries and culture. The Impact Compass can be a guide for librarians to ask the right questions and fully investigate the impact and value of the library on the public.
It is clear that libraries are valuable and vital cultural institutions. I’ll end this blog post with a quote from a library patron from Lauersen’s (2024) article, “To me, it feels like the library is a place with a heart. It’s a place that wants the best for me, and where I’m not a product or customer.”
References
HBM Architects. (2023, February 9). Centering your library around the community. Library Journal. https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/centering-your-library-around-the-community-lj230207
Lauersen, C. (2024, August 25). The value of libraries from Roskilde to Toronto. The Library Lab: libraries, learning and lego https://christianlauersen.net/2024/08/25/the-value-of-libraries-from-roskilde-to-toronto/
Price, G. (2023, January 4). Report: “This Super Cool, Futuristic Library is Opening in the Bronx by 2025.” Library Journal. https://www.infodocket.com/2023/01/04/report-this-super-cool-futuristic-library-is-opening-in-the-bronx-by-2025/
Hi Natalie, you did a wonderful deep dive on library architects! I especially love how you mention how detail oriented these specific types of architects are. I’ve been to a few architect presentations about the new library they’re building in my library system and it’s truly inspiring listening to them talk about this. You might enjoy the website of the architect we are working with here in northern California (https://www.jaysonarch.com/) they have more than a dozen of their library projects on there, I could look at these pictures all day. I also enjoyed how you connected the Impact Compass to these concepts. Great post! 🙂
@ali0 Thanks for the comment and the link to Jayson Architecture’s website. They have a lovely gallery of photos and yes, I spent too much time looking at them. 😉
@Natalie so happy to see you include the Impact Compass in this reflection and with all these neat photos of these amazing library buildings. It makes a lot of sense to me that the Impact Compass aligned with the four spaces model would be an absolutely perfect formula for creating a library in the 21st-century.