Description
National Libraries
Enforceable legal deposit legislation, ensuring the acquisition, the recording, the preservation, and the availability of a nation’s published heritage, is the prerequisite to the formation, existence and meaningful operation of a national or central archive library, metaphorically described in the deposit legislation of the German National Archive as a “nation’s memory”. The depository concept, initially expressed in 1537 in the “Ordonnance de Montpellier”, issued by King Francis I of France, decreeing that a copy of each book to be sold in the country had to be deposited first in the library of the royal court, evolved into today’s modern deposit legislation, applying to publications of any format and media produced in a particular country, often including foreign publications in the country’s language(s) or publications with parallel language texts. The catalogue of publications and materials required for public deposit varies by country, but includes, in general, two distinct categories: conventional publications in tangible form and materials presented virtually in public access networks. Usually excluded from public depository requirements are materials described as “gray literature” – publications not intended for public distribution and materials not formally published. Subject to deposit are publishers, individuals or organizations, responsible for the creation and dissemination of content.
National libraries exist and function within the political, economical and socio-cultural context of a country and are considered vital instruments in promoting freedom of expression, stimulating diversity, supporting education and research, and fostering international exchange through national library services. As custodians of a country’s heritage, national libraries are bestowed with the responsibility of not only encouraging awareness for heritage material, but also developing the sensitivity required for identifying such material.
The modern vision of scanning “all that is thought and known” (H. G. Wells, World Brain, 1938) into worldwide sharable databases, a vision challenged by current copyright laws and competing players with divergent philosophies, business interests, funding strategies, and alliances, applies to the heritage collections of national libraries as well, and requires firm legal and technical constructs, sufficient funding, and an interdisciplinary approach. For example, Gallica, an online platform established by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, provides access to works in the public domain, as well as to recent publications by forging an agreement between the national library, the French Publisher Association, the Ministry of Culture and Communication, and the National Center for the Book. Incorporation under public law endows national libraries with the appropriate authority to realize their mission statement, enforce deposit legislation, and secure funding, and to function as an independent organ. The latter assures meaningful and effective cooperation on the supra-national and international level.
A new building type, the national library, was first recognized in Great Britain when Sir Hans Sloane’s bequeathal of his private collection, including 50,000 books, 23,000 coins and medals, and 1,125 artifacts, to the nation was accepted through an act of Parliament in June of 1753. Together with the Cottonian Library of Books and the arleian collection of manuscripts, Sloane’s library formed the foundation of the British National Library, then part of the British Museum, originally housed in the Montague House in Bloomsbury, London. In 1823, with the decision of King George IV to leave the library of his father, King George II, to the nation, the architect Sir Robert Smirke (1780–1867) was commissioned to design a new building on the site of Montague House.
The central reading room, surrounded by vast stack areas, embedded in the extensive quadrangle formed by the impressive, Greek Ionic column-lined south front along Great Russell Street, flanked by west and east wings and closed off by the perpendicular wing to the north, was completed within the last phase of the project. The opening of the reading room in 1857 attracted 62,000 visitors during a weeklong public viewing event. Linear reading tables, radiating out from two concentric rows of tables towards the book-lined galleries along the periphery of the rotunda, offered workspace for 336 people. The very center of the space provided a platform for the attending librarian. Daylight, filtering through a skylight in the crest of the dome and windows inserted between the ribs of the cupola and aligned with the ray pattern of the tables, illuminates the reading room. Beyond the walls of the workspace, multi-story cast iron stacks provided space for more than one million books.
Today, the King’s Library, located in the east wing, and the central reading room are preserved in their original form, while the British National Library moved in 1997 to a new location. The reading room, now open to all museum visitors, contains 25,000 books and catalogues related to the exhibits of the British Museum and an information center. A column-free, triangulated glass roof, spanning between cupola base and the cornices of the wing buildings, encloses the freed-up quadrangle, creating the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, which functions as a gathering space and a link between the surrounding exhibition spaces. Since 1753, the collection of the British National Library has increased to 57 million holdings.
In the current debate revolving around the position of libraries and the discipline of library sciences within the rapidly changing knowledge environment, the British National Library attempts to find positions, through critical analysis of present conditions, observation of trends and projections and the development of strategies aiming at the operation of hybrid collections, comprised of conventional print material and digital content. The vast amount of information available exceeds multiple times the extensive print collection of the Library of Congress, and users are increasingly reliant on information professionals, who manage and identify authoritative content. The preparation and organization of digital material, the adding of hyperlinks, the collection of data specific to disciplines, as well as the aggregation of data in response to interdisciplinary research are some of the concepts deployed by the British National Library, providing users with continuous value-adding services. To this end, the British National Library has introduced a market-facing approach, ensuring alignment of services with the needs of their five key audience groups: researchers; business; library and information sector; learners; general public. Knowing the user profile, understanding user needs and inviting user feedback are critical parameters, shaping the future of national libraries and allowing them to stay relevant in their role as the custodians of a country’s heritage and the dissemination of knowledge.
Large Public Libraries
In a world altered by digital technology – from e-books to robotic storage – the late 20th century public library struggled with an outmoded 19th century identity. Originally a place of reading and reference it sought a new relevance in keeping with change. Today, after more than two decades of self-reflection and reinvention, the public library is no longer in fear of obsolescence from a sole reliance on the commerce of physical books. The public library in the 21st century has emerged, regenerated by an expansion of its role within the greater community it serves.
Determined by the population they serve, public libraries differ greatly, ranging from one-room rural libraries for fewer than 1,000 occupants to multi-storied libraries catering to an entire metropolis. Large public libraries are typically urban and serve a core inner-city population in a central location accessible by public transportation. Small branch libraries serve the remaining metropolitan population outside the immediate center. With collections of up to 1.5 million volumes, large public libraries range in size from 25,000 m² to almost 40,000 m².
While public libraries of all sizes share similar missions and objectives, the realization of such mission differs between large and small public libraries. Once regarded as a formal civic institution, a revered book lender, a place of hushed reading and even an information center, the large public library has had to reinvent its identity in its quest for relevance. In the 21st century, the large public library has evolved as a type, often with architecture as a means.
As civic, urban monuments, a stately architectural language of classical elements imbued the grand public libraries of the 19th century with a formality that was recognizable from library to library and from city to city. Imposing reading rooms and closed stacks corroborated a formal concept of “knowledge through reading”, a concept premised on the lendable book as a precious commodity. This concept became outdated with the easy accessibility of both printed and digital media. Today, large public libraries focus instead on an expanded concept of “knowledge through learning” – a broad mission that encompasses not only old and new media but also a vast range of programs centered on learning.
Serving extensive metropolitan communities, large public libraries today have outgrown the one-size-fits-all approach that made few distinctions between types of borrowers. Often in dense, urban settings with widely varied demographics, these communities now comprise a spectrum from the intellectually sophisticated to an underserved and barely literate population. Addressing the learning needs of these many different patrons creates the need for expanded programs and their attendant space.
Standard program elements of collection, reading spaces for children, young adults, and adults, reference, computer and Internet access are enhanced by cafés/restaurants, auditoria, meeting rooms, exhibition space, archives, business centers, multi-media facilities and theaters. In addition, less conventional programs include unique elements such as gift shops, drive-in book pick-up, interactive children’s museums, health clinics, daycare centers and teen music-making facilities. This proliferation of program reflecting a multicultural, multidimensional user group has created opportunities both in exterior massing, with new elements, and in internal planning and layout, with new and complicated juxtapositions. This complexity is the generator of innovative forms and spatial relationships within the library that contribute to an evolution of the library typology.
Informed by numerous new programs, the form and style of new large public libraries are both less imposing and less formal. With a trend towards finding a new expression for the institution of the library, the architectural forms vary from modern glazed boxes to sculptural compositions enabled by new materials. Dependent on site and community, these complex programs are frequently resolved through a vertical configuration. In less dense settings, the lack of site constraints permits an array of massing options. With these possibilities, the singular formal style has given way to a pluralism of diverse yet distinctive architecture.
These numerous new elements have also created a complex internal organization, influencing the planning and layout. Once repetitive floors of orderly stacks and reading rooms have been replaced by floors of dissimilar program elements. Circulation through the library, previously based on call numbers of books to differentiate between the quasi-identical floors, is now one that traverses entirely different experiences, one after the next. Its similarities to large-scale retail establishments are apparent in which circulation assumes a crucial role. Commercial and retail design concepts often serve as precedents for organizing and connecting the many library programs.
The parallel to retail however lies not only in the design of the circulation. Many large public libraries with expanded programs have embraced the idea of the experience economy. As a retail establishment of knowledge it caters to patrons with offerings packaged as themed learning experience and entertainment. As a conduit between the arts and the community the library, with its exhibition galleries, auditorium or theater space, becomes a venue through which the community can gain access to performers, writers, musicians and artists. The public library as a knowledge mall is part of a successful transformation as it consolidates its position in a new era.
While emulating the successes of capitalism on one hand, public libraries, both large and small, are, on the other hand, deeply committed to community outreach. Early educational programs and afterschool activities are examples of common programs that are built into all public library budgets. But within communities of wider diversity, there exists a greater potential to use library design to ameliorate difficult political and social situations. The inclusion of programs such as a healthcare center, a secondary educational facility or a childcare center within the public library constitutes the shaping of a social agenda within the community. The public library as a platform for community engagement gains the institution a new legitimacy.
With the new wealth of possibilities large public libraries more and more employ architecture as a means of advertisement. As a modern civic monument, the architecture plays an important role in the creation of a positive and vibrant image within the community. Until the economic downturn, “starchitects” were sought for an architecture that would not only make the library’s presence felt within the urban fabric but would also gain it status as an international icon. Architecture remains a tool of the new public library. It continues to play an important role in perpetuating a new perception of the public library, thereby attracting users and patrons through its innovative form and materials.
The many changes within the large public library are primarily user-based. While driven initially by a need to retain and gain patrons, the development of the large public library has grown from a product of necessity to one that enjoys a newfound significance. As an outcome of several decades of soul searching for a new raison d’être in the 21st century, the large public library has emerged with a rich, relevant and fulfilling mission.
Small Public Libraries
Small and large public libraries are, at the same time, very similar and extremely different. Their basic structure is, in many ways, identical. They share a mission and many of the same 21st century concerns and objectives, especially for maintaining relevance in the era of digital technology. In the fulfillment of these objectives, however, the similarities diverge. Due to the dramatic differences in size between small and large public libraries – from the size of a room up to approximately 10,000 m² on the one hand and up to 40,000 m² on the other – the realization of like-minded goals are achieved through diverse paths.
By the democratic underpinnings of the public library, small public libraries serve communities with lesser population. Small public libraries fall into two categories; those that serve town communities and those that serve a small neighborhood of a larger community. In the former, the small library serves the entire population of a town. In the latter, the library serves one of many sectors of a greater metropolitan community, as a branch library of a large public library system. Metropolitan libraries often have up to 25–40 branches. The New York Public Library is an example of a mega-system with 92 branch libraries serving all of its boroughs. Small-town libraries enjoy an autonomy of structure, budget and operation. Branch libraries work within the structure predetermined by the larger system through which it exists. With this dependence, branch libraries sometimes fall victim to budget cuts and, in difficult economic times, are closed down. In serving a smaller number of citizens, small public libraries attend to a less dramatically diverse community of patrons.
Small libraries are neighborhood-centric. Centrally located, they are often found in close proximity to other civic establishments such as a post office, the town hall, a fire station and perhaps a public pool. By association, the library is assumed into an informal governance of the town structure, and its community meeting space plays a valuable role in day-to-day town life. It regularly hosts municipal gatherings such as community mentoring, town planning, school committees and, at times of local and national elections, voting. Through such involvement the small public library is tightly knit into the civic life of the small town.
Outside the immediate municipal structure, the small library is similarly connected to local and grass-roots organizations. Town functions from minor drama productions to local artists’ demonstrations make use of the library as a venue. These events follow no specific agenda but can include the arts as well as technology, catering to both the young and the old. Classes such as “how to watercolor” are as popular as classes on “protecting one’s online identity”. The involvement of the library in these events broadens a program repertoire that by fiscal necessity would otherwise be more limited. The variety of such attractions appeals to and entices patrons of all ages.
As part of smaller communities the patrons are defined by relative similarity of per capita income and, as a group, are less diverse. Through an institution embedded within a relatively homogeneous community the programs of the small public library cater to less divergent needs than those of large metropolitan communities. The patrons of affluent neighborhoods, for example, share comparable concerns that differ completely from those of disadvantaged or crime-ridden neighborhoods: the desire for immediate access to newly published books as opposed to afterschool programs for latchkey kids. In a large public library, all of these concerns coexist and must be addressed within the confines of a finite budget. The small library faces only the needs of like-minded citizens.
Small-library service operates at its own scale. While all public libraries provide a basic level of service to its patron groups, the magnitude of the small public library’s endeavors is a product of its significantly smaller patron groups. This scalar difference is, in fact, inversely related to its size; fewer patrons allow for a concentrated use of resources. This is exemplified by the needs of older patrons. Universally addressed, services for the elderly range from barrier-free accommodations to physical amenities such as large-print and audio books, low-vision readers, and magnifiers for text enhancement. In the small library, with less demand, this can also include more costly items such as lendable e-book readers with font enlargement capability and Text-to-Speech features. With fewer patrons to serve, outreach programs for the elderly in the small library can extend beyond the requisite physical needs to those of social and even emotional well-being: for example, social gatherings organized specifically to provide regular engagement for an older patronage in the form of garden clubs or reading groups for the elderly. In some libraries, a delivery program brings books and other media to elderly homebound patrons. With smaller populations and inherently fewer demands, small libraries have the ability to expand and personalize service, distinguishing its character by the scale of its gestures.
Within communities characterized by similar demographics – economics, locale, and, sometimes, race – the actions of the small public library are often fueled and supported by consensus. Without the necessity to provide outreach efforts for many diverse needs, the small library focuses its work and budget on unified objectives. The power of such solidarity can apply to many different aspects of the library. Nowhere is this more evident than with young readers. With a ubiquitous emphasis on learning and the young, today’s public libraries of all sizes provide enhanced service in children’s spaces. In contrast to large libraries with many groups to serve, small libraries can often offer a more individualized service. For instance, service for an autistic child might, in a large public library, consist of online resources while in a small library it might be addressed in person, if necessary. Further, the fulfillment of very specific needs in a small library can manifest itself in an exuberant and, at times lavish, manner. They range from those of underserved neighborhoods for safe afterschool environments with homework programs, relaxed activities and healthy snacks to the desire for enhanced math and science focus for precocious preschoolers in affluent communities. In many instances these efforts are quite expensive, requiring a majority vote for the approval of funds beyond operational spending. These efforts are not exclusive to the needs of the young. In an agrarian community where farming is a shared value, a small public library in Onondaga, NY, loans out plots of land for patrons interested in experimenting with new organic farming practices. With a unified vision amongst its patrons, such expenditure in a small library constitutes an investment in the community and results in extraordinary efforts.
The role of architecture in these efforts is unique. Within the small library, there are many opportunities for the creation of experience through the library interior. With the diverse range of small communities, the library interior as a representation of these characteristics is a chance for the exploration of style. There are also occasions for new expression in exterior form – expressions premised upon the individual agenda of the community rather than a development in the library typology; for example, the expression of the library form as a protective fortress within an underprivileged community or as a modern sculpture in an affluent community. Together, the architecture of the interior and the exterior form a fascinating picture of a diverse library patronage.
The small public library is a unique case of democracy in action. It remains, as its 19th century predecessor, characterized and empowered by community. As a type, it has not had to alter dramatically as it expands the concept of “access for all” beyond the commodities of books and technology. Today’s small library trades in human interests as knowledge, with lendable collections from plots of land for gardening to musical instruments (as it is the case at the Lopez Island Library in Washington State), providing a relevance in daily life that is immutable in the rapidly changing digital landscape.
University Libraries
Universities founded throughout Europe during the high and late Middle Ages, such as the Universities of Bologna in Italy, Paris in France, Salamanca in Spain and Oxford in England to name a few of the oldest institutions, described a new educational model and necessitated the future conception of the academic library as type. Originally the university was not associated with a particular built environment, but rather defined as a community of scholars, and the teaching took place in non-designated spaces. However, with the increased forming of colleges in the 15th and 16th centuries a geographic locus paired with first, an unsystematic, and later intentional, form-giving building program was established, including scholarly libraries, archives and protective vaults, besides spaces for teaching, assembly, administration and residential purposes.
Higher education, the septem artes liberalis, imparted knowledge in the subjects of rhetoric, grammar and dialectics as well as arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music and the higher faculties of theology, medicine and law. The degree of Baccalaureus Artium in the artes liberalis was the prerequisite for the study of the three superior disciplines, with theology considered the most complex and prestigious. In accordance with the philosophies of the Middle Ages with their Christian focus, the primary purpose and focus of a university system was the education of the clergy, a concept that was still carried into the New World with the founding of the first universities in the Americas in the 16th and 17th century.
Early universities, in order to be recognized as teaching institutions and eligible to bestow degrees, required a political mandate, funding through the church – in rare instances the state – and almost without exception papal approval. The attainment of monastic libraries in times of religious suppression, bequests by sovereigns, scholars and bibliophiles, and endowments commonly established the core of academic collections and provided for their conservation and growth. Books were often laid out on desks, a space-consuming storage method, limiting the number of users. Further, due to the rarity of the books, often only scholars with the academic degree of a Magister had free access to early library holdings and in early modern times, when academic libraries became more accessible to a wider community of scholars, hours of operation were often strongly curtailed. By the end of the 15th century Europe counted almost 90 established universities with affiliated libraries. Current statistics provided by the Online Computer Library Center, OCLC, lists an astounding 42,675 academic libraries worldwide.
Today, academic main libraries constitute the heart of the intellectual life of universities and often, at least in the modern Anglo-Saxon model of higher education, define the geographic center of a university campus as well. In their architectural language and iconic quality, or even in the array of amenities not tied to the core functions of the library such as cafés, restaurants, auditoria, multi-media facilities and bookstores they differ little from large contemporary urban public libraries. Instead the distinction is predominately apparent in their institutional integration, and their organizational and spatial structure is tailored to a very particular academic realm defined by the student and faculty body, the learning objectives, the teaching philosophies and the research orientations.
Exposed to a rapidly and constantly changing knowledge environment, the effectiveness of university libraries is highly dependent on the composition and calibration of the printed and digital collection, access to scientific databases and subscriptions to electronic publications. To assure relevance in proximity to the institution’s mission statement, to maintain collection currency and to guarantee user service centricity, sophisticated monitoring tools assist librarians in collecting data on information seeking and studying behavior, the attraction and retention of students and faculty, the link between library use and learning success and scholarly competitiveness. Library administrators are obliged to establish user relations through library steering committees engaging stakeholders across the whole user spectrum in a dialogue, with the objective to establish strategic planning goals concerned with the future status of the collection, spatial configuration and service structure. Fostering public relations to external research facilities, academic institutions and industries creates valuable synergies between the institution and the outside world.
Exceedingly qualified and specialized librarians are instrumental in shaping academic research and teaching through the systematization of digital knowledge, the filtration of relevant and reputable information, the participation in the digitization of holdings, the integration of printed and digital materials, and the hyperlinking of databases and digital content for interdisciplinary collaborations. Extensive university systems with all-encompassing faculties and disciplines often are confronted with the logistic necessity to establish within the genre of academic libraries, smaller specialty libraries housing so-called niche collections and archives dedicated to a particular school. When in 1683, the theologian John Harvard bequeathed his private library of 400 books to Harvard University, the nucleus to a collection containing today more than 18 million volumes housed in 79 libraries and one depository within the Harvard University Library System was established. Access to printed material without major delays is critical within an academic setting, and a network of libraries and off-site depositories consequently constitutes a logistic and economic challenge since the option of browsing, an important component of literature research, becomes more difficult to ensure.
A radical approach to the organization and shelving of a collection was devised in the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library (2011), designed by Helmut Jahn for the University of Chicago library system. By depositing 3.5 million volumes of little browsing interest within an automated storage and retrieval system below the actual library, valuable shelving space was freed up for browsing attractive material while the robotic system retrieves ordered materials within minutes. The construction of the Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum (2009) of the Humboldt Universität in Berlin, designed by Max Dudler, allowed the consolidation of all faculty internal library holdings, providing access to the information not only for the community of the university but also the greater public at one central location.
Modern academic libraries are not isolated entities within a university system but rather assume the role of communication hubs fostering interdisciplinary discourse, providing the bases for social interactions, opportunity for contemplation, “save haven” functions for incoming students and room for interactive learning experiences in laboratories, technology-infused meeting spaces and multi-media labs. The integration of library research components into course curricula, introduction to literature research strategies and library outreach programs such as writing centers, and library-associated learning commons are fundamental components of academic libraries supporting learning success, information literacy and the completion of degree programs. Intra-library loans assuring access to holdings of individual schools and faculties as well as interlibrary loan agreements between leading library systems extend the availability of institution-owned printed knowledge. Sophisticated library portals and the configuration of high-speed networks accomplish access of digital library content from locations throughout the university system at all times.
Despite the relentless voices prophesizing the demise of libraries the analysis of most commonly used resources offered by libraries of academic institutions reveals that the use of the printed book prevails by far over the use of electronic primary sources and if predictions are correct, print media will remain in this position for the foreseeable future. The appreciation of acquiring knowledge, regardless of fluctuations in learning strategies and information gathering, will always demand a supportive, human-centered spatial quality, and academic libraries today and in the future need to meet the challenge. Technology, however, is to be seen as a decisive catalyst in delineating academic library planning concepts, creating the foundation for flexible service structures, transformations in user interface and the management of a constantly morphing knowledge environment.
Internal Links
Originally published in: Nolan Lushington, Wolfgang Rudorf, Liliane Wong, Libraries: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2016.