Description

In the history of the library as an institution, the provision of dedicated space for non-adult readers is a 20^th century phenomenon. Since its inception in the early 1900s the planning of space for young readers has developed with evolving social mores. Today’s library design concepts for children and teens reflect a mix of current interests, among them style, contemporary child development theory, education and community building. Together these ideas have led to the creation of library spaces for young readers that are unique to the 21st century.

^{Children in the Library}

The Boston Public Library was first to establish a space specifically designated for children in 1895 with more than 3,000 children’s books.[1] Children’s rooms in other public libraries followed with spaces intended primarily for book perusal and quiet reading, plainly furnished with tables, chairs and shelves. Children’s rooms through the third quarter of the 20th century evolved from this standard with adjustments of scale, décor and style. Into the 1970s, children’s rooms were often shelf-lined spaces with diminutive furniture, finishes in primary colors and wall art of juvenile literary characters from Maurice Sendak to Dr. Seuss. Digital technology in the library is, of course, a hallmark of the 21^st century although its presence in the children’s room is relatively unobtrusive outside of the requisite search monitors. Today’s guidelines for the design of children’s libraries focus instead on learning through physical experience. This goal is achieved through the provision of multi-layered space that allows for infinite permutations of use. In a 2008 interview, Gonzalo Oyarzún, director of the Santiago Public Library in Chile, indicated that “A children’s and young adult library serves as a public square … where they can feel free to choose, explore and know.”[2] This vision is applicable for children and teens as well as their caregivers, offering a unified goal for the design of this space.

Interior Design Options

The stylistic evolution of today’s children’s libraries is a consequence of such a vision. The reliance on primary colored accents and pictures of literary characters that presume a prescribed concept of childhood has given way to a spirited use of architecture and design to provide a complex and stimulating environment. There is no longer a tacit adherence to bright colors for creating a stimulating children’s environment, as demonstrated at the OBA – Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (Jo Coenen, 2007). In the simple palette of white that characterizes the library as a whole the children’s area is distinguished through the use of playful, geometric white forms such as the curving bookshelves and jack-like light fixtures. Intermittent accents of color provide a bold contrast to the otherwise monochromatic background.

Similarly at the Hamilton Grange Library in Harlem, New York (originally designed by McKim, Mead and White and opened in 1906), the Teen Center (Rice+Lipka Architects, 2012) is a primarily black and white space accented with bold abstract murals/walls. The use of colors, too, is part of the architectural enhancement rather than a finish accent. At the Hennepin County Library in Maple Grove, Minnesota (Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, 2010), a building envisioned as a “pavilion in the park”, without any internal separation or signage, color is a key component that provides visual cues for the patron. The bold color emphasizes minimally detailed interactive wall panels in the children’s room while the neon green ramp is a unifying element in the teens’ study space. Graphics are also used to engage the youthful visitor.

At the Children’s Library Discovery Center in Jamaica, Queens, New York (1100 Architect, 2011), a consistent signage concept invites observation and conjecture. At the Picture Book Library in Iwaki, Japan (Tadao Ando, 2005), the architectural elements of stair and guardrail are not only part of the space but become the picture book display shelving and seating. Finally, the multi-functional structural ribs of the Vennesla Kulturhuset serve as book shelves, small rooms, tables and lounge chair (Helen & Hard, 2011).

Learning through Play

Beyond issues of style, the design of children’s libraries posits the space itself as an educational tool. Previous activities within the children’s room catered to the very young typically in the form of storytelling in which the space served simply as a container. In a departure from this trend more recent designs of children’s spaces focus on them as learning spaces. This attitude embraces the notion of learning through play – a concept derived from child development theories of the late 1970s – resulting in late 20^th century children’s rooms that sometimes resemble playgrounds/theme parks. Using shelving units of different heights as stepladder, the children’s library at Ordrup Bibliotek in Copenhagen (Søren Robert Lund Arkitekter, 2007) encourages users to explore by physically climbing over the books.

At greater cost, the children’s room at the Cerritos Millennium Library (Charles Walton Associates, 2002) is a learning space inspired by the entertainment industry. An entrance made of gargantuan books leads to a room-sized aquarium, a replica tyrannosaurus rex and a banyan tree, all of which are tools for introducing children to ocean life, prehistoric creatures and rainforests. A different approach attempts to engineer experience by emulating the interactive museum. Interactive displays and activities are used to ignite curiosity about subjects from math and science to gardening and astronomy. Design experts from children’s museums such as the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the New York Hall of Science and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum serve as consultants.

A collaborative public library and theater, the ImaginOn of Charlotte, North Carolina (Holzman Moss Bottino with Gantt Huberman Architects, 2005), offers multi-media interactive stations for exploring the art of narrative as well as an animation/sound studio for teens. The Children’s Library Discovery Center, part of the Queens Central Library in New York, is characterized by interactive math and science displays dispersed throughout the library and the stacks.

Literacy for All

Today’s children’s library service most often includes community outreach in recognition of “literacy for all”. The effect of this outreach varies from equal access to information in the form of computers to community centers and childcare facilities based within the library itself. For parents and older children, English proficiency resources, after school homework help, summer reading programs and parent education are examples of such service. For the very young, a new focus on “emergent literacy” serves to emphasize “the natural reading and writing behaviors exhibited by preschoolers before formal instruction begins.”[3] This outreach has inspired many, from educators to artists and architects, to contribute their expertise. These efforts result in uncommon works of art as at the Library Initiative, a collaborative effort of the Robin Hood Foundation and the New York Department of Education to reverse low literacy in underserved neighborhoods. Participating artists have created memorable murals and art installations specific to the neighborhood children and culture – art with purpose and relevance for the users. The 21^st century children’s library is a curious amalgam of change, at once introspective and altruistic. Its complexity perhaps mirrors the uncertainty of our global economies in which the well-being of children remains nevertheless unquestioned.

^{The Emergence of “Young Adults”}

The teen or “young adult” in the library has come of age only in the 21^st century. Children, teens and young adults historically shared a single open space. While there was recognition of the different reading needs of those under and over 12 years of age, there was little spatial differentiation other than designated shelving to identify the various users. The term “young adult” applied to a category of books specific to a span of years was only officially recognized in the United States with the 1957 founding of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). The creation of this group formally acknowledged that within the library “young people” comprised two groups: children (up to age 12) and young adults (age 12–18). The recognition of these groups corresponds to a shifting demographic brought about by a post-World War II population boom. By the early 1960s in the U.S. alone, “the number of 10 to 20 year olds … increased from 30 to 40 million.”[4]

Early young adult literature addressed, for the first time, issues of adolescence. The decades from the 1970s through to the mid-1980s have “been described as the golden age of YAL, when a highly intelligent and demanding literature was written for young people that spoke to them with particular directness.”[5] In subsequent years the topics of young adult literature would broach issues such as drug use, drinking, teen pregnancy and eating disorders. By the 1990s interest in this category of literature waned.

In the 21^st century, while the general publishing industry is in turmoil, the young adult book market is, instead, vibrant and enjoying exponential growth. In 1997, 3,000 young adult books were published in comparison to the 30,000 titles published 12 years later in 2009. What began with the now legendary Harry Potter series in the early years of the millennium has expanded into a highly profitable market, heralding a second “golden age of young fiction”.[6] Books such as Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series of teenage vampire love or Suzanne Collins’ trilogy of a dystopic society, The Hunger Games, are examples of this trend. Breaking Dawn, the final book in Meyer’s series, sold 1.3 million copies in the first 24 hours.[7]

As in the 1950s when young adult books were introduced into society, the last years of the 20^th century and the first decade of the new millennium witnessed a similar demographic shift. “Between 1990 and 2000, the number of persons between 12 and 19 soared to 32 million, a growth rate of 17 % that significantly outpaced the growth of the rest of the population.”[8] Today young adults comprise 18 % of the population.[9] According to a recent Pew survey, “16 to 29 year olds are the largest group checking out books from their local libraries.”[10]

As one applies the democratic ideals of the public library where numbers of seats reflect the demographics of the population these statistics translate spatially into the proliferation of teen spaces. Decades earlier the term “young adult” simply referred to a few dedicated book stacks located at the periphery of the children’s area. Today, teen or young adult reading refers to a unique collection and space, fully equipped with digital technology. Located near the adults and a clear distance from the children’s room it serves as a gathering zone for this specific age group.

Teen Spaces as Community Outreach

In 2008 YALSA’s Board of Directors formally adopted the position that “user-centered environments are integral in attracting teenaged users and transforming the role and image of the library.”[11] The décor of teen or young adult spaces, as with the children’s rooms, has evolved to reflect a sophisticated contemporary style with super graphics, modern colors, playful patterns and “mod” pieces of furniture. Many libraries have updated their teen spaces accordingly with positive results. Teen space, in contrast to children’s rooms, comprises areas dedicated to both study and interaction. Tables, computers and sometimes study carrels cater to individual study and research. Grouped lounge seating allows for collaborative studying as well as socializing. While the requisite hushed atmosphere of earlier decades is clearly no longer enforced, some librarians question whether the concept of teen space must be reinvented to dispel the implied need for quiet within even the updated rooms. As a response to such a challenge, the Hamilton Grange branch of the New York Public Library in Harlem that opened in 2012 with a new teen space was designed to encourage mayhem, loitering and even eating. In a departure from the norm noise is encouraged and acoustic separation eliminated. The 408 m² space is entirely open, occupied only by two low objects: an inhabitable, glass vitrine for playing video games and a set of bleachers that conform to a multitude of seating options. While seemingly free of rules to encourage frequent teen use, this wide open space provides full and constant visibility for ever vigilant librarians.

The community outreach mission is also evident in the young adults’ section. The teen room serves, in many instances, as an afterschool “hangout”, especially in neighborhoods where they would otherwise be on their own or on the streets. In addition, many libraries have created programs specifically for establishing a community amongst teens. For example, the New York Public Library offers a Teen Club, Teen Homework Lounge, Drawing workshops, Teen Author reading night, and TeenLIVE programs that “feature thought-provoking conversations, real debates, and exciting spectacular performances with … favorite authors, artists, filmmakers, musicians, fashionistas. … These programs address current cultural trends and important mainstays that inform the lives of today’s teens.”[12]

The richness of recent young adult culture, especially fiction, has caused an increasing “crossover” trend of adults reading young adult literature, creating fluid boundaries between young adult literature readers. In a 2009 contest, St Martin’s Press searched for new talent of “… cutting edge fiction with protagonists who are slightly older than YA and can appeal to an adult,” coining the term “new adult”. Whether this term replaces “young adult” remains to be seen but the implications of such a term can bring revolutionary changes to the planning of the library. These shifts in defining the act of “coming of age” itself are defining – a society in transition.

With the hindsight of 20^th century theories, immense efforts are placed on the design of children and teen spaces in 21^st century libraries, efforts that address the educational and emotional welfare of the young. The fruits of these labors are twofold. Children of all ages have access to information and learning and consequently develop early on a life-long commitment to the library and its many services

13

For a survey of various types of children’s libraries cf. Nolan Lushington, Libraries Designed for Kids, New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2008.

. At a critical time in the history of the library, it is a sound investment for youth and for the institution.

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Originally published in: Nolan Lushington, Wolfgang Rudorf, Liliane Wong, Libraries: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2016.