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Atrium Designs
A glimpse at historical library buildings can exhibit just how far communities have come to balance both the esthetic appeal and the
functionality of today%u2019s ideal library designs. The atrium designs of the 1800s were glorious, monumental community landmarks, however their closed stacks limited patron access, and their designs were even detrimental to the preservation of library materials due to the inability to heat them correctly and evenly. Boston Public Library Photo on Flickr by nengard -
"People's Universities"
"Libraries designed from 1880-1920 fulfilled the
promise that American institutions for the people would be designed as great monuments to the uplifting of all citizens.%u201D (Lushington, 2002, p. 5) These were noble sentiments in library design during this period, however there was a great disconnect between the monumental Greek revival designs of these buildings and how the average library user felt when they saw these
buildings. Detroit Public Library Photo from Flickr by Zoe Doel -
Carnegie Libraries
During the 1900s, Carnegie libraries, still beloved landmarks in many communities, were the first libraries to consider function and esthetics. Unfortunately for many communities, it was Carnegie consultant, Richard Bertram%u2019s dislike for %u201Cwasted space%u201D that prevented many Carnegie libraries to expand when their collections swelled. (Lushington, 2002, p. 4) Carnegie Free Library Photo from Flickr by rmcgervey -
Open Stacks
It did not take long for libraries to see their collections expand beyond their limits; the period during 1850 and 1920 brought forth a boom in book publishing and lower book prices. %u201CIn 1897 John Cotton Dana pointed out that the decreases in book costs made the concept of a library as storehouse of treasure obsolete.%u201D (Lushington, 2002, p. 4) With this, open stacks were integrated into libraries, which allowed patrons to roam freely among the materials. Library Photo from Flickr, Chas Redmon -
Modular Libraries
As community demographics shifted, many library architects saw a need for flexible library space, during the 1950%u2019s and 1960%u2019s modular library designs were introduced into many communities. These libraries, however, lacked esthetic appeal, and despite their intent, were anything but functional. (Lushington, 2002, p. 6) Seattle Public Library, 1960, HistoryLink.org -
ALA Standards
The sum of all of these previous library projects has brought us to the present day, where library planners realize the positives and negatives of earlier designs. It is through the successes and failures of the previous library planners that we are able to plan functional and esthetic libraries today. Seattle Public Library, 2004, photo from Flickr by Frankphotos
