We are all familiar with the libraries of the latter part of the 20th century. Oddly, in many settings, this library was still being built only five or ten years ago. These characteristics describe the library of that period:

• A quiet place (no talking, food or drink);• A repository for books, large areas devoted to

stacks and the collections;• An imposing circulation desk for manual check-

out and return;• Typically, a modest community room;• A guarding-the-books point of view from the staff;• An extensive collection of encyclopedias and other

reference materials;• An inspiring place, often the main reading room;• A civic presence for the library in the fabric of

the town.

The 20th-Century LibraryThe changing operations of public libraries directly affect the layout and organization of library buildings. These changes also influence how libraries are staffed, and how patrons use them. The opportunity to create an up-to-date library arises when we construct a new building, or when we transform an existing one.

Today’s library is a place for social interaction as well as for quiet reading. It is a community cultural center, not simply a repository for books. It is a welcoming building with a design focus on transparency, not a series of isolated spaces. Libraries today are designed to accommodate more simplified administrative operations and new staff functions. Library patrons expect staff accessibility, and opportunities for instruction and learning.

DESIGNING 21ST-CENTURY LIBRARIESby Peter Gisolfi, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP

A similar article appeared in Library By Design, June 2014

It is often difficult to recognize changing trends while they are still changing. That said, consider the typical characteristics of today’s 21st-century library:

• An informal community cultural center;• Transparency between the spaces so that

patrons can be seen and more easily served;• Reading spaces interspersed within the vari-

ous collections;• Larger and more varied space for children

and teens;• Community room, meeting rooms and

activity rooms of varied sizes;• Daylight in all areas of the building; • Connections to outdoor space;• Spaces devoted to computer and Internet

instruction, and online research;• Automated systems, and increased staff

efficiency;• Flexibility to accommodate future

requirements;• The library as an inspiring public building

with an important civic presence;• The library as a community model for

sustainable practice.

Darien Library in Darien, CT (LEED Gold Certified) is a great example of a 21st-century library. There are various spaces for congregation within the building, including a community room (top) and cafe (middle). There are several large windows throughout the library providing transparency between rooms (bottom). Computer stations on “Main Street” provide access to the catalog (left).

Emerging Trends in Building Design

Specific Results Affecting Library UseThe emerging trends in library building design dra-matically affect how the library functions. As a result, patrons and staff use the library differently:

• Increase in digital materials, and reduced space devoted to the book collections;

• With automated self check-in and check-out, reduction or elimination of the circulation desk;

• Digital card catalogue OPAC stations throughout the library;

• Wireless Internet access throughout the library;• Automated material handling systems in larger

libraries, and increased staff efficiency;• Staff accessible to patrons, and less separated

from them;• More extensive programming for children

and teens;• Informal socializing in the café, an enhanced

sense of community;• Community room, meeting rooms and art

gallery — with a wider agenda.

Digitizing many library functions such as providing self checkout, return, and RFID systems help free librarians so they are better able to assist patrons (top) and (middle). Designated spaces within a library for children’s’ activities provide other patrons with a quiet atmosphere for reading and studying. At the Byram Shubert Library (bottom and right), patrons can see the Children’s room beyond, but are separated acoustically from it.

Five or ten years ago, I heard repeatedly that we would no longer need public libraries, that computers and e-readers would supersede the library. I am no longer hearing about the demise of libraries and, in fact, public libraries are busier and more popular with patrons than ever.

Why has the story changed? We are seeing a growing acceptance of the idea that the library is the main community center in town, a place for a variety of intellectual, cultural and social activities, a place that fosters the kind of interaction that was discouraged in the “shhhh model” of older libraries. Quiet was useful; it gave people a place for respite and individual study. Although the 21st-century library continues to provide the amenities of the 20th-century library (including quiet spaces), it also supports social interaction and collaborative work. Whether you build a new library or transform an existing one, do not build the best library of the previous century.

• Create an environment that facilitates new patterns of interacting, learning, and accessing information; that environment should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes that inevitably will come.

• Build a library with a smaller collection, but one that creates spaces for people to read and explore among the books.

• Facilitate automation, and encourage interaction between staff and patrons.

• Establish a variety of meeting rooms and group workspaces to encourage collaborative learning.

• Embrace a sense of community with a focus on programming for all ages and interests.

• Create a library of inspiring space that makes a real contribution to the civic aspects of the setting.

• Make your library building a model of sustainability, one that the community can prize and emulate.

Today’s Libraries are Active Places

Peter Gisolfi, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP, is a licensed architect and landscape architect, and professor at the Spitzer School of Architecture at City College in New York. He is also founding and senior partner of Peter Gisolfi Associates, Architects and Landscape Architects, LLP, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and New Haven, Connecticut. Photos by Robert Mintzes.