So, we got new furniture in our Library about two months ago. The furniture we received were a couple of hand-me-downs from another branch in the library system and don’t really fit in with the rest of the “décor” in this branch. But anything is better than what we had because that furniture just had to go. They were over 30 years old, uncomfortable, and pretty gross. By contrast, this new furniture was clean, comfortable, and fairly clean. Our big dilemma was where to put the new furniture.

We knew we wanted to create some lounge spaces where people can relax and read something or use their laptops. So for those areas we needed adequate light and power outlets. And we knew that we wanted to create a space for waiting for computers that was comfortable for reading or relaxing while waiting. We thought those areas should be near the computers so people could easily see when one became available. However, one of our big questions was exactly where these areas should be, and we also weren’t sure if they would be used for the purposes we thought they would be used for. In either cases we recognized that we could be totally wrong about were furniture should go or how it might be used.

I knew that I could be wrong about where the furniture should go because of a Library Tour I took at a conference a few years ago. As I walked through the library, the head librarian was pointing out some of the great things that the library had. At some point, we came to a great space that was really well lit and had a fireplace and lots of big comfortable chairs. I thought this area was perfect! The chairs were in neat little rows with coffee tables at their sides and everyone could just “be” in the library. Well, the librarian started complaining right away that the coffee tables (because they were the perfect height) were being used as foot rests, and that all the furniture kept moving to a couple of very specific areas of the room. And he was complaining that staff had to come in here a couple of times a day and move all the furniture back!

The solution to this kind of problem in public spaces comes from an architect I read about a few years earlier. The architect (who I can’t remember) designed a building with a courtyard but didn’t make any designs for adding concrete walkways through the grass. Of course, everyone complained, but the architect succeeded in keeping the walkways out of the plan. After the building was occupied and used for a few weeks there were very distinct walkways across the grass in the courtyard. So, that’s where he put the concrete walkways! Basically, he let the people using the courtyard, design the courtyard in a way that worked for them. Not the other way around.

To take this back to my library and our furniture, I thought, what if we put the furniture out and if the patrons moved it, then…. it was moved! This way we can see where our patrons want THEIR furniture and where it suits THEIR needs. Honestly , if all the furniture works for the majority of the patrons on the left side of the building and upside down and stacked then I really should have no problem with that (of course OSHA might) because it is, after all, THEIR library.

After the Library Planning seminar on Friday we had the opportunity to tour an amazing historic library in downtown Pasadena. This is a marvelous library was dedicated in 1927 and remains with the same look and feel of the year. It is a beautiful building and while I could go on and on about every room, I’ll spare you the details and the long drawn out blog entry (that this library actually deserves) and just give you the highlights of the building.

The entrance to the library is located at the dead end of Garfield St. making for a spectacular view of the library from the street into the main entrance. Walking up the steps leads into a small atrium or patio area with great stonework, a fountain, seating area, and beautiful classic architecture of the time period that the library was built in.

Even more fabulous is the entrance into the library itself. Walking through the timeless dark wood doors and into the main lobby I felt as if I was yanked from the 21st century and thrown back the mid 1800s. I immediately wanted a pipe and coat and simply discuss the pressing issues of the century with other sporting fellows over the latest edition of the New Yorker.

beginning. But I was sharply brought back to reality when I noticed the computers on the circulation desks and the patrons with laptops shining under the old time lamplights on the worktables. It was a marvelous blend of olden Americana and modern amenities. I was fairly thrilled from the

As I walked around the building I became more and more aware of the technology that was almost grafted into the building in an almost cyborg (think “The Borg” from Star Trek). It was done throughout the library in a brilliant way. I’m going to have a hard time describing each of the places that I found that had computers and technology built into the soul of the library itself so I’ll just post the pictures.

My next favorite room was the Children’s area of the library. Again, the building was showing its classic design and attention to details that I had noticed in the rest of library. As I walked in I was greeted with marvelous vaulted ceilings with hanging lights that accented the room even though they must have been installed many years later as I’m not sure that the original lights could have possibly remained functional. There was a giant fireplace of the variety that I’m sure Hansel and Gretel would have pushed the Witch into that was decorated with figurines carved into the stone.

At first I was a little worried about little naked children carved into a children’s library features (this would never pass nowadays) but as I looked closer I realized it was Peter Pan!! There was Captain Hook, the Crocodile, the pirate ship, Wendy, Peter, Toodles, and everyone! Absolutely gorgeously carved into the details of this fireplace. I hope my photos do it justice (but I’m sure they don’t).

Of course, to be fair… I do have to make two complaints mostly because nobody’s perfect. The first was simply regarding the children’s collection. I am a HUGE fan of the importance of weeding a collection and their children’s picture book and early reader collection must have a mean date of the early 80s. Of course that’s just speculation because I don’t have the data, but if you look again at the pictures you will notice that the shelves are packed end to end with books with no space for meaningful in-shelf displays or even comfortable browse ability. Many (I’m going to maybe say most) of the books were dirty, torn, old, grungy, dirty, and basically on the borderline of being unsafe due to various contaminants. So my only change would be a massive fundraising by the friends to replace and HEAVILY weed the children’s collection. To be honest, I would almost eliminate 65-70% of this collection with plans to buy back 35-40% with the Friends fundraising and the extra space would be used to “sell” the books from the shelves with more meaningful in-shelf displays. But what a problem to have? Too many books?

My second was the computer center located in the basement. I can’t be too hard on the situation as they are dealing with a historical building and they’re providing a service for a high-demand need in the best way they can. However, the poor people are squeezed into the room like a bunch of chickens. There is no room for side-by-side collaboration and in retrospect (I didn’t notice it then) there were NO TEENS in the computer room. Who has that problem in their library? But I think, once again, these issues are stemming from the problems associated with the building and they can’t be blamed with the situation they’re in.

Overall, I loved this library and the kind of classic, warm feelings it seems to cultivate in my librarian soul. Aside from the two (almost non-problems) problem areas this was a fantastic space to tour and if you get a chance to take a look, I suggest you stop by. I’ll leave you with a picture of this device I found in back of the library that I’ve never seen before, but if you can identify it and let me know it’s (I’m sure sinister) purpose is, I would appreciate it. Thanks team.

I’m not sure why nobody has ever thought of this before!? Or, maybe they have and I just never saw it. In either case, these are the best F@#$% chairs of all time! If you’re tired of patrons stringing their laptop wires across the library floor creating a tripping hazard for your staff and other patrons then you might want to take a look at these chairs. They have built in power and Internet ports so that when your patrons sit in them, they can just plug in their power and Internet right into the seat they’re in. I see many people using laptops in the big comfy chairs around the library and don’t always use one of those tables with the plugs and network ports and instead string their wires across the building.

This one big problem as I see it, is needing to run power through the floor to get to the chairs, but I think this can easily be solved by having the chairs in zones next to walls. It’s fairly easy to run power and data lines along a wall and the chairs can be networked together in a row to get power to the chairs further away from the wall. These spaces can create nice user-friendly spaces that don’t look like Spiderman just came swinging through spraying webs across the library. (as a side note, does anyone know what happens to all those webs that Spiderman leaves behind in New York, what do you think the cost to the city is on something like that? Is it a biohazard? Did they have to create some municipal department to deal with the disposal? Where does the funding come from for an operation like that? Ok… Anyway…) I think these chairs solve a number of power and data problems that our patrons face while sitting in the comfortable “3rd space” areas we are trying to create in some of our librares.

Best F#$% Chairs ever are available through Community Furnishings at http://www.communityfurniture.com/