The new library at Aberdeen University was amongst the stars described in Liz Waller's presentation, The Library Chameleon, given at the recent libraries@cambridge2012 conference. The talk, a "Homes of the Stars Magazine" excuse to show recent library refurbishments across the country, described "how library and learning spaces change in the face of emerging technologies" and displayed a stream of beautifully photographed brightly coloured rooms and articles of furniture from new libraries across the country who are clever enough to attract and manage the neccesary funding. A 2007 Powerpoint version of her talk is available online.
Flexibility and durability seems to be the new key word in Library design: she showed how much of the furniture at York University Library was on castors so that users could drag it around as their needs dictated (using nesting instincts). [The photo at the top of that page is actually a slideshow for the patient.] Librarians had watched which items of furniture got used first in the morning and discovered that the most popular were the bean bags and a sort of cushioned cat basket where girls like to curl up. Whole new vocabularies have to be invented for these areas and new types of furniture: we learned about secluded library tanks where all sorts of hanky panky was known to occur (see through ones are now the preferred option by librarians) and areas with plasma screens on the walls or even entire magnetic walls that were designed to act as whiteboards or posterboards.
Deborah Shorley, in her keynote speech, described how some libraries were meeting the study needs of the current electronic and sociable age by becoming bookless. The ANCIL presentation in the afternoon was the other great thing: I have tweeted about ANCIL on a former ocassion. You can see some other comments on Twitter: search for #lac12 see also the conference blog Unfortunately it is often some weeks after this sort of conference that the presentations are put online, but when they are I will add a link so the world can see what I am rabbiting on about.
Flexibility and durability seems to be the new key word in Library design: she showed how much of the furniture at York University Library was on castors so that users could drag it around as their needs dictated (using nesting instincts). [The photo at the top of that page is actually a slideshow for the patient.] Librarians had watched which items of furniture got used first in the morning and discovered that the most popular were the bean bags and a sort of cushioned cat basket where girls like to curl up. Whole new vocabularies have to be invented for these areas and new types of furniture: we learned about secluded library tanks where all sorts of hanky panky was known to occur (see through ones are now the preferred option by librarians) and areas with plasma screens on the walls or even entire magnetic walls that were designed to act as whiteboards or posterboards.
Deborah Shorley, in her keynote speech, described how some libraries were meeting the study needs of the current electronic and sociable age by becoming bookless. The ANCIL presentation in the afternoon was the other great thing: I have tweeted about ANCIL on a former ocassion. You can see some other comments on Twitter: search for #lac12 see also the conference blog Unfortunately it is often some weeks after this sort of conference that the presentations are put online, but when they are I will add a link so the world can see what I am rabbiting on about.
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