LIFE-LONG LEARNING: DESIGNING LIBRARIES IN SCHOOLS, ON ... · LIFE-LONG LEARNING: DESIGNING LIBRARIES IN SCHOOLS, ON CAMPUSES, AND FOR CITIES EMMA CUCIUREAN-ZAPAN, AIA, ... The idea

LIFE-LONG LEARNING: DESIGNING LIBRARIES IN SCHOOLS, ON CAMPUSES, AND FOR CITIESEMMA CUCIUREAN-ZAPAN, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

The role of the library has shifted. With information available literally in the palm of our hands, the library’s role is no longer as a repository of knowledge, but instead as a facilitator of exploration and knowledge creation for academic institutions and communities alike. On the spectrum of life-long learning, the academic library supports a school community with spaces and resources that enhance classroom pedagogy and institutional research. The public library supports the needs of its community along a broader range of the spectrum, providing support long before the classroom and for many years after. Both should be designed within the context of a hyper-local community, where the library makes education and access to resources equitable.

Building Strong Foundations

Libraries, both in the community and in school settings, have been crucial to the development of children and young adults as students. Libraries begin playing this role in an individual’s life from a very early age. Public librarians are an integral component of a young child’s development, and in combination with caregivers and educators that a young child interacts with in a child care setting, help to promote a sense of security that encourages the child to be confident and to feel loved.1 This is the emotional foundation that encourages the child’s openness and eagerness to learn which, coupled with mentorship, will help the child succeed in school later in life.

Texas Christian University, Mary Couts Burnett Library

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A strong foundation in learning and information literacy is formed through a child’s use of the public library and its services. Not only do programs put on by the community library encourage the development of hard skills like reading and how to use technology effectively, they also promote social-emotional development.2 As children transition to teens, the way they utilize a public library changes drastically, as should the space they are given as their “own” within the library. Teen areas like these should focus on experiences rather than features. These are spaces where teens can have a more unstructured place to affiliate with each other based on shared hobbies and interests. The idea of affinity spaces translates well into a new-age design that has become more popular in academic and corporate settings: makerspaces. These spaces should also be designated for teen use only, to send the message that “the library values teens by reserving a space in the library where they can take ownership.”3

As designers, our challenge is to create environments that truly represent the young patrons that will use the spaces. This understanding comes through radically inclusive engagement, where children and teens are involved in the design process and co-create the spaces alongside the architects. Another consideration is creating scales of space within the library. What is comfortable for a three-year-old will differ for a 13-year-old. Carefully considering ceiling heights, zoning of spaces, as well as appropriate furniture throughout the library will allow all ages to find a space they can call their own. The level of flexibility and adaptability allowed by the design and furniture can also allow kids to spontaneously create their own spaces.

K-12 Facilities: Resource for Achievement

Once students enter elementary school, the school library becomes a resource that has proven impacts on academic performance. A study by the Colorado Department of Education indicates the success that children supported by libraries see later in their schooling is evident through the correlation between library media centers and academic achievement.4 A study conducted in Alaska found elementary and secondary schools with better librarian staff that intentionally spend time teaching information literacy have more students who visit the library media center and, therefore, have higher reading scores.4 A similar study in the report conducted in Pennsylvania found a correlation between higher reading scores and school librarians present for more hours per week. This increased presence, coupled with higher budgets for the library media program, more substantial collections of resources, more technology and other resources, were all found to play a role in higher reading score among students.4

Champaign Unit 4 School District, Carrie Busey Elementary School

Rockford Public School District 205, Two New Elementary Schools

© 2019 CANNONDESIGN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | 3

Encouraging Connectivity in Shared Space

At Prairie Grove CSD 46 in Crystal Lake, Illinois, the master planning process revealed that a central shared library for all K-8 students in the school would be a key first project towards implementing the long-term vision for transformation. This space will affect every student, making the most of the District’s investment and illustrating the benefit of introducing a 21st-century learning environment into a facility that has not been substantially renovated in decades. Part of the challenge for the team was to make sure the design helped to maximize library use during the day in support of classroom pedagogy. The design responded to this challenge in several ways. First, the zoning of the space allows for multiple functions to occur at the same time. Separate spaces for little kids and big kids allow for story-time to happen at the same time as study time.

Concentrated book zones with reading nooks allow for quiet and louder activities. The main entry off the corridor was recessed in order to create group study rooms, and a lounge directly accessible off the lunchroom for students who want to study or work together during that time. The south end of the library is split into three spaces: STEM classroom, makerspace, and library classroom, with moveable glass walls that allow for three small or one large activity to occur in that space. These strategies allow the library to give students choice and space for tinkering and exploration outside of their structured class time at multiple times during their day. Bringing together the functions of an elementary library and junior high library into one space helps to foster relationships and mentoring between the students, which reflects the strong sense of community in Crystal Lake.

Prairie Grove CSD 46

This same trend of expending resources on educational libraries continues from earlier education though high school. A study from the book, “Powerful libraries make powerful learners: the Illinois study,” found schools that spent more on their libraries averaged an ACT score that was nearly seven percent higher than schools that spent less money on the cultivation of their libraries in terms of programming, including resources like literature and databases, and information literacy.5 This finding with high school test score holds true in other states as well.

One study shows that 55.1 percent of high schoolers who attend a school with at least 80 hours per week of library staffing passed the FCAT (Florida’s Comprehensive Assessment Test), while high schools without as much staffing only had 37 percent pass.6 The role that a school library plays from pre-K through high school very much revolves around teaching information literacy and operations that boost academic achievement. Libraries in the higher education setting, however, play a very different role than in the earlier education arena.

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Higher Education: Centerpiece for Connectivity

At this point in a student’s life, studies are less about how libraries affect test scores, and more about how they foster certain types of learning and atmospheres. Libraries are seen as a place to create “synergy” with various disciplines, and their faculty and students as a centerpiece for learning and collaboration. This is seen in how libraries have become central to university and college master planning. This concept is also reinforced in a recent study published by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) where surveys were administered to campus administrators and officers who were surveyed about libraries. It concluded librarians are largely seen as “a positive and responsive force on campus,” and “the library is still considered “a prime site for learning.”7 Further contributing to the evolving role of the library, only 20 percent of university faculty members surveyed thought it was a librarian’s job to help students locate and evaluate sources, and less than half felt that librarians should help students develop research skills. Presumably, these faculty members believe that these skills should have been learned in earlier schooling.7

Efforts to encourage collaboration, coupled with the information boom that came with the internet led to a new design addition for university libraries. These spaces became known as “learning commons,” or “information commons.”8 They will typically have banks of computers, tables and productivity tools that reflect a “user-centered” experience for students. Typically, these learning commons are housed within the university library, and will sometimes include services that go beyond a library’s scope including writing centers, career centers and technology support. Looking to the future, the common trend with libraries will be the idea of flexibility. An outlet for collaboration becomes more powerful when it the user’s choice. It’s important to design flexible spaces within the library that can be used for everything from facilitating collaboration to creating more specialized environments. The needs of any given patron are met.9

Texas Christian University, Mary Couts Burnett Library + Rees-Jones Hall

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400k volumes on site

2.5k total seating

20% more power receptacles

30% more USB ports

5x 50 group study rooms

+73,000 New square feet

+60,000 Renovated square feet

34,000+ square feet

8,000+ square feet

6,000+ square feet

16,000+ square feet

Study carrel/table 412 seats

wired computing 180 seats

group study 260 seats

lounge 834 seats

© 2019 CANNONDESIGN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | 5

Our challenge, when it comes to the design of a library on a university campus, is to look outside of its walls to understand the specific role of the library within the context of the larger master plan, mission and vision of the university. The library is often seen as a catchall that can solve many campus challenges in one location, however, a clear vision is necessary so that any partnership or sharing of space or services with other departments is strategic and intentional, and not ad-hoc. This philosophy helps each library to be focused on its role on campus and not diluted into generic study space or offices. Another trend that challenges the identity of the library is the collapsing of student center functions with the functions of libraries. Libraries have substantially different roles to play when it comes to the services, support, and resources they provide to ensure student and faculty success.

At Texas Christian University, CannonDesign transformed the Mary Couts Burnett Library, the centerpiece of TCU’s Intellectual Commons, an academic precinct dedicated to cross-disciplinary innovation and exploration. The design of the library reflected its historic status on campus by restoring a reading room and highlighting the original library structure with its new main entry. The collection space and study space expanded, retaining traditional library functions. Simultaneously, the renovation evolved the library into the 21st-century by making technology as readily available as books with solutions ranging from the simple — more USB ports and outlets, to the highly specialized — a gigabyte lab, screening room, and digital sandbox.

The potential complexity of the hyper-local context within a K-12 school building and across a university campus is magnified to the city scale when considering design for community public libraries. When balancing the individual and the collective, the formal and informal becomes more of a challenge.

Texas Christian University, Mary Couts Burnett Library + Rees-Jones Hall

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Public Libraries: Commitment, Community, Access

The community library serves many people and their needs, while providing a place for personal productivity and learning through engagement. A Brookings study even calls it a “third place,” where community members want to spend their time after home and their workplace.10 Libraries reflect the identity of the surrounding community, creating a sense of place, meaning and memory. They are spaces for forging connections, not just working and being productive, and they act as a convener. They also serve everyone in the general public, from toddlers to seniors. Not only does the public library provide resources similar to what one may find in an academic setting, they also serve to enhance quality of life for community members. Public libraries can add economic value to the homes and neighborhoods they are in or near. According to a study of Philadelphia housing value, homes within a quarter mile of a library are, on average, worth $9,630 more than homes that are farther than a quarter mile from a library in Philadelphia. And for homes that are between a quarter and half mile from a library, value is increased by $650.11 This value added can be attributed to numerous factors, however, in an article titled, “Do Libraries Matter? Public Libraries And The Creation Of Social Capital?,” authors move to discuss the link between libraries and social capital critically. They claim that library professions love saying that libraries build community and therefore contribute to social capital, but these statements are unsubstantiated. As they conducted the study, however, results showed a high correlation between per capita spending on public libraries and social trust. The article goes on to say that this could be because “the library is also an open space for contact without many strings attached.” 12 A library becomes a place for patrons to choose their own level of engagement, whether it be a quiet nod of acknowledgement or partaking in community programming.

This also makes the community library a great place for collaborative efforts. It makes the library a low-commitment and low-intensity place for meetings where the patrons can decide the formality with which they choose to conduct business.12

Even beyond creating community connections through the physical space, patrons often use library computers to engage with national politics and learn about current events. The access that community libraries give to patrons who may not otherwise pursue staying updated and participating in their civic duties allows for participation, “in an active way in our society.” 33 percent of users nationwide, or about 25.5 million people, used their community library computer/internet to, “learn about social or political issues or to participate in community life,” demonstrating the important role libraries have played in communities.13 Computers complement the books that libraries have had for decades, and in the public realm, provide a people a place with specialized amenities that they likely do not have at home.

Public libraries have many unique challenges to face as they cater to their local demographics.

Whether it is the urban library’s obligation to compete for funding in strained economies, or the rural library’s responsibility to combat lack of involvement and resources, most libraries face a unique issue that relies heavily on the needs of the community they serve. An important aspect of this is design.

St. Louis Public Library, Central Library

St. Louis Public Library, Central Library

© 2019 CANNONDESIGN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | 7

The design challenge for a community public library is to discover what the priorities are within a community. The library should provide amenities that people don’t have at home or elsewhere. Similar to how a library within the higher education context is part of a larger campus whole, the public library is part of a city, and its design within an urban design lens. When considering the functions and spaces within a library, we need to understand how the role of the librarian in that community is evolving; does the librarian need to provide software training or workforce development assistance? Are there partnerships in the community that need a home? or local entrepreneurs that need resources? Every community library is starting to play a more specialized role to support its hyper-local context on top of maintaining its traditional functions.

With the renovation of the historic St. Louis Public Library, CannonDesign sought to balance the history of the library’s monumental architecture with the modern need for flexible and inclusive space for the public. One key change to the existing architecture allowed for some of the most major transformations to the space. Seven-story stacks were cleared out and redistributed throughout the rest of the building, reflecting a change in the historical function of the stacks as primarily book storage, to a need for a browsable collection where the patron interfaces directly with the books. This change revealed a light-filled multi-story open space, that draws the public. Also, by clearing out these stacks, the library now has a main entry on its north side for the first time in its 100-year history. While this may seem like a minor feature, it was a transformative notion for the urban context; historically the library literally turned its back on the largely minority population in the neighborhood to the north. Adding this entry opened up access to the resources and services to this downtown area undergoing revitalization.

When designing a building, we are working within a fixed quantity of spaces, we need to consider if public space increases to support this trend in collaboration, does collections space or staff and support space get reduced? While there continues to be significant reduction in circulation and use, books are not completely disappearing from libraries and the librarian’s role is continually adapting for changing service and support models.15 So although libraries ultimately provide space for their public, staff and collections cannot be shortchanged.

A CASE STUDY IN COMMUNITY

Brian Bannon, commissioner and CEO of Chicago Public Libraries, tries to engage the community when coming up with how a local library can become a more useful space for the patrons that use it regularly. For example, there was a Chicago neighborhood that relied on its local library heavily for performance and arts spaces. During community meetings, patrons would suggest simple things, like installing power-outlet bars to the ceiling to clip in lighting for theater, that would in turn better serve the community by customizing design to address that specific population’s needs. In order to make these kinds of customizations possible, the branch prototypes in Chicago were designed as flexible and open. This allows for different libraries to treat the space as their patrons require, while being conducive to the plans of for the space. An effective way to upgrade established libraries is to upgrade the technology available within them. This could mean designing programs and services like makerspaces, the ability to check out a Wi-Fi hotspot, digitalized special collections, and online homework help. On a big picture level, the Chicago Public Libraries is launching its first master plan for the Harold Washington Library Center, along with localized master plans for some neighborhood branches. This is in hopes of improving educational, cultural and economic impacts. Strides like these can help to enhance the impact of the library’s extensive assets in every neighborhood while crafting a clear plan and how that can impact the community.

Source: Chicago Public Library. Building the library of the future: 2015-2019 strategy. Retrieved from https://d4804za1f1gw.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/06/28093553/CPL-strategy.pdf

Chicago Jewish Day School

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Study Space

Collection Space

Staff & Support Space

Space Allocation When planning a library, three primary categories of function affect space needs: collections space, staff and support space, and public space. The balance of these three categories will be affected by the hyper-local context of each library. Is the library a place for collaboration, a contemplative space for individual growth, or a home for services like tutoring, writing centers, and other specialty labs?

Collaboration stands out as one of the most imperative functions of library spaces across both academia and community libraries. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 85 percent of Americans consider it important for their community library to provide free public meeting spaces to conduct business meetings, study sessions and more.14 The design implication would be allotting space for a number of private meeting rooms as well as open seating with tables and chairs to encourage collaborative efforts amongst the patrons. For collaboration to be accessible, not only should the library provide spaces for it, but its infrastructure should be flexible so that it can be molded to fit the patrons’ needs at any given point.

Sustainability In line with current trends, designing a library for environmental sustainability can be a substantial asset in the long run. Because libraries are often left behind when it comes to funding, one way to mitigate costs is to design a sustainable building that uses renewable energy, harvests rainwater, has sustainable plumbing in place and has daylighting systems as well as natural ventilation. Displays of sustainability also show patrons what the library values and may even inspire individual efforts towards a sustainable future. Sustainability goals are another category of needs that should be discussed as part of the stakeholder engagement process to become a part of the vision for each project.

Important Considerations for Library Design

© 2019 CANNONDESIGN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | 9

Conclusion

Whether designing within the walls of a K-12 school, on a university campus, or within a city’s urban core, a library is never a one-size-fits-all design. Although nationwide trends in design and services affect each library in some way, the design process should make time for radically inclusive engagement that distills a collective vision for each library. At CannonDesign, our process puts the stakeholders at the center, making sure that students, staff and community members are part of the

conversation. They co-create the design features that support their hyper-local context. As architects, we bring our expertise in the typology and lessons learned from our national portfolio, but only those living in the library can bring to light the unique needs of their community. Our role is to facilitate those engagements and translate collective vision and goals into physical space.

University of Virginia’s College at Wise

University of Virginia’s College at WiseUniversity of Virginia’s College at Wise

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About the Author Emma Cuciurean-Zapan, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is an architect specializing in facility design and master planning for education and civic markets.

About CannonDesign CannonDesign is an integrated, global design firm that unites a dynamic team of strategists, futurists, researchers, architects, engineers and industry specialists, driven by a singular goal — to help solve our client’s and society’s greatest challenges.

Contact Information For more information please visit cannondesign.com.

References

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2. “Family Engagement”, American Library Association, August 2, 2016. http://www.ala.org/pla/initiatives/familyengagement.

3. Velasquez, J. (2016, September 1). A Place of Their Own. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/09/01/library-teen-spaces-place-of-their-own/

4. Lance, K. C., Hamilton-Pennell, C., and Rodney, M. J. (2000). Information empowered: The school librarian as an agent of academic achievement in Alaska schools. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED443445

5. Lance, K. C., Rodney, M. J., and Hamilton-Pennell, C. (2005). Powerful libraries make powerful learners: The Illinois study. Illinois School Library Media Association. Retrieved from: http://www.ala.org/tools/research/librariesmatter/powerful-libraries-make-powerful-learners-illinois-study

6. Baumbach, D. J. (2003). Making the grade: The status of school library media centers in the sunshine state and how they contribute to student achievement. Hi Willow Research and Pub. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/research/librariesmatter/making-grade-status-school-library-media-centers-sunshine-state-and-how-they-contribute-student

7. Fister, B. (2015). Libraries as catalysts for on-campus collaboration. ACRL’s New Roles for the Road Ahead. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/publications/whitepapers/new_roles_75th.pdf

8. Pressley, L. (2017). Charting a clear course: A state of the learning commons. ACRL Conference Presentation. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2017/ChartingaClearCourse.pdf.

9. Hendrix, J.C. (2010). Checking out the future: Perspectives from the library community on information technology and 21st-century libraries. ALA Office for Information Technology Policy. Retrieved from http://edshare.soton.ac.uk/6604/5/library_policy_brief.pdf

10. Butler, S. M. and Cabello, M., (2017, March 30). How public libraries help build healthy communities. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2017/03/30/how-public-libraries-help-build-healthy-communities/

11. Diamond, D., Gillen, K. C., Litman, M., and Thornburgh, D. (2010). The economic value of the free library in Philadelphia. 2015-07-05]. http://www.docin.com/p-435901877. html.

12. S. Ide, E, Vårheim, A., and Steinmo. (2008). Do libraries matter? Public libraries and the creation of social capital. Journal of documentation, 64(6), 877-892.

13. Becker, S., Crandall, M. D., Fisher, K. E., Kinney, B., Landry, C., and Rocha, A. (2010). Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at US Libraries. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

14. “Library Services in the Digital Age.” Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. (2013) https://www.pewinternet.org/2013/01/22/part-4-what-people-want-from-their-libraries/.

15. Cohen, D. (2019, May 26). The Books of College Libraries Are Turning Into Wallpaper. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/college-students-arent-checking-out-books/590305/.