Library Layouts

Yesterday I went on my first branch library hunt with a coworker at DDS Lending. Our route included 5 of the 27 libraries on the IUB campus. Our department regularly visits only 12 of them, since the others are either non-circulating or too far removed geographically for us short-legged hourlies to access in a timely fashion. Of the 5 we walked to yesterday, I had never seen 4: the music, fine arts, black culture center, and HPER (health, physical education and recreation). I found that each was very distinctly designed, and it got me thinking about library layouts. Here were my impressions:

The Education Library
I had been to this library before, when I was a freshman seeking out an elusive copy of The Dark Crystal to share childhood memories with my dormmates. I loved the library's, and the rest of the building's, open and breatheable atmosphere. There was ample walking room between shelves and many tables for quiet group study, as opposed to the cramped single-person stations lining the walls I've seen elsewhere. Downsides: journals are ordered alphabetically, which could be annoying to patrons browsing for specific subjects, and stacks do not wind in the traditional U fashion, but force patrons to walk to the other end of the next row to resume a search.

The Fine Arts Library
The fine arts library is situated at the top of the gorgeous IU Art Museum, designed by architect I.M. Pei. His plans are breathtaking for a museum...and utterly ridiculous for a library. The book shelves are rigidly situated and narrow, serving primarily as decoration instead of a searchable collection. The two floors are organized such that the earliest call numbers for journals begin at one end, and the earliest call numbers for books at the other. Furthermore, the innovative angular stairs are pretty to look at but hazardous to stumble down with books in your arms. Perhaps for art students who only come to the library for atmosphere, it serves its purpose.

The Music Library
The music library is the first I've visited with the futuristic automated shelf-moving system for journals. I imagine it's an enormous space saver, since all the shelves can be squished together and the press of a button opens a space large enough for a person to retrieve whatever he/she needs. However, the sheet music section left a lot to be desired. They were organized in long rows, and I mean LONG rows. Instead of being able to mentally break down categories to reduce search time, unfortunate patrons are forced to walk the length of the entire room parsing out call numbers along the way until they find what they're looking for.

The Black Culture Center and HPER Libraries
These two I have lumped together because I have no complaints. The libraries are even smaller than CeDIR, and thus easy to navigate and manage. The only slight difficulty I encountered at HPER was in searching for a requested book that was published recently, and was in a separate "New Books" section near the reference desk. However, I'm sure the increased circulation of appealing, sparkly new volumes outweighs my small (expected) detour.