REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA University Library Development
Library Building Planning in Indonesia
-
by Frazer G . Poole
(>j
' Serial N o . F M R / P G I / O P S / 8 0 / 2 2 5 (UNDP)
United Nations United Nations Educational, Development Scientific and Cultural Programme Organization
Restricted UNDP/INS/78/057 Technical Report
Paris, 1981
I N D O N E S I A
Library Building Planning
in Indonesia
by
Prazer G. Poole
Report prepared for the Government o£_-±he--Republic of Indonesia by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) acting as Executing Agency for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Technical Report UNDP/lNS/78/057 FMR/PGI/OPS/80/225 (UNDP) 31 December 1980
© Unesco I98O
Printed in Prance
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION 1
Objectives of the Mission. . 1
Institutions Visited 3
Acknowledgments 5
Method of Survey 6
Audience 7
PRESENT STATUS OF LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING PLANNING IN INDONESIA. 9
BUILDING PLANNING AS RELATED TO LIBRARY AND UNIVERSITY POLICIES . . . . 15
Libraries and Information Centres or Warehouses for Textbooks 15
Closed Access vs. Open Access 18
Location of Essential User Services 20
Central Libraries vs. Facul'ty Libraries 23
Libraries and Learning Resources Centres- . . . . 27
Occupancy of the Building by Units Other Than the Library 35
MAJOR STEPS IN THE BUILDING PLANNING PROCESS. . . . 38
The Organizational Structure 38
The Written Building Programme 46
The Planning Team 50
The Architectural Design Process 53
BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD LIBRARY BUILDING. . 57
Life Expectancy . . 57
Site and Orientation 58
Expandability 65
Simplicity of Design 68
Flexibility . . . 71
Page
BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD LIBRARY BUILDING (Continued)
Modular Design and Bookstack Arrangement 71
Bookstack Dimensions and Design 82
Floor Loading 84
Lighting , 85
Air-conditioning 88
Automation .89
Elevators and Booklifts 92
GENERAL DESIGN CONCEPTS 93
Location of Core Elements 95
Number of Floors 96
Ceiling Heights .101
Workflow, Traffic Patterns and Building Organization 103
SPACE REQUIREMENTS AND SPACE CALCULATIONS 112
Workspace and Seating Allowances for Readers .112 Bookstack Capacities & Space Allowances 115
Other Space Allowances 119
Space Summary .120
Building Efficiency 120
CONCLUSION 122
APPENDIX I. SURVEY FORM FOR THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES OF INDONESIA 123
APPENDIX II. THE AUDIO-VISUAL CENT33 130
APPENDIX III. SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAMME 135
APPENDIX IV. BASIC DIMENSIONS & SPACE ALLOWANCES FOR BOOKSTACK3 & SEATING 146
FIGURES
Page
Figure 1. Suggested Organizational Structure for Small to Medium Size Libraries. . . . 40
Figure 2. Incorrect Orientation of Existing Library 62
Figure 3. Unsuitable Location of Proposed New Library 63
Figure 4. Better Location of Proposed Library on New Campus 64
Figure 5. Layout of Bookstacks in a Bay of 6.85 Meters 79
Figure 6. Layout of Bookstacks in a Bay of 7.2 Meters 80
Figure 7. Layout of Bookstacks in a Bay of 8.4 Meters 81
Figure 8. Location of Core, Alternative No. 1 . 97
Figure 9. Location of Core, Alternative No. 2 ' . . 98
Figure 10. Location of Core, Alternative No. 3 . . . . . . 99
Figure 11. Functional Arrangement for-Medium Size University Library, Entrance Level 105
Figure 12. Functional Arrangement for Medium Size University Library, Lower Level 106
Figure 13. Functional Arrangement for Medium Size University Library, Upper Level 107
TABLES
Page
APPENDIX IV.
TABLE I. Volumes per Linear Meter of Shelf and per Single-Faced Section of Bookstack with Seven Shelves 148
TABLE II. Shelf Depths for Various Materials. . . 149
TABLE III. Recommended Spacing for Bookstacks. . . 150
TABLE IV. Area Allowances for Single-Faced Sections of Bookstack, One Meter Wide 151
TABLE V. Seating Allowances . . 152
TABLE VI. Staff Work Station Allowances 153
IÎIS/78/057 - University Library Development
LIBRARY BUILDING PUNNING IN
INDONESIA
Technical Report
,INTRODUCTION
1. This report sums up the findings and conclusions of a consultant
mission carried out in two stages (12 April to 12 May and 14 June to 16 July I98O)
as part of the project INS/78/057 - University Library Development - being carried
out by the Department of Education and Culture, with financial assistance from
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the technical co-operation of
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
Objectives of the Mission
2. The long-range objective of the project is to assist the Government of
Indonesia and the country's institutions of higher learning"in planning more
efficient and more effective library buildings to support growing academic
programmes.
3» The immediate objectives of the mission were as follows:
(a) to analyze and evaluate the present building
conditions and services carried out at nine
selected university libraries with post
graduate programmes.
/...
Page 2
(b) To design the outline of a library building
programmme document for each of the nine selected
university libraries with postgraduate programmes.
(c) To design an effective programme of building
planning management among the nine universities.
(d) To draw up a plan of action for further development '
of the proposed building planning for the universities"
(e) To hold a workshop for selected library staff on
library building planning for not more than two weeks.
4. Objectives (a) through (d) are addressed in the present
report, although, perhaps in a different manner from that
originally envisesed . It was not possible, for example,
to prepare a separate building programme".. for each of the
nine selected university libraries." Such a-task would have
required two to three weeks at each institution, in addition
to the time required to prepare a document that might run
from 100 to 150 pages in each instance. In some situations,
also, the institutions concerned already had prepared, or had
had prepared by others, detailed library building programmes.
A few institutions already had tentative building plans.
5. This report does include, as Appendix III, an outline
for a suggested model building programme that can be modified
as necessary to suit local needs and conditions.
Page 3
6. Objective (c) above, implies the development of a single
"Buildings Management Program" to be followed uniformly by
the institutions involved. This would require a book-length
document and significant additional time to prepare. It
also became clear to the consultant during the mission that
each institution of higher learning had its own distinct
planning and operating procedures and policies, as well as
its own timetable for planning and development. As a result,
such uniformity and coordination in planning management would
not be feasible or find acceptance. In the long-range view,
such uniformity is probably undesirable. .
7. It was not possible to carry out objective (e) because
local authorities could not convene a meeting of the appro
priate library staff members.. As a substitute for the work
shop, the consultant was asked to give an illustrated lecture
on library building planning at the conference of Indonesian
librarians held in Denpasar, Bali, 21-24 June 1980. This talk
is to be published by the Library Association at an early
date.
Institutions Visited
8. As originally planned, the mission was to have surveyed
the libraries of nine universities offering postgraduate
work. (See objective (a) above.) When the consultant arrived
in Indonesia, however, he found that this program me .-had-been
Page 4
expanded to include the institutions listed below. The nine
Class A institutions originally scheduled for survey are
indicated by asterisks.
(a) • Universities
* Airlangga, Surabaya
Brawijaya, Malang
Diponegoro, Semarang
Gajah Madah, Yogjakarta
Hasanuddin, Ujung Pandang
Indonesia, Jakarta
Pajajaran, Bandung
North Sumatra, Medan
Udayana, Denpasar
(b) IKIP Institutes (Institut Keguruan dan Ilmu Pehdidika)
* IKIP Bandung -—-
* IKIP Jakarta
IKIP Semarang
IKIP Surabaya
* IKIP Malang
IKIP Medan
IKIP Yogjakarta
Page
(c) Technological Institutes
* Institut Teknologi Bandung
Institut Teknologi Surabaya
* Institut Pertanian Bogor
(d) Private Universities
Satya Wacana Cristen, Salatiga
(e) Other Libraries
National Documentation Center, Jakarta
Central Museum Library, Jakarta
Idayu Foundation Library, Jakarta
Acknowledgments
9. This mission could not have been accomplished without the
help and cooperation of the UNDP office in Jakarta and cogni
zant Indonesian government officials and librarians.
10. The consultant would like to express his particular
appreciation to Mr. Audeh So'ussou, Assistant Resident UNDP
Representative in Jakarta, for his thorough briefing on the
background of the project and for his assistance in other
ways during the mission.
Page 6
11. As set forth in the contract document, the mission was
to be "under the general guidance and in close collaboration
with ... the Directorate General of Higher Education." Ing. S.
Pramoetade, Deputy Director of this office, provided much
additional background on the project. This office assigned
Dra. Ny. Parlinah Moedjono, Director of the Library at the
University of Airlangga, and head of the nation's Task Force
on Library Development to provide direction for the mission
and to serve as the consultant's adviser. In turn, Dra.
Moedjono assigned Drs. Adjat Sakri, Director of the Library
at the Technological Institute of Bandung, as the consultant's
counterpart for the mission'. The consultant would like to
take this opportunity to express his deep appreciation to-
both Dra. Moedjono and Drs. Sakri for giving so generously
of their time and their knowledge during the mission. Without
their in-depth knowledge of the academic library situation
in Indonesia, the mission would certainly have been more
difficult. Drs. Sakri, who accompanied the consultant on
his tourtwas not only a most congenial traveling companion
but a constant" and informed source of information on cultural
matters, traditions, and customs, as well as on library
practices and problems.
Method of Survey
12. The consultant, accompanied by his Indonesian counterpart,
visited each of the institutions listed, inspected the library
Page 7
facilities, undertook a brief survey of the collections, and
discussed building planning and administrative problems with
the librarians. Where planning for new buildings was in
progress, drawings were reviewed and critiqued with the
librarians, and administrative staff. In one instance, the
Institut Pertanian Bogor, the consultant made a second visit,
at the request of the Deputy Rector, for an in-depth discus
sion of the proposed new library, with the librarian and the
Institut1s Campus Planning and Development Committee. This
meeting provided an opportunity for a wide-ranging discussion
of the principles of library planning and administration.
13. These library .surveys were facilitated by a questionnaire
prepared in advance and submitted to each librarian. Not
all of these questionnaires were completed and returned to
the consultant, but those that were provided good documentation
of the conditions found during the survey. The survey form
is included as Appendix I to this report.
Audience
14. As is natural in a broad ranging technical review, the
present report is addressed to several audiences. Some parts
are of the most immediate interest to the government, more
specifically to the Office of the Directorate General of
Higher Education. University administrative officers and
Planning and Development committees will be interested in
Page 8
some aspects of the report. It is the latter two groups,
for example, who must take the initiative in seeing that
librarians are included as members of the planning team.
These same groups should also be aware of the damage done
to their library yogrammes when so-called "Learning Resources
Centers" are established in separate physical facilities and
in competition with the university libraries. Finally, the
more detailed planning data will be of interest to the
librarians and architects who will have the responsibility
for programming, planning, and designing the academic librar
ies of the future.
15. It is unfortunate that it was not possible to convene
a library planning conference attended by several of Indonesia's
leading architects and librarians. A one-week seminar and
workshop on this subject would have provided some immediate
•and useful benefits.
Page 9
PRESENT STATUS OF LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING PLANNING IN INDONESIA
16. Academic library buildings in Indonesia can be divided
into two general categories i "toose designed and constructed
up to 1980, and those now in the initial planning or inter
mediate design stages and for which construction will not
begin for at least a year, probably two.
17. Many of the existing libraries surveyed on this mission,
including one completed in the spring of the current year,
are not able-fro provide a reasonable level, of library
service. At some time in the future these will have to be
replaced with buildings designed to provide the quality of
service more nearly characteristic of institutions offering
superior academic programme s.
18. The basic reasons for these deficiencies in physical
facilities are clearly^evident. "Inadequate funds" was the
universal complaint among those with whom the consultant
discussed the situation.• One library, newly completed, was
too small the day it opened. This lack of funds, however,
is a reflection of an underlying and more fundamental cause:
the limited importance currently attached to the role of
libraries by the universities, and the resultant low level
of academic library development, management, and sophisti
cation. As library services become more advanced, building
design should keep pace.
Page 10
19. No true university or research-type book collections
were seen during the mission. In library after library, book
budgets were totally inadequate to support the needs of aca
demic programs'.' More serious was the lack of subscriptions
to current journals and periodicals. On most campuses,
instruction by "diktat" is the preferred methodology and
the library is regarded as little more than a storehouse or
distribution center for textbooks. Thus, not only are students,
at all levels, denied access to current thinking in their
subjects, faculties, too, have no resources or facilities
for keeping abreast of new developments in the fields in which
they are expected to be competent.
20. The central library of one major university with eight
faculty libraries, reported that it lacked the funds to sub
scribe to even one journal or periodical. Of the eight faculty
libraries, only the library of the medical school had funds
for journals, and here funding limitations reduced subscript
ions to six titles. To his great credit, the university libr
arian had been able to complete a few exchange agreements for
journals. Other periodical holdings included out-dated issues
donated by such organizations as the Asia Foundation, but
most of these were three to ten years out-of-date. When the
only issues of Newsweek magazine, or of important journals
in fields in which the university is supposedly specializing,
Page 11
date from 1970 to 1975, it is time for a re-examination of
the role of the library in the academic life of the country.
21. Another critically important factor operating to the
detriment of academic library development, is the competition
between central libraries and faculty libraries. This situa
tion exists on every campus. Its "results include: competit
ion for limited funds, duplication of materials and staff,
and inadequate facilities in all libraries on a given campus.
This problem is discussed in more detail in a later section
of this report.
22. Many of the libraries surveyed during the mission are
located in buildings originally constructed for other purposes.
Two, for example, occupy buildings originally designed to
serve as auditoriums. Another is in a classroom building.
In one recently constructed building, ostensibly designed to
house the library, preferential treatment had been given to
the departmental offices that also occupied the building.
Library users, as a result, are treated as "second-class
citizens" and forced to use physical facilities that are
inconvenient, uncomfortable, poorly arranged, inadequately
lighted, and too noisy for effective study.
Page 12
23. One new library building, too small when it was constructed,
has been seriously affected by the construction, immediately
next to it, of a so-called "Learning Resources Center."
This situation will be discussed in more detail later. Here,
it is sufficient to say that it is impossible for a university
library to develop any reasonable level of service or to
support the academic program^ e of an institution when audio
visual functions are physically separated from library functions.
24. Of the libraries visited in the course of this mission,
only two or three gave evidence that they occupied an impor
tant place in the academic programa es of-fee universities they
serviced. Indeed, in one instance, the librarian and the rector
both stated frankly that the library was of little value or
significance in the academic life of the university.
25. It is a generally accepted fact that a university or
college with a first-rate academic programme alsohas a first-
rate library, while the mediocre institution invariably has
a mediocre library. Superior academic programmes .; , * and superior
library collections and services are always found together.
One is virtually impossible without the other.
26. Clearlyfthen,the major reason for the poor physical
facilities of libraries in Indonesian universities is that
libraries are not considered important in the academic programme.
Page 13
As a result they are under-budgeted and under-staffed. The
inadequate physical facilities go hand-in-hand with the meager
collections and poor services.
27. There are, however, other factors that contribute to the
poor library buildings observed. One reason, of course, is
that there is no reservoir of planning experience among either
librarians or architects. This in turn, is a result of the
limited library construction during the past several decades.
Such lack of experience is shown clearly in the new buildings
constructed during the past five years. It is also shown
in some of the plans currently on the drawing boards, where
the mistakes of the past are being repeated at considerably
greater cost to the nation.
28. Another factor contributing to inadequate library design,
in a few instances at least, is a lack of coordination between
university administrators, architects, and librarians. As one
librarian expressed it: "I was not consulted about the design
of the new library and the architect has never shown me the
plans, or discussed them with me." In many institutions,
however, architects and librarians have worked cooperatively
and effectively to make good use of buildings that were never
intended to be libraries. It is interesting, in fact, that
those libraries created by converting other types of buildings
to library use function more effectively than the new buildings
surveyed during this mission.
Page 14
29. This report would be remiss if it did not include a word
of caution. New university libraries now in the early stages
of planning, as well as future libraries, will require much
more careful and effective programming and design if they are
to function effectively and thus to justify the funding they
will require. One other observation is pertinent here. New
buildings, no matter how well planned, do not, alone, make
good libraries. Not only must there be a concomitant increase
in book funds, in trained and dedicated staff, and in continuing
operating funds, it is essential that the importance of the
university libraries in the academic life of the nation be
recognized.
Page 15
BUILDING PLANNING AS RELATED TO LIBRARY AND UNIVERSITY POLICIES
30. Successful planning of a new library building is rooted
in the basic concepts of library service, in the importance
attached to these services by institutions of higher learning,
and in the library policies established for the particular
campus by the library director and the university administration.
31. During the mission, the consultant identified a number
of problems that reflected the philosophy and the policies
of the academic institutions involved. Satisfactory solutions
to these problems are basic to the development of good library
buildings and, more important, to the development of good
university library services.
Libraries and Information Centres .or Warehouses for Textbooks
32. A significant number of the academic libraries visited .
were little more than distribution centres for textbooks.
Many of the materials examined were scarcely worth placing
on the shelves because they were obsolete and could not possibly
support modern courses in the subject fields represented.
In nearly every library where textbooks formed the major
portion of the collection, the number of copies was excessive.
Most titles were represented by twenty, thirty, or fifty copies
each.
Page 16
33. Elsewhere, textbooks are the responsibility of the
students and are not acceptable as part of a university
library collection. In Indonesia, the ' character of the mater
ials now making up the bulk of the academic library collections
and the fact that most of these materials are so old as to be
obsolete, suggests that university students are being educated
to a level that is roughly twenty years out-of-date.
34. Four principal reasons were given by university and IKIP
librarians for the situation just described:
(a) The prevalence of the "diktat" method of instruc
tion which requires little or no supplementary
reading materials.
(b) The view, apparently fairly common among university
administrators, that the primary responsibility
of the library is to provide students with textbook-
type materials.
(c) Lack of adequate funds for the purchase of book and
periodicals.
(d) Government restrictions on the purchase of books
and journals that make it difficult or, in some
cases, nearly impossible to obtain necessary library
materials, or to obtain them quickly.
Page 17
35. The poor quality of the general collections was also
characteristic of other library collections. The consultant
saw no reference collection in which there was a current
encyclopedia. A few sets were published in 1972, but most
were published before this date. Other reference materials
are as out-of-date as the encyclopedias. Journal and periodi
cal collections are even more limited in scope and quality
than monographic materials.
36. It should be noted here that there are some few exceptions
to these "textbook" collections. Two or three libraries
have relegated their textbook-type materials to storerooms.
The working or general collections'in these libraries, although
out-of-date in many instances, are still fairly good. Interest
ingly, these same libraries had open access policies in effect.
The fact that a few libraries have made some progress in
developing useful collections suggests that it is possible
to do so even in the face of difficulties.
37. Overall, however, this concept of the university library
as a textbook library appears to be a basic problem - a problem
involving funding but, more fundamentally, involving the
perception of what constitutes an academic library - by
government, by academic administrations, by faculties, and
also by librarians. Academic libraries must eventually be .
recognized as full partners, with the teaching faculty, in
Page 18
the educational process, if the level of higher education
in Indonesia is to be raised. This means, in turn, that
university and IKIP librarians must develop more useful
collections and more service-oriented operations and must be
given the funds with which to do so.
38. Finally, it must be observed that this limited concept
of the function of the library in the academic program of the
university has an immediate impact on library planning. It
undoubtedly accounts, in large degree, for the small and
poorly planned new buildings surveyed by the consultant.
It is likely also to have a very detrimental effect on the
planning of new libraries, since sophisticated modern buildings
are unnecessary where such a limited view of library services
exists. Perhaps more serious,is the likelihood that having
no experience in planning effective library buildings, new
buildings will simply follow the same outmoded concepts.
Closed Access vs. Open Access
39. In many of the libraries visited by the consultant - not
in all - books and readers are separated as a result of a
"closed access" policy that seems to be generally accepted
among librarians. By contrast, open access collections are
almost universal in small and medium size university libraries
in the U.S., Canada, asá the-üni1;ed.3GLng<iom, ¿n t n e Scandinavian
countries, and increasingly in western Europe. Even in third
Page 19
world countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya and, until
recently, at least, in Iran, open access is the standard policy
in academic libraries.
40. Where collections exceed a million volumes it is generally
agreed that the open access policy loses its advantages for
undergraduates. In universities where such large collections
exist, as at Harvard, Michigan, Berkeley, and others, special
undergraduate libraries, having collections of 150,000 to
250,000 volumes, have been established for the specific purpose
of allowing students easy access to the books they need.
41. Keeping students from direct contact with books is a
policy developed in the days of European faculty libraries. Now
it appears that the closed access policy is in effect in many
Indonesian libraries largely because librarians are afraid
that to open the book collections will créate administrative
and caretaker problems they would prefer to avoid. In some
instances, librarians seemed concerned that they would be held
personally accountable for any losses. In others, the problems
of security and the fear of losing books were related to the
lack of funds for replacement, and to purchasing regulations
that make it difficult or impossible to obtain replacement
copies quickly and easily. In still other instances, closed
access was a means of reducing the work and the staff required
to reshelve the books. To some extent these problems are
Page 20
undoubtedly legitimate causes for concern. Nevertheless,
the consultant was left with the clear impression that the
real reason the closed access policy is in effect in so many
academic libraries is simply that it makes life easier for
the librarians. In the western view of library service,
convenience for the student and the educational advantages
of permitting students direct and immediate access to the
book collection, are more important than convenience for the
staff.
42. The closed access policy, in which students are denied
direct access to the collections, inevitably mandates a restric
tive and inflexible library design. Thus libraries with new
buildings in the planning stage should give careful consider
ation to the type and the quality of service they wish to
provide. No building should be planned for closed access
without careful consideration both by the university adminis
tration and by the librarian.
Location of Essential User Services
43. In several libraries, but, again, not in all, the most
essential services a library has to offer are located as far
from the entrance as possible. The reference collection, the
card catalog, the reserved book collection, should not be
placed on the third or fourth floors of university libraries;
they should be on the entrance level, where students can have
easy and convenient access to them.
Page 21
44. No librarian with whom the consultant discussed the
inconvenient location of these important user services could
provide a reasonable explanation for this practice. In some
instances, however, the entrance level was devoted to adminis
trative offices, storerooms for unprocessed books, and other
staff facilities. The inescapable conclusion is that staff
convenience, too often, is placed ahead of student needs and
convenience.
45. In one instance, essential library services were located
on the fourth floor because a faculty department occupied
the main floor. This problem is discussed in greater detail
in another section. Suffice it to say here, librarians should
remember that a library has no validity of its own.. It has
meaning only insofar as it serves, and serves well, those
who need the information and the resources it has to offer.
46. In academic libraries in the U.S. and elsewhere in the
west, four basic functions are considered essential on the
entrance level:
(a) Circulation desk and lending services.
(b) Card catalogue
(c) Reference desk and reference services, including
the reference collection and appropriate seating.
(d) Technical services.
Page 22
47. Very large buildings may have the technical services
department on the next level, but where this is the case,
the department must have a good vertical connection with
the receiving room, the card catalogue and the bibliographic
collection. In addition to these four functions, it is highly
desirable to locate some portion of the general collection and
as much general seating as possible on the main or entrance
level.
48. When space is available, entrance level locations should
also be assigned to one or more of the following services, in
addition to the services noted above:
(a) Reserved book service.
(b) Periodical collection.
(c) 24-hour study room (can often be combined with the reserved book service)
(d) Administrative offices. —
49. Although it might be assumed that this problem is confined
to older buildings, the consultant reviewed one set of plans for
a proposed new building in which these essential user services
were also placed on the upper floors. The first or entrance
level contained the circulation services, administrative offices,
technical services, the card catalog, and a large area of
stacks. Reference services were on the next level. What the
architect did not realize, in addition to the importance of
Page 23
placing reference on the entrance level, was the equally
important requirement that the card catalogue should not be
separated from the reference service. It is hoped that these
plans will be revised before working drawings are completed.
50. This is another example in which the librarian's philo
sophy of service affects library building planning. When
convenience for the library staff is placed ahead of conveni
ence for student and faculty users, the location of essential
services in the building reflects this limited concept of
library service.
Central Libraries vs. Faculty Libraries
51. A strong central library and no faculty libraries or a
weak central library and several equally weak faculty librar
ies? As institutions of higher learning in Indonesia begin
an era of major development and expansion, this is a question
of crucial importance and one that must be resolved b'efore
any intelligent planning of new library buildings can take
place.
52. At the present time, with a few exceptions, the central
libraries of Indonesian universities have inadequate collect
ions, few trained staff members, and severely limited budgetary
Page 24
support. Faculty libraries on most campuses are not signi
ficantly better. In many instances they are worse.
53. Despite the general inadequacy of most of the faculty
libraries surveyed (there are a few exceptions), it seems clear
that it has been their influence that has effectively prevented
the more rapid growth and development of the central libraries.
To date, there has been neither a felt need for, or the funds
to support, even if the need were perceived, both a strong
central library and a multiplicity of faculty libraries.
In most instances it appears that faculty libraries have
received support that should have gone to the central librar
ies. It is interesting to note,for example, that the only
air-conditioned libraries seen by the consultant were faculty
libraries. Not one of the central libraries surveyed was
air-conditioned.
54. Faculty libraries are a holdover from'early European
universities when each faculty had its own physical facilities
in different parts of the city and, of necessity, had its own
library. This was a period, as well, when students generally
studied in only a .single school or discipline. Today, when
the faculties of Indonesian universities are geographically
centralized on one campus and when students study not one
discipline but several, faculty libraries are little more
than status symbols.
Page 25
55. As campuses grow larger, both in student population and
in geographic area, and particularly when the various faculties
or schools develop strong graduate programmes some decentrali
zation of library facilities becomes justifiable. In the
majority of cases, however, such libraries should serve several
disciplines rather than a single faculty, and are more approp
riately designated departmental libraries.
56. Because research programmes- of the sciences require quick
access to scientific information, the first departmental
library to become justifiable is usually a sciences library.
Under these circumstances the library becomes an adjunct to,
or an extension of, the research laboratory.
57. Usually, such a departmental library should be planned
to serve all the science faculties of the institution. Where
there is an agricultural faculty, the materials in this discip
line fall naturally with the other sciences.
58. For the same reasons, a medical faculty can usually
justify a separate library. This can be combined with a
library for dentistry. On the other hand, a grouping that
consists of medicine, dentistry, biology, chemistry, and
agriculture may be more feasible on one campus, while mathe
matics, physics, engineering, and architecture form another
group. The important point is that libraries for individual
Page 26
1/ faculties, especially in small and medium size -' academic institutions, are rarely, if ever, justifiable,
59» The wastefulness and inefficiency of supporting "both central libraries
and faculty libraries appears to be recognized by one or two institutions
where the administration reported that faculty libraries were to be abandoned
in favour cf the development of strong central libraries. Taking into account
the experience of newer American universities this is the general trend of
development. In cases where some services in faculty libraries have to be
continued due to the particular characteristics of the University, it is
advisable to undertake careful study to clarify the advantages and dis
advantages of such a solution, A gradual change to centralized library
would be preferable in most circumstances.
1/ Throughout this paper a small to medium size academic library is
considered to be one with a seating capacity (all types) of 2,000 or
less and a book capacity not greater than 500,000 volumes.
Page 27
60. Central libraries organized on the subject division plan
are open to the same general criticism as are faculty libraries.
Such libraries have lost favour in the U.S., primarily because
they require a significant duplication of resources and staff,
and thus result in substantially higher costs. Central librar
ies with subject reading rooms and faculty libraries are indefen
sible in the university libraries of Indonesia.
Libraries and Learning Resources Centers
61. Of the several problems related to the planning and
design of academic libraries in Indonesia, probably the most
serious and the most potentially damaging to library and
academic program development is the trend, on the IKIP campuses
and on some other campuses, to make both an administrative
and physical differentiation between libraries and "learning
resources centers."
62. At one IKIP institution, for example, a new library build
ing was occupied in April 1980. Immediately adjacent to the
library was a new learning resources center, at that time
completed but not equipped. The librarian complained - quite
rightly - that microforms were the responsibility of the new
learning resources center. He also reported that he could
not purchase any other audio-visual materials, such as slides,
filmstrips, audiotapes, videotapes, and the like. A dichotomy
that separates these materials and facilities and places
Page 28
them in separate buildings, especially at the university level,
makes good library service impossible. Clearly, this physical
separation of books and periodicals from microforms and audio
visual materials has significant implications for building
planning as well.
63. The terms Library, Library and Learning Resources Centre,
Information Centre , Media Cent1*© , and similar terms are used
more or less interchangeably. Different though these may
sound, they all refer to essentially the same type of
facility:
"... a department or support unit of an institution of higher learning with responsibility for collecting, organizing for use, preserving and servicing or making available for use by students, faculty, and staff, all information relevant or pertinent to the academic program of the institution - no matter in what form such information may be packaged."
64. The above definition emphasizes a critical and essential
fact: Libraries and Learning Resources Centres cannot be
isolated, cannot be operated independently or in parts,
cannot be located in separate buildings, if they are to
serve or support the instructional programme of the institu
tion successfully. Information cannot be separated into
discrete little bundles, isolated one from the other.
Page 29
65. In an earlier age, man packaged information as clay
tablets, later as papyrus or parchment scrolls or as palm
leaf manuscripts. Later came the Codex or bound book. Today,
information is packaged as microfilm, microfiche, motion
pictures, audiotapes, videotapes, videodiscs, slides, prints,
filmstrips, maps, and in other forms. Many of these are
interchangeable. Thus the information in a book may be trans
ferred to microfilm. It may be published as microfiche.
Illustrative materials may be made available in book form,
in motion pictures, slides, filmstrips, or videotapes.-
66.It is a serious mistake, therefore, to restrict the respon
sibility of a library to only one form of information - books
and periodicals. Imagine the problems of the librarian who
wishes, to fill in the back files of a scientific journal with
microfilm but cannot do so because microfilm is the respon
sibility of the learning resources center on the other s~ide
of the campus; or who needs to add to his collection a publi
cation available only in the form of microfiche, or a new work
published as a book but supported by a videotape, a filmstrip,
or a motion picture. In the latter case, he can perhaps buy
the book, but must give the supporting material to the learning
resources centre..
Page 30
67. Students on a university campus have every right to expect
that they can find all the resources they need in one central
location. They should not be forced to go to two or even
three different locations to obtain their materials. More
over, they should have a centrally located index or catalogue
to the holdings of learning materials on their campus.
69. One other factor may have been influential in promoting
the separation of libraries and learning resources centre»,,
On two or three occasions the consultant was told that faculty
members almost always regard the library as of little value
to the academic program of the institution. A "Learning
Resources Center," or "Information Center," on the other hand,
is viewed by most faculty as an important, sophisticated,
high level operation. It also came to the consultant's atten
tion that some university staff members are being sent abroad
for training as "Information Specialists." Just what this
means, or what positions these "specialists" will hold upon
their return, was not made clear, but unless this conflict
Page 31
between the two functions is calrified, the results will
damage the programs of Indonesian universities and IKIPs.
70. To facilitate re-examination of this problem the follow
ing may prove helpful. The tendency to differentiate between
"Learning Resources Centers" and "Libraries" was initiated
in the U.S. after World War II, when educators began to con
centrate on teaching hardware and methodology. Learning re
sources centses. appeared most frequently in the secondary
schools and in the two-year community colleges.
71. At that time, audio-visual materials, such as films,
slides, tapes and other formats, were often given an impor
tance out of proportion to their actual value in the learning
process. Some institutions installed sophisticated television
production facilities, for example, but later abandoned this
concept and reverted to a more traditional approach in which
audio-visual materials were seen as important supporting
media, but not as the foundation of the learning process.
One institution abandoned its electronic facilities and built
a new"building on more traditional lines. A few others locked
up these facilities and let them gather dust.
72. Gradually, this movement invaded the four-year colleges
and universities. At this level, however, there is a clearer
understanding of the role of audio-visual materials as. media
Page 32
whose basic role is to complement and support the book and
periodical collections rather than to supplant them or compete
with them.
73. In the U.S., universities and four-year colleges under
stand that libraries must collect and service books, periodi
cals, and microforms, as well as all audio-visual materials
that support the learning process. Older libraries have added
the newer media (microfilm, microfiche, microprint, audiotapes,
slides, motion pictures, videotapes, etc.) to their collections
as these were developed, and as useful materials were recorded
on them, without changing the name of the physical facility
that is responsible for collecting and servicing them. In
other words, a library remains a library, even when it collects
and services information in other formats. Some newer institu
tions have expanded the name "Library" to "Library and Learning
Resources Center" (or some similar term). In no - known instance,
however, have libraries and their book and periodical collections,
and the audio-visual collections, been administered and housed
in separate buildings.
74. Although every conceivable variation in the administrative
and physical arrangements of audio-visual materials has been
tried by some institution during the past three decades, some
patterns have emerged more frequently than others. The most
workable of these is described below. It is useful first,
however, to list the principal functions, facilities, or
services that have been, at some time and in some institutions,
Page 33
considered as learning resources functions - in addition to
those of the traditional library:
(a) Production of live television programma
direct transmission to monitors in classrooms,
and/or for videotaping for later playback to
classrooms or to individual students at "wet"
carrels.
(b) Campus radio stations.
(c) Language laboratories.
(d) Film rental and distribution centers.
(e) Workshops and photographic darkrooms and studios
where students learn the techniques of producing
slides, transparencies, and other types of graphic
materials, usually to support student teaching
activities.
(f) Printing shops.
(g) Collections of audio-visual materials in all-formats
(h) Group listening/viewing facilities - classroom-like
spaces in which several students can listen or view
recorded or live programmes.
(i) Individual listening/viewing facilities at wired
carrels.
Page 34
(j) Off-air recording facilities.
(k) Small group preview rooms where students can
preview films, slides, or videotapes.
75. The above functions can be administratively and physically
organized in several different facilities, of which the' follow
ing are probably the most common and the most practical.
This arrangement also maintains the integrity of the library
by assigning to it the responsibility for acquiring and servicing
all learning materials, including microforms and audio-visuals.
(a) The Library (and Learning Resources Centre. } houses
the book and periodical collections and the audio
visual materials collection, together with all the
physical facilities and equipment necessary for
students to use these latter materials, all under
one administrative head - the Director of the Library.
(b) Production facilities, including television, radio,
and audio-visual materials production, constitute
a separate university department. This unit may
be physically located in the library building, but
just as frequently, is in a separate building.
(c) The Educational Technology Centos, in which students
are taught the use or methodology of audio-visuals,
is under the Faculty or Department of Education.
Page 35
(d) The Language Laboratory is administratively and
physically attached to the Faculty or Department
of Language or Linguistics.
(e) The University Printing Department is a physically
and administratively separate unit, often called
a. University Press.
76. It is strongly recommended that the administrative and
physical arrangements of learning resources facilities out
lined above, be the general pattern followed in institutions
of higher learning throughout Indonesia. Obviously, variations
on this scheme may be desirable or necessary in different
institutions. The critical and all-important aspect of these
recommendations is the necessity of keeping the book, periodi-
cal, microfilm/microfiche, and audio-visual collections in
one physical location (the Library and Learning Resources
Centre), and under one administrative head (the Director of
the Library). Other facilities can be located and administered
as the university administration considers appropriate.
Occupancy of the Building by Units Other than the Library
77. Whenever some other administrative unit occupies a building,
in addition to the library, there will be problems, unless
certain rules are -observed. The most unsatisfactory library
surveyed by the consultant resulted from the fact that
Page 36
approximately one-half the building was occupied by an academic
department. The building had been planned for the department's
convenience; the library occupied the remainder. This was
another, somewhat more serious example, of several seen by
the consultant, in which the library and the students were
reduced to second class status. One striking and unfortunate
architectural feature of this building was that the faculty
offices were well-lighted, with windows and a view of the
out-of-doors. The upper level, assigned to the library, was
badly lighted, with a limited number of small, slit windows,
uncomfortable seating, and totally inadequate facilities.
78. It is impossible to conduct an effective library operation
unless there is a clear physical separation between the library
and all other occupants. It is also necessary that the library
be designated as having first priority in the building and
that the library occupy the main level. Other occupants
must occupy whatever levels are not required by the library.
It is particularly important in such cases that traffic to
the second occupant be separated from library, traffic so that
personnel do not have to pass through library areas to reach
their offices. Library security must not be breached by non-
library traffic.
79. If the proper administrative edict is issued in such
cases, it is not difficult for the architect to achieve a
Page 37
satisfactory solution to the problem. Stated in general terms,
it is only necessary that all traffic going to other occupan
cies in the building be separated at the main entrance and
before such traffic passes beyond the library's control point.
In Figure 12, traffic to non-library floors of the building
should have a separate, dedicated elevator to reach floors
used by others. Such traffic should have no access to any
library portion of the building. If it does, library security
cannot be maintained.
Page 38
MAJOR STEPS IN THE BUILDING PLANNING PROCESS
80. The planning of a new library building involves several
important steps, no one of which should be omitted if the
final result is to be fully successful.
The Organizational Structure
81. During his survey of Indonesian libraries the consultant
examined a number of building plans for proposed new libraries.
All of these were considerably larger than existing buildings,
all were intended to accommodate larger collections, larger
student populations, and more diverse academic programs.
These new buildings presuppose, therefore, larger and more
complex administrative operations.
82. The basis for the design of any good library building is
the organizational or administrative structure of the library
it must accommodate, since on this must be based the type,
function, and location of the various building facilities,
the number and the sizes of the private offices, the number
of staff workstations, and other physical characteristics of
the building. For this reason, and because the new library
buildings now being planned will require more complex organi
zational structures than have been used in the past, it is
important that librarians turn their attention to the organi
zational structure of the libraries that will occupy these
Page 39
new buildings. This is the essential first step in the
planning process.
83. No one administrative structure can serve every institu
tion without modification, but the organization chart shown
in Figure 1, will serve as a starting point. The consultant
offers such a chart because, with two exceptions, the plans
he examined for new buildings appear to have been developed
without any consideration of library organization. In at
least one instance, building plans had been drawn by the
architect without any consultation with the librarian and
thus without any knowledge of the organizational structure
of the library he was designing. Such a procedure will not
work and the institution that permits this to happen will
get a building but not a good library.
84. The organizational structure shown in Figure 1 is suitable
for any small to medium size university, IKIP,"or Technological
Institute library during the first years of occupancy of a
new building. It is less complex than the organizational
patterns of older more mature institutions, but it is more
appropriate for the academic libraries of Indonesia at the
present time and for the immediate future. The following
points should be noted:
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Page 41
(a) Administration. The recommended structure
establishes a chief librarian or director and
an assistant chief or deputy. This latter position
not only provides for assistance and back-up to
the director, but is an effective means of pro
viding in-service training to the assistant.
Both positions should be filled by librarians
with sound training and experience in library
and information science. The director should
hold academic rank and be a voting member of the
senate, or ruling academic body of the institution.
(b) Depar tmenta l S t ruc ture . Only two major depar tments
are recommended: a Public Services Department and
a Technical Services Department. Expansion of this
organization by adding other departments- is possible
but is not recommended. ^_ For example, library publications such as
pamphlet of users, current awareness lists, specific bibliographies, etc. could
be reproduced, as a temporary measure, in a small publishing unit under the
supervision of the Chief Librarian. However, if there is a strong need for
publishing primary information on R and D activities of the University or other
Page 42
academic -institutions, a university press should be established as a
separate department outside the library organization. Once such a
publication unit is established, the above mentioned publishing
activities could be assigned also to that unit.
(c) Readers' Advisory Service. In the Public Services
Department, "the term "Readers' Advisory Service"
has been substituted for "Reference Services" since,
in Indonesia, "reference books" and "reserved books,"
(because they do not circulate) are considered the
same type of material, and are combined and serviced
as one collection. It may be that this change of
terminology, together with the provision of separate
reserved book reading rooms in the new libraries
now being planned will help clarify this presently
confused situation.
Page 43
) Reserved Book Service. As noted above, the reserved
book service is not related to reference or readers'
advisory services. This service has been shown
here as a separate unit of the Lending Services
Division, where it is more properly located.
} Rare Books and Special Collections i, It is likely
that rare books and special collections activities
will be very limited for some years to come and
it is probably not necessary or desirable to fill
this position initially. Where needed it is only
a division level activity. However, modest physical
facilities should be provided for this unit in furutre
library buildings.
) Microforms Service. For reasons that are not alto
gether clear, there is a tendency, in at least one
Page 44
situation observed by the consultant to combine
the service of microforms with that of other audio
visual materials. As a result, in one recent plan
for a proposed new library, it was noted that micro
forms and audiotapes had been placed together in
the same room. This indicates a basic misunderstand
ing of the nature and the use of the two types of
materials and was another instance in which the
architect was unfamiliar with the materials involved
and did not consult the librarian.
Microforms (microfilm, microfiche, and microprint),
are a direct and immediate extension of printed
works. At the present time they are the only non-
print format that either reproduces print or that
substitutes for print in libraries. Other substi
tutes for print are technically possible but these
are not likely to replace microforms for some years
to come.
Despite advances in hardware design, microform
readers still require a semi-darkened environment
for easy reading. Microfilm readers are so large
tn .t there would be no place for audio equipment
on the same work surface. Further, because micro
forms involve a reading and note-taking function,
Page 45
they are incompatible with the listening
function of audio. For this reason, and because
90 percent of the use of microforms is directly
related to the use of periodicals and journals,
this facility is better placed adjacent to the
periodicals service.
(h) Audio-Visual Services. All other audio-visual
materials are sufficiently related in use and
function that they can be successfully combined
in one administrative unit. Appendix II provides
a brief description of the physical facilities
required for a good audio-visual program in the
library.
(i) Technical Services Department. In this department
it will be noted that a single unit has responsi
bility for a group of related functions:
physical processing (labeling, bookplating,
book pockets, and identification marking); binding
and repair; and the conservation of library materials
85. The organizational structure here proposed is neither
overly complex or too simplified, but a straightforward
approach that can be expanded as the need develops and as
resources become available.
Page 46
The Written Building Programme
86. Probably no single step is more important in the develop
ment of a successful academic library building than the pre
paration of a detailed, written building program"1®» Such a
statement serves four essential purposes:
(a) It serves as the architect's guide in designing
the building. -The architect cannot be expected
to know how the building should function, what
services it must provide, how various spaces
must relate to each other, what capacities are
needed for books and readers, or how many staff
workstations are required, unless he is given such
information by the librarian, or a library building
consultant, who has not only made a detailed analysis
of the particular situation but who is also thoroughly
familiar with the operations of academic libraries.
(b) It forces the librarian and his staff to think
-•-—carefully about the future building and how It
must be organized and operated. Before the formal
design work of the architect begins, the librarian
can devote the time necessary to do this properly.
If delayed, critical decisions must be made around
the conference table with the architect constantly
pressing for immediate answers. Good planning cannot
be done under such circumstances.
Page 47
(c) It provides a useful record of the many critical
decisions that must always be made in such a
project and the background reasons for these
decisions. Such information is often invaluable
at a later date.
(d) Finally, the written'program me provides a means of
obtaining official approval for the project by
the highest administrative authority on the campus.
A major advantage of such approval is the fact
that it serves as official notice to the architect
that the project, in the form developed by the
librarian, has the formal support of the adminis
tration.
87. All of this assumes that the librarian plays a leading
and important role in the planning process. This is not
always the case in Indonesia and the consultant became aware
of two situations in which new buildings were planned without
the librarian even having been consulted.
88. A good library building programma is awritten document
intended to give the architect all the information he requires
to design the new building. Its major purpose is to set forth
the problems to be solved by the architect. It should not,
however, attempt to solve those problems. Outlining the space
Page 48
problems is the librarian's task; solving the space problems
is the architect's job. Finally, it should be noted here that
the architect does not have the background to write a satis
factory library building programme.This is a task for the
librarian, or for a consultant working in close cooperation
with the librarian.
89. The programme should discuss the background, purpose,
scope, and functions of the proposed new building. In addition,
it should provide specific architectural information or design
criteria that are essential in a good library building if
it is to function properly. Thus, the architect needs
to be aware of the fact that differences in levels, where
one must go up or down a few steps to reach a functioning
part of the library, are unacceptable because of the need to
reach all parts of the building by booktrucks. Threshholds
are unacceptable for the same reason. Similarly, it is impor
tant to give the architect the basic criteria for the tempera
ture and humidity desirable to preserve materials in a rare
book collection, the criteria for the lighting to be used in
the library, space requirements for various library functions,
and similar basic information.
90. University administrative officers and librarians can
make no more serious mistake than to assume that the architect
Page 49
has all this information at his fingertips. The written
programme prepared by the librarian, or by a consultant, be
comes the university's "design contract" with the architect.
Some points may be negotiable, but it is a document to which
the architect must give full consideration. An architect
who has designed and built several library buildings will
know much of the general information set forth in a good
building programas. In other cases, he will not have this know
ledge because he lacks the necessary experience. The new
buildings surveyed during the present mission and the plans
for new buildings examined, suggest that more experience in
planning academic library buildings is essential.
91. Appendix III is a model prograrane statement for a univer
sity library building. It is also suitable for an IKIP library
building. No one programme, however., can serve equally well'
in all .situations and the model programme suggested here may
need to be modified to suit individual case's.
92. It is important that every area and function in the new
building be mentioned and discussed. Omission of any essential
function from the programme is to risk its omission from the
building. The librarian should not assume that the architect
Page 50
will add things he has omitted. Although it does not happen
often, more than one library has been built without adequate
storage space, without elevators, without janitor's closets,
or without other essential features, because these were not
set forth in the written programme.
The Planning Team
93. The most successful new libraries are the result of a
team effort, rather than the product of any one person.
Certainly it should not be the product of the architect alone,
working without input from the librarian. It should be re
membered that it is the librarian and his or her staff who
must operate the building amd make it function, long after
the architect has gone on to other projects.
94. The team approach in planning is even more important when
one considers the fact that a library is not only one of the
most expensive buildings on an academic campus, it is also
one of the most complex, with the exception of a hospital or
a specialized research laboratory.
95. In the united States, although situations vary, the building
planning team for an academic library ordinarily consists of
the architect, the librarian, a library building consultant,
an interior designer, and one or more members of a faculty
Page 51
building committee or the president's staff. If the librar
ian has had significant building experience (not the usual
case) the consultant may be omitted. Ideally, the librarian
serves as chairman of the planning group. Otherwise, it
may be a representative of the administration. If the archi
tect is a member of the campus staff, he may serve as chairman.
96. In Indonesia, where neither architects nor librarians
have had in-depth experience in planning modern libraries,
the use of an experienced consultant will repay the cost in
volved many times. Such an advisor, who should have had
experience with many library buildings, can assist the librar
ian in the important task of preliminary planning and program
preparation and, equally important, can analyze and critique
the architect's plans. It cannot be assumed that the architect
will always understand or follow the requirements of the
programme. Often, the architect emphasizes architectural
features at the expense of library functions. Thus, it is
essential to have a member of the planning team with experience
in reading blueprints, who will understand the technical
aspects of the building, as well as library functions, and
can discuss these with the architect. (Two of the several
institutions visited during the mission were using such advisors.)
If a consultant is employed, he should be responsible to the
institution. He should not be employed by the architect.
Page 52
97. It is important to emphasize the importance of including
the librarian as a key member of the planning team. Although
Indonesian librarians have had very limited experience in
planning new buildings, they know basically how their librar
ies are supposed to function. They will also be responsible
for operating these buildings when they are completed. If
they are not capable of this responsibility, then they should
be replaced. Otherwise, they should be accorded the courtesy
of being included in the planning process. Furthermore,
the experience of participating in the complex, involved
process of building planning will not only make them better
librarians, it will add significantly to Indonesia's reservoir
of experience in this field.
98. Finally, the importance of good interior design should
be noted. Unfortunately, none of the buildings visited during
the mission appear to have had any attention given to this
aspect of library planning. The result is that existing academic
libraries are almost uniformly drab, colorless, unpleasant
places in which to work. Some of this effect is caused by
the low and inadequate lighting levels. Most of it is the
result of the limited or non-existent use of colour and the
lack of good design in furniture and equipment.
99. In buildings now being planned it is hoped that special
attention will be given to lighting, to the appropriate use
Page 53
of colour , to more attractive arrangements of furniture, to
better designed furniture, and to the other features of good
interior design. Indeed, it is crucial to the ultimate success
of the new libraries that they be attractive, inviting, and
comfortable places in which students can study. To produce
such an atmosphere requires a special knowledge of materials,
colo ur design, and particularly of the specialized functional
requirements of library furniture and equipment. Such exper
tise is relatively scarce and is not inexpensive. At the
same time, where modern academic libraries are being planned,
good interior design will be worth the cost.
The Architectural Design Process
100. After the building programme has been prepared, reviewed,
and approved, it is usually delivered to the architect at a
formal meeting of the planning team. This provides an occasion
for members of the team to meet, if they are not already
acquainted, gives the architect an opportunity to explain
his working procedures, and provides a forum for a general
dis.cussion of the project.
101. It is very important that good notes or minutes be kept
of all meetings of the planning team. Preferably this is the
task of the architect. Draft copies should be distributed
promptly to all members for review and corrections. Final
copies should be distributed as soon as possible thereafter. •-
Page 54
102. The architectural design process involves two basic
steps, although these will vary somewhat, depending upon the
preference of the architect:
(a) The Design Development phase, which usually
consists of two sub-phases:
(i) the Schematic Design
(ii) the Preliminary Design
(b) The Working Drawing phase also called the
Contract Drawing or Construction Drawing phase.
10 3. After the architect has thoroughly studied the written
programme,his first effort will be to sketch the block outlines
of the functional spaces the building must provide. He will
then present these to the team'for review. It is important
to realize that this first effort by the architect is not
the final solution and neither the librarian nor the other
members of the planning team should feel any obligation to
approve such initial plans. Indeed, the architect may have
to try several times before he achieves a solution acceptable
to all concerned.
104. Once the simple line drawings, which the architect calls
schematics, have been approved, the next step is to draw these
at a larger scale, usually 1:100, and to develop the precise
Page 55
location of doors, windows, stairways, elevators, wall and
column dimensions, and similar details. Working at this larger
scale also enables him to see improvements he can make.
Meanwhile, the engineers on the project will begin to study
construction methods, lighting, air-conditioning design, and
similar engineering problems.
105. When the architect has developed his first full set of
large scale drawings he will again present them for the review
of the planning team. In this case as well, the first set
of preliminary drawings are unlikely to be the last. Both
the librarian and the consultant (if one) will see improve
ments that can be made. The architect also will make changes
as he studies the plans.
106. Eventually, when all parties are satisfied, the prelimin^
ary or design development drawings can be approved and the
architect authorized to proceed with the working drawings.
It is unwise, however, to approve the preliminary drawings
before the architect, or the interior designer, has shown all
the bookstacks, furniture and other floor-based equipment on
the drawings. This enables all parties to see the arrangement
of the furniture and also to determine that the building has
the required book and seating capacities. More often than
not, the furniture layout will reveal that a door is in the
Page 56
wrong location, or that a wall should be moved a few centi
meters, or that an air shaft is in the wrong location. It
is always easier and more economical to make necessary changes
in the design development drawings than in the working drawings,
and cheaper to make changes in pencil than in concrete. A
careful, detailed examination and critique of the drawings
at every stage is essential to a good building. This task
should be the responsibility of the librarian and the consul
tant. It is not wise to leave it to the architect.
Page 57
BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD LIBRARY BUILDING
107. Every well-planned library is characterized by certain
essential features that enable it to function efficiently and
economically; that make it convenient and easy for both students
and staff to use; that provide a pleasant, comfortable, and
inviting environment in which to work and study; and that
make it nearly as functional years after it is built as it
is when new. Chief among these characteristics are the
following:
Life Expectancy
108. At the high cost of building construction today it is
scarcely logical to design a building that is too small when
it opens, or cannot be expanded efficiently and economically
when this is needed, or is too"inflexible to be modified to
meet changing needs and conditions. A well-planned academic
library should serve effectively for at least twenty years
with perhaps one expansion, rarely two, within that period.
109. This assumes that there has been no explosive student
population growth and no significant and major changes in the
academic programme. Such developments cannot usually be fore
seen and may well change the useful life of the building or
require substantial rethinking of a previously planned
expansion.
Page 58
Site and Orientation
110. Convenience, of access depends upon proper siting of the
building and on its proper orientation. A library that is
difficult to approach will not be used to the same degree
as the building•with convenient access.
112. It may be useful in discussing this problem to establish
certain guidelines or basic principles:
(a) The library building should be near the academic
cents*? of the campus, in a location where it is
conveniently accessible from classroom buildings
and from the student centre. As a general rule,
it should not be so located if there is insufficient
land available for a reasonable expansion.
Page 59
(b) The library should be so located that the loading
dock is conveniently accessible to mail trucks,
service vehicles, and other wheeled traffic. The
building should not be placed, for example, in a
central mall unless automotive traffic is to be
allowed access to the library's loading dock.
(c) The library should be located within a reasonable
distance of a parking lot for convenient access
by student users at night and on weekends.
(d) The library should be so sited and so oriented that
only one entrance is required and that students do
not have to walk around the building to find it.
(e) If at all possible, the building should be so oriented
that the entrance is on the long-side. It is much
more difficult (although possible) to design an
efficient library in which the entrance is at the
end (on the shortside). "
113. Indonesian architects seem to prefer to orient buildings
in an east-west direction to achieve sun control. This is
sound practice, only if such orientation does not contradict
the more basic principles outlined above. There are other
ways of controlling light and heat gain and these should be
used where necessary. • -
Page 60
114. Figure 2 shows the orientation of one university library
visited during the mission. The front (student) entrance,
on the end of the building, away from the academic center
of the campus, faces a fence and an area of woodland beyond
which is a public road. As a result, students are forced to
walk completely around the building to gain entrance. No one
with whom the consultant spoke knew why the building had been
so located and so inconveniently oriented. It is worth noting,
however, that of all the buildings examined in the course of
the mission, this was the most inefficient and unsuitable for
a university library.
115. In this case, as in other aspects of library adminis
tration and building design, concern for the convenience of
students, and a genuine interest in motivating them to use
university libraries more'frequently and more effectively
seems to be lacking.
116. Figure 3 shows location of the library buildings in
the proposed master plans examined during the mission. Each
campus used the same' concept of a central mall or plaza in
which were to be located the administration building and
the central library. No worse location could have been selected
for these new libraries, because:
(a) If the library faces the campus entrance,
approximately 80 percent of the students will
Page 61
have to walk around the building to get in.
The loading dock and vehicular traffic entrance
to the library will be unsightly, no matter where
located in the central mall.
(b) If the library faces the administration building, .
the back of the building and loading dock, will
face the campus entrance; again, an unsightly
arrangement.
(c) There is no room for expansion except at the
front. This is not the place where expansion
will be required. More importantly, it is al
most impossible to expand a library successfully
on the side, of the original entrance.
117. Locating the building as shown in Figure 4, would'be a
significant improvement because:
(a) Land can be left for expansion on both ends and
at the rear.
(b) All students have a direct approach to the building
and most of the travel distances are shorter.
(c) The library's loading dock and the delivery vehicle
access road are out of sight behind the building.
, (d) The entrance to the library can be made, accessible
to automobile traffic but can still be attractive.
Page 62
Academic cent re of campus Most student traffic originates in this area.
Administration Building
Main campus road
Staff entrance Student entrance should be at this end of building
Figure 2. Library improperly oriented. Students coming from academic centre must walk around the building to reach the entrance. Library cannot be approached from the front or from either side.
Student entrance
Fence
Page 63
9 10
H
H
12
13
15
16
1. Library
2. Administration building
3-17. Other academic buildings
Figure 3. Unsuitable Location of Proposed New Library
Page 64
S H a 11
12
a s 15
E3
14
1. Library
2. Administration building
3-4 and 7-15. Other academic buildings
Figure 4. Better Location of Proposed Library on New Campus. (See text, page 61, for discussion.)
Page 65
Expandability
118. It has been axiomatic for many years that research librar
ies never stop growing. In the western world, the growth rates
of the last 75 years are slowing down, partly as a result of
an increase in the use of microforms, partly because of reduced
budgets, but there is little likelihood that library growth
will stop. For the forseeable future, and probably beyond,
the bound volume appears certain to remain the basic form in
which information is transmitted.
119. This means that library buildings must be planned to have
a reasonably long useful life and, more important, must be so
planned that they can be expanded economically and efficiently
when this becomes necessary. During his mission the consultant
saw one library that had been expanded twice in less than ten
years. One new library, completed in early 1980, was too small
the day it opened. Such planning is neither efficient nor
economical. The twice-expanded building was not only badly
planned in the beginning, it was impossible to place the two
additions where they were most needed.
120. If a library building is to be expanded successfully
it must reserve enough land for such expansion. It is always
more costly to expand a library vertically rather than horizon
tally, because of the high cost of strengthening the initial
Page 66
foundations. From the librarian's viewpoint, vertical expansion
is seldom appropriate because usually this is not where the
additional space is needed. Finally, vertical expansion often
results in more disturbance of the existing operation during
the construction period.
1.21. Enough land should be reserved during the initial planning
to permit an expansion that will double the size of the first
building. In some situations it may be well to reserve enough
land to triple the size of the initial structure, unfortunately,
this is not always the case. During the mission, the consultant
examined proposed master plans for the new campuses of three
institutions of higher learning. Not one of these plans showed
the new library in the proper location, or had reserved sufficient
land to permit an expansion of reasonable size. Such lack of
foresight is both costly and inefficient.
122. A library building can be constructed successfully in
two phases, sometimes in three, if planning is carefully done.
In general, the best way to do this is for the librarian to
tell the architect what he thinks the expanded building will
require or should provide. The architect should design
the total building, in schematic form at least, then work
backward to design the first phase. In this way it is easier
for the architect to see precisely where more space will be
needed in the future and he can adjust the plans accordingly.
Page 67
123. Although not always possible, it is wise to plan those
staff work spaces in the center of the building and near the
entrance, at their ultimate size. For example, it is often
difficult to expand the lending services work space because
an expansion here requires pushing into adjoining work spaces
that may be locked in. The same is often true of reference
services work areas. Technical services, on the other hand,
is frequently located on the periphery of the structure and
can thus be expanded more readily. For this reason, it is
usually preferable to design such functions as the lending
and reference services (and.other, similar services) at their
ultimate size in the initial phase. Also, to the extent possible,
it is desirable to limit expansion in later phases to the space
required for bookstacks and readers, since this is basically
open space.
124. Since every situation will be different, the above sugges
tions are intended only as general guidelines. The success
of any addition to a library building, however, rests entirely
on the thought and planning that has preceded it. Planning for
expansion is basically an architectural space problem and
can be solved by the architect with the advice and assistance
of the librarian.
Page 68
Simplicity of Design
125. There is a strong tendency among architects to think of
a library building as, inherently, a monumental structure.
In the case of a national library, some degree of monumentality
is appropriate. For a modern university library nothing could
be more unsuitable. In the case of academic libraries of small
to medium size, good design and high architectural quality,
combined with functional effectiveness and a basic simplicity,
are not only more important than imposing architecture, they
are essential. Such a building is so arranged internally that
the user can locate and reach the services he needs easily,
quickly, and conveniently. Monumentality is not only costly,
it is incompatible with function and efficiency.
126. Vertical circulation should be planned for student con
venience in reaching other parts of the building, not to provide
focal point stairways for architectural effect. The card
catalogue-should be readily accessible - reasonably near the
entrance and close to the reference service - not, as in a
current plan for one Indonesian library, in the entrance lobby
with the reference service two floors away.
127. The basic simplicity of a modern library rests on the
open, unrestricted nature of its floor plan and the ease and
convenience with which students can move from one location
Page 69
to another. To use artificial barriers, such as unnecessary
walls to "define" library functions that need not and should
not be separated, is to impede traffic and to increase diffi
culties for the user, unfortunately, many architects seem to
abhor any large open space and prefer to design small intimate
spaces enclosed by walls.
128. In one new university library in Southeast Asia (not
Indonesia) every functioning service of the library is surrounded
by walls. Free access by students is impossible. Rather than
being a convenient and comfortable place in which to study,
student users meet frustration at every turn: the card catalog
in a room on one floor, the reference service in a room on the
second floor, the reserved book services in a room on the third
floor, and the collection scattered in Several areas.
129. In another situation, the architect designed a large
•university library, selected an appropriate module and then
proposed that every bay be a separate room. Not only would
essential library services be enclosed in individual rooms,
the collection would have been fragmented, isolated, and in
credibly difficult to use. Fortunately, the client told the
architect that the plan was unacceptable.
Page 70
130. A common tendency of architects in the Middle East and
in Southeast Asia is to design libraries with many levels -
up a few steps here, down a few steps there. Presumably these
variations in levels are thought to make more interesting
buildings. Forgotten, or ignored, is the fact that all of
the thousands of books in a library must be moved from place
to place throughout the building on four-wheeled carts or trucks
that cannot be rolled up or down steps. Moving books around
a modern university library is an operation that goes on several
times each day, not once a week or once a month, and any barrier
to the free movement of the library's booktrucks seriously
reduces efficiency and economy.
131. Finally, it should be noted that, in keeping with the
concept of eliminating monumentality and incorporating an essen
tial simplicity of design, a modern academic library building
should be easily approached, with access made as convenient
as possible for all types of users. Raising the ground level
of the building two or three steps above grade is good insurance
against flooding in heavy rainstorms and tends to give the
building slightly more prominence. The entrance, however, should
always be provided with a ramp that can be used by persons in
wheelchairs. This latter problem is not one with which Indo
nesian libraries have yet had to contend. It seems almost certain,
however, that within the useful life of the libraries now being
Page 71
planned, some handicapped students will attend the universities.
These students should be provided with at least the minimum
facilities required by the handicapped, including convenience
of access.
Flexibility
132. A modern library building requires a high degree of
flexibility in order that it can be modified internally to
meet changing" needs with a minimum number of structural changes
and at minimum cost. The biggest contributor to such flexi
bility is modular design with its absence of load-bearing walls,
and its resultant open areas, within which furniture, bookstacks,
and other equipment can be rearranged as required. Modular .
design and other factors in flexibility are discussed below.
Modular Design and Bookstack Arrangement
133. Instead of load-bearing walls to support the structure,
modular design uses rows of columns spaced at regular intervals -
the module. This results in large open areas of usable space
unrestricted by walls. Where walls are required they are normally
of the movable type and can be relocated as necessary.
134. In a modular building, the columns that support the
structure are aligned in rows at right angles to each other and
spaced at equal distances apart. The area or space delineated
Page 72
by any four columns forming a square is called a "bay." The
length of one side of this square, measured from center-to-
center of the two columns involved, is called the "module."
In Europe it is called the "grid square."
135. The selection of an appropriate module or bay size re
quires careful study by the architect. Of the several, factors
that influence module size, perhaps the most important, especi-•
ally from the librarian's viewpoint, is the efficiency and
flexibility of the bookstack arrangement. An important factor,
from the architect's viewpoint, is the efficiency gained by
using standard building components, such as window units and .
ceiling tiles. Ideally, the selected module should permit the
bookstacks to be so arranged in each bay that the aisle widths
are appropriate for the intended .use (open access or closed
access, for example) and there is a minimum of unused or wasted
space. __
136. In open access collections, an aisle width of 92 cms.
is adequate, permitting two persons, or a person and a
booktruck, to pass each other. Godfrey Thompson, in his book,
Planning and Design of Library Buildings, suggests the use
of aisles 96 cms. wide for two persons passing, up to 114 cms.
for persons passing booktrucks, but these dimensions are overly
Thompson, Godfrey, Planning and Design of Library Buildings, London, The Architectural Press, 1973. pp. 82- 83.
Page 73
generous and cannot be recommended where building budgets are
limited and maximum space utilization is required.
137. Aisle widths are, in turn, affected by shelf depths.
Experience has shown that up to 95 percent of most library
materials (art books are an exception) can be accommodated on
shelves 22.5 cms. deep. In normal configuration most shelving
is double-faced, and the depth of these units is 45 cms.
The combined depths of the shelves on the two sides of the
aisle, added to the width of the aisle, gives the centre -to-
centre spacing of the ranges within a bay. Using the above
figures (45 cms. + 92 cms.), 137 cms. is the most suitable
centre -to-cent.re spacing of the ranges to be used for shelving
general collections in open-access situations.
138. Bay sizes or modules can be inefficient, if they are too
small, because too much floor space is wasted by an excess
number of columns, and because it becomes difficult to arrange
properly bookstacks, tables, carrels, desics, and other neces
sary furnishings and equipment within such restricted spaces.
Experience in the U.S. during the past 25 years has shown that
a bay of 22.5 feet (6.85 meters) is an efficient size. At the
same time, it permits aisles wide enough to be comfortable
The depth of steel library shelving manufactured in Indonesia
is 22.5 cms. Deeper shelving is available for larger materials.
Page 74
without wasting space. Other bay sizes or modules are possible
and many have been used, but the 22.5-foot bay has been the
most widely accepted. The larger the bay, the more efficient
it becomes. However, increased structural costs often offset
the advantages of efficiency. It is for the architect, with
his knowledge of construction and engineering design, to deter
mine at what point large bays become uneconomical.
139. Because the 22.5-foot module (bay size) is based on the
use of bookstack sections 36 inches (.92 meters) wide, the
standard width used in the U.S. (and, to a lesser degree, in the
"United Kingdom .) , it does not convert precisely into the metric
system. It is c-lose enough, however, for all practical purposes
and is the basis for the recommendations made here.
140. The flexibility and efficiency of bookstack arrangements
or layouts are further increased if bay and column sizes are
selected so that the distance between the outer faces of two
columns is an even multiple of the shelf width. (See Figure 7.)
The distance between the inner faces of the same columns should
be as close as possible to an even multiple of the shelf width,
plus approximately 5 cms. to allow for the extra thickness of
the two end columns. (See Figure 5.)
141. It is evident that the selection of the best module for
a new library is complicated by several factors, but it is
Page 75
suggested that the architect give priority to achieving an
efficient bookstack arrangement rather than to meeting the
requirements imposed by the dimensions of the building materials,
important though these may be. It is also suggested that,
whenever possible, the architect design the structural system
of the building so that column dimensions do not exceed the
45-cm. depth of a double-faced range of steel book-
stacks. If the columns are larger than this, they project into
the aisles and impede the flow of the traffic at these points.
However, in a two or three-story building, holding column
sizes to this dimension should present no serious problems.
142. In a four-stocy building, the columns can go to 65 cms.,
thus projecting 10 cms. into each aisle. Academic library
buildings of more than four floors are unlikely to be necessary
on the basis of present needs. If they are, the architect must
make final decisions on column sizes based on the structural
system to be used and balancing these requirements against the
library's need for the most efficient and economical use of
space.
143. It should be emphasized that the basic reason for this
concern about proper module size, column size, and stack size
and layout, is simply to ensure that the building design makes
the most efficient use of the available space and gives the
library the greatest number of usable square meters for the
money invested.
Page 76
144. As indicated, the above discussion applies to the arrange
ment of the bookstacks in those areas housing the general
collection, in open-access libraries. There are, however,
locations where wider aisles are desirable because of greater
traffic or the housing of larger volumes (folios and atlases,
for example). Thus, the heavier traffic in the library's
open-access reference collection requires the use of wider -
aisles here. In this case, also, the shelves must be deeper
to accommodate the wider volumes that normally make up such
collections. Shelf depths of 25 cms. (50 cms. in double-faced
units), are usually adequate for reference collections, but
depths of 30 cms. (60 cms. in double-face) are preferred by
some librarians. In either case, this increased depth means
that the ranges must be set further apart and the number of ranges
in a bay will be at least one less than in the area housing the
general collection.
145. In the- final analysis, there is no perfect module and some
compromises are necessary. Figures 5, 6, and 7 show modules
of three different dimensions and the principal features of
each. These are analyzed below.
146. Figure. 5 is a bay of 6.85 meters, accommodating 5 ranges
of bookstacks set 1.37 meters apart, centre.-to-centre . The
double-faced shelving is 45 cms. deep and the aisles are 92 cms. 2
wide. This module has only 1.9 m of waste space (see the
Page 77
shaded area). It is assumed in this instance that the columns
are 45 cms. on each side. These are good dimensions from the
viewpoint of efficiency. The aisles, at 92 cms. are adequate
for an open-access collection but are not wide enough to waste
space. In any three story building, and in some four-story
buildings, it should be possible to hold the column size to
that suggested here.
147. In the conference on academic library buildings in South
east Asia, held in Singapore in 1976, it is interesting to note
that five out of the sixteen institutions reporting used a
module of 6.8 meters. Other modules varied from those with
such inefficient dimensions as 5.79 x 5.79 meters to 9.0 x 9.0
meters.
148. Figure 6 shows the stack arrangement in a bay of 7.2 x
7.2 meters - the size preferred by some architects, for reasons
unrelated to the efficiency of bookstack layout. Here, shelving
-depths (double-faced) are 45 cms. and the columns have the same
dimensions as with a module of 6.85 meters. (Again, this
column size should be feasible in a building of two or possibly
three floors.) This is an inefficient module, however, because
of the wasted space at the end of each group of bookstacks.
(Refer to the diagram.) Note also the unnecessarily wide
centre-to-centr? spacing (1.44 meters instead of 1.37 meters)
Page 78
which results in a waste of 6.8 m in every bay. Although one
architect indicated he liked this particular dimension because
it works well with the sizes of available building components,
it is interesting that not one of the 16 libraries discussed
at the Singapore conference of 1976, used this dimension, or
one close to it.
149. Figure 7 illustrates the arrangement of stacks in a bay
of 8.4 meters. This is a large bay size and one that works
well both with bookstacks and other library furniture. It is
assumed that the columns here will have to be larger to support
the larger bay size and they are shown at 65 cms. x 65 cms.,
a feasible size in most buildings of three or four floors.
Columns of this size project into the aisles 10 cms. on each
side. In this instance, the aisles are 85 cms. wide at the
points where the columns project into the aisles - the minimum
acceptable width. With this bay size and a column size of
65 cms., note that the length of the ranges is almost exactly
equal to the distance between the two outer column faces.
Note also that it is possible to place six ranges in every bay
instead of five. This is a much more efficient use of the
space in the building.
6.85 m-
Page 79
^ 5^
6.85 m
¡ !
0.43 ( 0.92 m
m
1.37 m 0.92 m Jp.45
m
6.40 m
7.30 m
Figure 5. Layout of bookstacks in a bay of 6.85 meters. Shaded area represents unusable or . wasted space, approximately 1.9 m
Page 80
7.2 m
1 v^
• E S
6.75 m
1.44 m
7.65 n
Figure 6. Layout of bookstacks in bay of 7.20 meters. Shaded areas represent unusable or wasted space, approximately 6.8 m^.
Page 81
8.4 m
T
9.05
7.75n
Figure 7. Layout of bookstacks in a bay of 8.4 meters. Aisle widths are 3 cms. wider than actually necessary. Total excess space with this bay size is 1.75 m2.
Page 82
3ookstack Dimensions and Design
150. If the book collection of a library is to be housed
efficiently and in the most economical manner, it is essen
tial that bookstacks have the correct dimensions and design,
These are summarized below:
(a) Height. 2.28 meters, each single-faced
section equipped with one fixed base shelf
and six adjustable shelves. Use of seven
shelves per single-faced section will be
possible in 85 percent of the collection.
(b) Shelf depth. Up to 90 percent or more of
ordinary library collections can be accom
modated on shelves having a usable depth of
22.5 cms. In double-faced configuration
these stack units are 45 cms deep. For
other materials, shelf depths required for
single-faced units are shown in Table 2 of
Appendix IV. These measurements must be
doubled for double-faced units.
Page 8
(c) Adjustability. All shelving should be verti
cally adjustable every 2.5 to 3.0 cms. (U.S.
bookstacks are adjustable every 2.54 cms. on
centres..) This feature is critical in the efficient
housing of library collections. The wood shelving
with fixed shelves, now universally used in Indo
nesian libraries, wastes (because of the fixed-
shelves alone) 7 to 10 percent of the collection
space in any given library. The use of units 6
shelves high instead of 7 shelves wastes an addi
tional 14 percent of the available space.
(d) Spacing. In many of the libraries visited during
the mission, wood shelving units were spaced
considerably further apart than necessary.
Again, this practice results in a significant
waste of floor space. In the new buildings now
being planned, the module should control stack
spacing. Within the limits of the modules recom
mended here, satisfactory stack spacings for
various types of collections are shown in Table 3
of Appendix IV. Other modules will require
different centre-to-centre measurements.
• Page 84
Floor Loading
151. Flexibility in library design not only requires that all
portions of all floors be designed to support live loads of
725 kilograms per square meter, but that all floors be struc
turally self-supporting. Floors engineered to the above strength
will support steel bookstacks of the standard height used in
the West (2.28 meters), spaced as shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7.
Unless floors throughout the library are properly engineered
problems can result.. For example, some libraries in the U.S.
have been designed with floors strong enough to support book-
stacks only in the areas required by the original collections.
When collections outgrew these areas the floors would not
support the loads. In a few instances, entire libraries have
been forced to find new locations.
152. In large, closed-stack collections it was once the practice
to construct multi-tier stacks in which the stack floors were
structurally independent of the building floors, with each
stack floor holding up the ones above. Because of the much
greater flexibility made possible by building design in which
each floor is self-supporting, multi-tier stacks are rarely
used today, except in additions to earlier buildings.
153. Compact stack installations must be designed to support 2
live loads of 1,450 kilograms per m , but such closed access
Page 85
installations are not recommended at this stage in the academic
library development of Indonesia. However, in libraries with
basements, the foundation floor is usually strong enough to
support compact stacks and could be used for this purpose at
some future time.
Lighting
154. Reasonable flexibility -in the design of libraries requires
that lighting levels and lighting quality be generally uniform
throughout the building. A library is inherently a place with
many kinds of seeing tasks - tasks that may range from the
easy to the very difficult, from reading large print with
good contrast between the print and the page, to reading material
written in hard pencil on poor quality paper.
155. The lighting in libraries visited during the mission was
of such a low level and so lacking both in uniformity and the
glare-free qualities characteristic of good lighting, that it
is difficult to understand how students can study effectively
at night. In a few buildings inadequate natural light makes
even daytime study difficult.
156. Light levels and light quality should be high enough to
permit easy reading of hard-to-see materials at study tables and
carrels; at workstations in offices, cataloging areas, and
Page 86
elsewhere; and in the aisles of bookstacks. General uniformity
of the lighting pattern is important, since it is normal for
libraries to change or expand both reading areas and bookstack
areas. As a result, lighting should be designed to accommodate
both types of use.
157. A good lighting system, providing glare-free illumination
over the reading or working surface should provide a maintained
level of 500 lux. Glare-free means that there should be no
direct glare from the fixture or the lamp, nor should there
be any reflected glare to cause "veiling reflections" from
the work surface.
158. Except in specialized locations, incandescent fixtures
are not generally suitable for library use. One of the
important objections to incandescent lighting is the high
heat levels given off. Fluorescent fixtures give ,a better
quality of light and impose much less heat load on the building.
159. Unfortunately, not all fluorescent fixtures provide
the high quality light required for library use. One of the
most efficient fixtures for libraries is a parabolic reflector
with a specular aluminum finish and aluminum louvres or baffles,
not the more traditional plastic lens. Described as "low-
brightness" fixtures, these units provide very high quality,
Page 87
glare-free light at the working surface. There is no glare
from the fixture itself. These fixtures have a bat-wing
photogrammetrie curve and can be used equally well for lighting
the bookstacks and for lighting working surfaces.
160. Task/ambient lighting systems so widely used today in
offices in the United States and Europe have not been generally
accepted for library use, because they have not provided the
high quality lighting required for reading. However, a great
deal of research is going on in this field and it is likely
that better task/ambient systems will be developed in the
future. At the present time, the general, overhead lighting
system is preferable for library use.
161. Questions are sometimes asked about the effect of fluore
scent light, with its high level-of ultraviolet radiation,
on the life of the book collection. There is, of course, no
question about the deteriorative effect of ultraviolet on
paper. In the ordinary situation there will be fading of the
exposed portions of the bindings from fluorescent lights.
Most of the light, however, will be cut off from the paper
by the shelves, by the bindings, and by adjacent volumes.
As a consequence, librarians should not be overly concerned
about the effect of UV radiation on the general book collection.
Page 88
162. It is possible to purchase ultraviolet filtering shields,
or sleeves, that slip over the fluorescent tubes and actually
absorb 95 percent or more of the UV originating from them.
These shields are recommended for rare book collections but
are ordinarily too expensive for general use outside such areas.
Air-Conditioning
163. As noted earlier in this report, none of the central
libraries visited during the mission were air-conditioned,
although one or two faculty libraries had some measure of
environmental control.
164. Air-conditioning serves two major purposes: 1) it
significantly increases the life of the book collections by
reducing the rate of chemical deterioration of the paper and
by reducing the likelihood of attack by mold and insects, and
2) it provides a more comfortable working environment for
library users."
165. In the case of chemical deterioration, it is generally
agreed by preservation scientists that for every 5° C. the
temperature can be lowered, the useful life of the paper will
be doubled. At 24° to 28° or 30° C. - the temperature in many
of the libraries visited - most modern paper will have a useful
life of approximately 50 years, or less. Lowering the tempera-
Page 89
ture to 20 to 22° C , and holding it at a relatively constant
level, will significantly increase the useful life of library
collections. In consequence, it is strongly recommended that
the new libraries now being planned be air-conditioned.
166. In this connection, one librarian commented to the
consultant that he did not see any reason to preserve a collec
tion that would "turn over" every ten to fifteen years. This,
of course, is a short-term view. It is true that textbook-
type collections quickly become obsolete. Research materials,
on the other hand, especially those in the humanities and
social sciences, have an indefinitely useful life. These and
other research materials should be afforded the protection
of air-conditioning.
167. Reasonable temperature and humidity limits for the
general air-conditioning of a university library are: 22 +
2° C. (20° to 24° C.) and 45% + 5% relative humidity.
Automation
168. Up to the present time, academic libraries in Indonesia
have not needed, or been able to afford, automation. Times
are changing rapidly, however, and within the reasonable life
expectancy of some of the new buildings now being planned,
it is certain that some degree of automation will be desirable.
Page 90
In addition, some libraries will need to go online in order
to provide access to the data bases now available. Online
searching will be particularly important for such institutions
as IPB, ITB, and ITS. Unless these new buildings are planned
with automation in mind, however, this will, be more difficult
and expensive than if it is planned in advance.
169. Planning for automation involves two basic requirements:
1) the provision of a machine room with special air-conditioning
facilities, and 2) the provision of facilities for routing
computer cables from probable terminal locations to the machine
room where the computer will be housed and for routing telephone
cables from outside the building to the library's central
distribution point, the machine room. Online operations
utilize ordinary telephone cables from some node in a national
or regional network. In-house terminals are likely to be
connected to microprocessors or mini-computers by similar
cables. These must be routed either in the floor through a
conduit or duct system, or in cable trays in the ceiling.
170. In the early stages of automation, most academic librar
ies in Indonesia will probably use large or maxi-computers
serving many campus needs and housed in the university computer
centers. However, the size and cost of small computers suitable
for library use are going down so rapidly that it is now entirely
feasible foc a library to have its own system.
Page 91
171. Today a computer and its accessory hardware, with suffi
cient capacity to handle all library operations and to store
the complete catalogue of a400,000 - 500,000 volume collec
tion, can be accommodated in a space of 30 square meters.
The only special requirement, in addition to a suitable
connecting duct system, is some additional cooling capacity
to accommodate the heat load of the equipment. Even the tradi
tional raised floor is unnecessary with the new micro-processing
units because so few cables are required. A single trench
in the floor is desirable, however.
172. A reasonable level of automation planning for new or
proposed academic .libraries would include the following:
2 (a) A machine room of 30 m , located xn the technical
services department, or in the lending (circulation)
services work area, this room to be air-conditioned
to maintain 18 C. and 45% relative humidity.
(b) Underfloor conduits (or a modest duct, system) leading
to the machine room from:
(i) circulation or loan desk,
(ii) reference office,
(iii) technical services department,
(iv) serials or periodicals services unit,
(v) central card catalogue and
(vi) external telephone system.
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173. Such a network of conduits (or ducts) will make it
possible to connect terminals to a computer elsewhere on
campus, to the library's own computer, or to the outside tele
phone system (for online operations).
Elevators and Booklifts
174. Of the central libraries visited during the mission,
none had a functioning elevator. Buildings of two floors
with textbook-type collections and limited circulation can
probably function satisfactorily without elevators. However,
the newer and larger library buildings now being planned to
support campus populations of 10,000 students and more will
find elevators essential. Not only will elevators be neces
sary for the transport of books from the circulation depart
ment to stack floors, they will be needed for the transport
of physically handicapped library users.
175. At least one elevator large enough for two passengers
and two booktrucks should be planned for each new building.
If funds do not permit an elevator, then an elevator shaft
of appropriate size, in which the elevator itself" can be
installed at a later date, should be included. In lieu of
an elevator in the initial building, a booklift large enough
to accommodate two booktrucks should be provided.
Page 93
GENERAL DESIGN CONCEPTS
176. Of the twenty academic libraries surveyed during the
course of this mission, very few were efficiently designed
for the functions they were intended to serve. As noted else
where in this report, by far the best libraries were those
located in buildings originally designed for other purposes.
The effectiveness of these buildings was almost entirely the
result of the knowledge and the careful planning of the library
directors.
177. Buildings designed specifically as university libraries
were neither functional nor attractive. Most of these new
buildings used a design in which the center of the building
was utilized for non-library purposes. In each instance, space
was wasted, noise problems were created, library services were
improperly located, and student convenience was ignored.
178. In one case, the library was built around a courtyard
open to the sky and serving only as a place for a few plants
and for students to throw trash. Some library staff functions
•were in closed rooms on the ground floor. Students had to go
to the upper levels to find books and services. The very
unattractive open courtyard required space that could have
been better used for library functions.
Page 94
179. In another building, a "light well" surrounded an unused
elevator shaft. Light came not from a skylight but from the
windows. The "opening" served no useful purpose and wasted
many square meters of needed space. Another library was designed
with a skylight and an open light shaft. Presumably, the sky
light was intended to provide light for library users, since
there was almost no artificial light in the building. However,
so much noise was transmitted from one floor to another via
the light well, that the librarian had been forced to erect
high baffles along the railings to achieve some degree of
noise control. In doing so, of course, he cut out much of
the light from overhead. This was the gloomiest and most
depressing library of those surveyed.
180. Where the most efficient and economical use of space
and available funds is of first importance, as it will be in
Indonesia for some years to come, the optimum shape for a
library building is a simple rectangle, having a ratio of
depth to length of approximately 2:3 (essentially the "golden
ratio" of the Greeks) and with the entrance in or near the
center of the long side.
181. "U" shaped buildings, "T" buildings, and "0" buildings
do not permit an efficient arrangement of library functions.
They are inconvenient to use and expensive to operate. Perhaps
Page 95
half of the libraries visited during the mission had these
inefficient configurations. "L" shaped buildings can be
efficient if one leg is very short. (See Figure 10.) If
both legs are of equal or approximately equal length the re
sulting structure will be as inefficient as the other configu
rations discussed above. To achieve some greater degree of
efficiency, new buildings now being planned should conform
to more conventional and less space-wasting shapes.
Location of Core Elements
182. The term "core," as used in architecture, refers to
those fixed structural elements that contain several or all
of the following: elevator shafts,, stairways, air shafts,
plumbing, and similar facilities. These are permanent
structural elements and once in place cannot be moved. If
located in the wrong position they make it difficult or impos
sible to place the functional elements of the library where
they may be required for efficiency. In addition, they
seriously reduce future flexibility. Because of plumbing
requirements, it is customary to place restrooms and janitor
closets in association with the cores. The entire complex
of core elements can occupy a significant amount of space on
each level and it is very important, therefore, that they
be properly located.
Page 96
183. Many architects prefer to locate the core in the center
of the building where they can make an architectural feature
of a stairway, for example. From the point of view of the
librarian, this is almost always undesirable because it de
prives him of his must valuable space and costs him essent
ial flexibility. More sympathetic architects locate the core
elements at one side of the building leaving the center free
of fixed obstructions. Figures 8, 9, and 10 illustrate three
appropriate locations for the building core.
Number of Floors
184. Several times during the mission, the consultant was
asked how many floors a library should have. The general
answer to this question is the fewer, the better. Other
factors being equal, one and two-story buildings are more
efficient than multi-story buildings. Moreover, building
vertically is almost always more expensive than building
horizontally. The increased cost of foundations, the cost
of elevators and stairways, and similar factors, all mean that
buildings of several floors tend to be more expensive than
buildings having the same area but with fewer floors. Tower
libraries should be considered only where there is insuffic
ient land to permit the construction of a more efficient struc
ture. On the other hand, there is a point at which the large
size of a single floor makes it inefficient because of the
distances involved. Under these circumstances, vertical
transportation may be quicker and easier.
Page 97
Load. Dock
Books and Readers -General Collections
*-
Books and Readers
' Card I Catalogs
I Indexes & I Abstracts
_l Reference Desk
Reference. Collection
Reference Office
Stairway
and
Rest-rooms
Loan Desk
•t-J-Main
Lobby
Exit Control __
Workflow Receiving Room
Technical Services
t
Loan Dept. Work Area
Elevator
Machine Room (auto.)
I I y
Administrative Offices
Figure 8. Location of Core, Alternative 1, Core elements in two units, near entrance. Students can reach all other parts of the building without entering the main area of the library. (Schematic only, not to scale.)
Page 98
Load. Dock
Receiving Room
Administrative Offices
Technical Services
Resv. Books
Loan Dept. Work
Reference Office
""f nocTT
Reference Collection
Card Cataloga- Books and Readers
Reserved Books and 24-Hour Study
Loan Desk
i
Entrañe Lobbv
Core Elements
Figure 9. Location of Core, Alternative 2, Core elements in one unit, near entrance. Other occupants of building, if any, can reach their floor without going into library. (Schematic only, not to scale.)
Page 99
Load.Dock
Reference Office
Reference Collection Reference
Desk
Books
and
Readers
Card Catalog
Loan Desk
,t4 Second Level Cantilevered Out Entrance To Make Covered Plaza f Lobby
Receiving Room
Technical Services
Loan Dept. Work Area
Core Elements
Adminis trative Offices
Figure 10. Location of Core, Alternative 3. (Schematic only, not to scale.)
Page 100
185. The architect should study this matter carefully before
making final decisions. Here, because every situation is
different, it is possible only to suggest some very general
guidelines as to the number of floors in a library.
2 (a) For buildings of less than 3,000 m , two floors
will normally be adequate, both above ground.
2 (b) For buildings of 3,000 to 6,000 m , three,
possibly four floors will be suitable.
Assuming appropriate soil conditions and
ground water levels, one floor can be below
grade. Buildings with three or more floors
must have elevators to return books and other and
materials to upper and lower floors/to provide
service to the handicapped. One building discussed
at the 1976 Singapore conference had less than
2 4,000 m , distributed in five floors. Assuming
adequate land was available, this building could
have been accommodated much more efficiently and
at far less cost in three floors.
2 2 (c) Libraries of 6,000 m to 10,000 m should be
analyzed carefully to determine the optimum number
of floors. In this connection, it should be noted
2 that a floor area of less than 2,000 m is too
small to be efficient.
Page 101
186. In any building, no matter how many floors, it is
essential that the main level be large enough to accommodate
the principal functions of the library, as outlined earlier
in this report.
Ceiling Heights
187. Determination of appropriate ceiling heights in library
buildings involves consideration of such factors as air-
conditioning (or ventilation), light distribution from over
head fixtures, the function of the area under consideration,
architectural aesthetics, the psychological reactions of the
occupants, and costs. The subject cannot be discussed here
in any detail, but some general criteria can be suggested.
188. First, it is important to note that the maintenance of
uniform ceiling heights throughout the principal working and
collection areas of the building is absolutely essential, if
the library is to have the flexibility required to meet the
changing needs of the future. Building designs in which stack
rooms and reading rooms are separate and distinct and have
different ceiling heights impose a degree of inflexibility on '
library operations that is likely to make any library obsolete
in a few years.
Page 102
189. In an air-conditioned building some space is required
between the finished ceiling and the top of the bookstacks
to permit the proper distribution of air. If the lighting
system utilizes ceiling fixtures above the stacks, the same
is true for lighting.
190. As a general rule, it is necessary to allow approximately
0.5 meters between the tops of the stacks and the finished
ceiling. With bookstacks 2.28 meters high, as recommended
here, finished ceiling heights should be not less than 2.75
meters.
191. Reader comfort also plays, a role in determining ceiling
heights. In the large open areas characteristic of modular
libraries, ceilings that are too low can seem oppressive and
unpleasant to the users. Such areas ought to have minimum
ceiling heights of 2..75 meters, 2.85 meters would be better.
Beyond 2.85 meters, cost becomes a major factor. Two story
heights in lobbies are rarely appropriate in buildings of the
general size under discussion here, although, for aesthetic
reasons, higher ceilings on the entrance level than on the
other levels of the building are sometimes used.
192. Ceiling heights are generally a matter for the architect
to determine. The librarian, however, should insist that the
building have uniform ceiling heights in order to achieve
Page 103
the desired level of flexibility. In this connection, it may
be worthwhile to emphasize again the importance of not separa
ting stack areas and reading areas. In academic libraries
of small to medium size, the open access philosophy that
mingles books and readers and the flexibility of uniform
ceiling heights are all important.
Workflow, Traffic Patterns, and Building Organization
193. The functions and services of an academic library not
only proceed along generally well-established lines that
can be charted and defined, but" each function bears an inter
relationship to the others. When basic principles of work
flow are observed, the library operates efficiently and at
minimum cost for the work accomplished. Both workflow and
the inter-relationships of various functions have an effect
on the basic design concepts and the layout of the library.
A full discussion of this subject is not possible here, but
some essential points can be noted.
194. Three types of occupants and thus three types of traffic
are recognized: library users, library staff, and library
materials. Although library users and materials can be classi
fied by category, we are concerned here only with the library
staff, of which three classes can be identified; administrative,
public services, and technical, services.
Page 104
195. Figures 11, 12, and 13 show the principal traffic routes
in a typical academic library of three floors. Note that
all materials - books, periodicals, newspapers and others,
as well as supplies - enter the building via the loading dock
and receiving room.' From here supplies go to a storeroom.
Books, periodicals and other materials go to the acquisitions
or order section to be checked against invoices, then to
cataloging, classification, and physical processing. Each
of these functions is a part of the technical services depart
ment, which should be accommodated in one large open space.
From physical processing these materials are sent to the
lending services division for shelving. For this reason, the
close physical relationship between the technical services
department and loan services is critical.
196. In Figure 11, note the staff traffic between reference,
services and the card catalog and reference collection.
Similarly, the administrative staff needs convenient access
to both technical services and loan services, and in lesser
degree, to reference services. The location of the stairway
and elevators should make it possible for students _to reach
the other floors without going into the working area of the
first floor. This is a significant feature because it keeps
traffic from disturbing those working on this level.
Page 105
Books and Readers
Books and Readers
<r
Y
Reference Collection^
X
Books
and
Readers
Card ¿. Catalog**-
I Orrier Section
X. v
Technical Services
Cataloging & Classification
I
t I Physical 'Processing
V Administrative Offices
r >-
User traffic
Staff traffic
Materials traffic
Figure 11. Functional arrangement for medium size university library showing principal traffic patterns and work flow. Entrance level. (Schematic only, not to scale.)
Page 106
i
General Collection
Stacks and Reading
Bound Periodicals
Stacks and Reading «<-
4 Stairs way
Microform ^^¿ervices
«^Photocopy
Service
+
Audio-Visual Services
T *
Current Periodicals Service
A
^" Main -* Lobby
$le% T Y
Reserve Book Reading Room and 24-Hour Study
Figure 12. Functional arrangement for medium size university library showing principal traffic patterns and work flow. Lower level. (Schematic only, not to scale.)
Page 107
Group Studies - Typing Faculty Studies
-»•"
General Collection
Stacks and Reading
Rare Books and Special Collections
Figure 13. Functional arrangement for medium size university library showing principal traffic patterns and work flow. Upper level. (Schematic only, not to scale.)
Page 108
197. On the lower level (Figure 12) the locations of the
various functional areas should take into account the import
ant inter-relationships of these services - current periodi
cals under close control, but near bound periodicals; photo
copy facilities near periodicals (because most photocopy work
is from these materials)? microforms near periodicals (because
approximately 75% of microform usage is of periodicals);
reserve book reading near the stairway and elevators, and where
the area can be locked off from the rest of the library for
use as a 24-hour study area. The use of microforms requires
reduced light levels and does not need to have windows. This
function, therefore, can be placed on the lower level.
198. The audio-visual service, in this case, (Figure 12)
bears no essential relationship to other functions, but is
placed here because users of audio-visual materials are con
centrating on viewing or listening and do not need natural
light and a view of the out-of-doors. The upper level can be
better assigned to general library seating or to other special
functions.
199. The upper level of the three-floor library (Figure 13)
is devoted almost entirely to the general collection-and to
seating, together with faculty studies, group studies, and
a smoking lounge. In this case, the only specialized function
is the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Page 109
200. The administrative staff forms the smallest of the three
staff groups, usually consisting of the director, an assistant
director, (sometimes an administrative assistant), and their
supporting staff, usually a secretary and one or two clerical
assistants. In most small to medium size libraries, the
director (and his assistants) prefer to be near the operating
center of the library - the technical services department,
the loan division, and the reference division. At the same
time, they must also be readily accessible to faculty who
wish to consult them, to off-campus visitors, and to students.
For this reason, an entrance level location, accessible with
out the need to go through the working areas of the library,
is preferred. This location is not essential, but is highly
desirable. The administrative offices should not be located
on the entrance level, however, if this means relegating an
essential public service to an upper floor. Such a choice
should not be necessary if a reasonable land area is available
for the library.
201. The public services staff is in regular, facè-to-face .
communication with user.s (normally students and faculty) and
interfaceswith them at the library's service points: the
loan desk (circulation desk), reference service desk, reserved
book service desk, periodicals service desk, audio-visual
service desk, and microforms services desk. A.given library
Page 110
may provide all these separate service points or may combine
one or more. Libraries serving campus populations in excess
of 6,000 to 8,000 students, however, should have all of the
above if they wish to provide the full range of services of
a modern university library.
202. Technical services staff members are responsible for
selecting, ordering, receiving, and making ready for use
(cataloging, classifying, and marking for identification)
the"materials purchased or otherwise acquired by the library
for its collections. The workflow here is precise and should
be reflected in the organization of the space assigned to
this department and in its relationships to other elements
on the entrance level.
203. As noted above, Figures 11, 12, and 13 /show a suitable
and efficient arrangement in three floors for a small to
medium size academic library. Other arrangements are possible,
but the basic principles shown here are important. In these
diagrams, note particularly the following critical relationships:
(a) Location of the core elements so that the central
area of the building is left open for library functions.
(b) Location of the card catalogutwhere it is readily
visible to the entering user but is inside the
library's exit control and conveniently near the
Page 111
reference service desk so that it is readily
accessible to both service staff and library users.
(c) Flow of incoming materials - from loading dock to
receiving room, to acquisitions, to cataloging,
to physical processing, to lending services,
to bookstacks.
(d) Relationship of the, microforms and copying services
to periodicals.
(e) Location of the reference service where it is
readily visible and accessible (on the entrance
level) to the incoming user.
(f) Location of the loan desk immediately inside the
entrance, where it is the first service point
students see when-they enter the building and the
last they see when they leave. Placing the loan
desk on the right as students enter, and on the
left as they leave, is in accord with the customary
pedestrian traffic in Indonesia.
204. The diagrams show a preferred distribution of library
functions on three floors. It should be understood that those
elements or functions shown on the main or entrance level must
be on that level. The preferred location of other functions
is indicated in the diagrams and discussed in earlier sections,
Page 112
SPACE REQUIREMENTS AND SPACE CALCULATIONS
205. Although a topic of major importance, this report can
provide no more than a very general treatment, with some focus
on a few points that appear to be of special importance.
Workspace and Seating Allowances for Readers
206. In the academic libraries visited during the mission
a wide variation in the sizes and designs of study facilities -
individual carrels, multi-place tables, and individual study
tables - was seen. Every library seemed to have its own
standards for the design and dimensions of library furniture.
It is not necessarily desirable to have standardized designs
for all reader facilities, but some uniformity of functional
and aesthetic design within the same reading room is highly
desirable. More important, the areas of workstations and
the dimensions of tables and carrels should be standardized.
207. In the United States it is commonly accepted that under-2
graduate students require 0.55 m of work space in which to
comfortably spread out notebooks, workpapers, and books.
This same work space is strongly recommended for.Indonesian.
undergraduates. Some of the carrel units observed during the
2 mission measured 60 x 60 cms. and provided only 0.36 m of
work space, approximately 60 percent of that actually desirable.
This is too small for student comfort and efficiency.
Page 113
208. An individual study carrel large enough to provide a 2
work area of 0.55 m will have dimensions of approximately 2
90 x 60 cms. A 4-place table providing 0.55 m of work area for each occupant will have dimensions of 180 x 120 cms.
209. It is not recommended that the dimensions of individual
study carrels (90 x 60 cms.) be reduced under any circumstances.
Where necessary, however, 4-place tables can be reduced slightly -2
to 180 x 100 cms. This provides only 0.45 m per position,
but is acceptable, where necessary, because the space is
shared and it is assumed that not all occupants will use the'
full share of the space allotted to them.
210. Metcalf, in Planning Academic and Research Library 1
Buildings, indicates that minimum dimensions for individual
study carrels can be smaller than.those recommended here.
Although he states these are minimums, it should be noted
that they are very infrequently used, because they are too
small to be either convenient or comfortable. It should also
be noted that Metcalfs minimum space allowances per seat are
valid only if used with his minimum dimensions for carrels
and table space.
Metcalf, Keyes D., Planning Academic and Research Library Buildings, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1965. p. 392.
Page 114
211. In calculating space allowances, it must be.remembered
that they are only estimates intended to give the owner and
the architect a means of estimating the size and the cost
of the building. Such estimates can vary up or down, depend
ing upon the expertise of the architect in space planning.
If he is competent in this aspect of design, the estimates
will be accurate enough for all practical purposes. It is
not unusual, however, to find, when all the furniture, book-
stacks, and other equipment have been drawn to the proper
scale on the drawings, that the seating capacity, book capacity,
or necessary workspace is less than had been expected. This
is one reason it is important to show all the furniture and
equipment on the preliminary drawings before they are approved
for working drawings.
212. In this connection, it is important to determine that
the furniture and equipment are accurately drawn to the proper
scale. The consultant remembers one situation in the U.S.
where all the bookstacks were drawn to three-quarters of the
scale that should have been used. When the proper scale was
substituted the book capacity was significantly less than
required.
213. The present consultant's recommended space allowances
for the more common seating accommodations required in academic
libraries will be found in Appendix IV.
Page 115
Bookstack Capacities and Space Allowances
214. Calculation of book capacity and the area required for
bookstacks is one of the more difficult problems in library
space planning. Not only are no two situations identical,
calculations are made more difficult by the fact that they
depend, in some degree, upon several different factors:
(a) The specific composition of the book collection.
An academic library of ordinary bound volumes, includ
ing periodicals, will, on the average,run about 25'
volumes per linear meter of shelving or about 175
volumes per single-faced section, 7 shelves high.
Where a collection contains a large number of bound
pamphlets, as at the Library of Congress, for example,
the number of volumes or items per linear meter can
jump to 80 and the number per single-faced section
^=— to over 500. A collection of law books will require
more linear meters of shelving than a collection of
novels or fiction. European library planners assume
thinner volumes and generally estimate higher capaci
ties than U.S. planners. The consultant's recommenda
tions, based on the general standards used in the U.S.,
will be found in Appendix IV.
Page 116
) The height of the sections and the number of shelves
accommodated. The calculations given by Metcalf
and other Western sources assume stack sections
2.28 meters high, accommodating an average of 7 shelves
per section. Indonesian wood shelving is almost
universally limited to 6 shelves. This reduces book
capacity by one-seventh or 14 percent. In many
instances observed during the mission, stack units
held only 4 or 5 shelves, further reducing the capa
city of the building. It is strongly recommended
that all new buildings use steel stacks (available
in Indonesia) accommodating one fixed base shelf and
6 adjustable shelves in each single-faced section.
) The building module. The size of the building module
determines how efficiently the bookstacks can be
arranged within the building. As a general rule,
the larger the module the more efficient the layout.
(See Figures 5, 6, and 7.)
) The cent^e-to-centF3 spacing of the ranges or rows
of bookstacks in the bays. Any increase or decrease
in the optimum number of ranges per bay will affect
the capacity accordingly.
Page 117
(e) Working vs. absolute capacity. Librarians generally
recognize that there are practical limitations in
shelving books. After the shelves are filled to a
certain capacity more adjustments are required,
more volumes must be moved to make space for incoming
materials, and the danger of damaging books from
crowding becomes greater. For this reason it is
customary to assume a practical working capacity
for each shelf or section. In the U.S. this working
capacity is generally accepted as 83 percent; in
Europe it is usually set at 75 percent. As the words
suggest, absolute capacity is the total number of
volumes the shelves will hold when they are completely
full. Most librarians and library planners prefer
to make their planning calculations on the basis of
working capacity.
Some authorities recommend that estimates of the
space required to house a given number of volumes
be prepared on the basis of so many volumes per square
meter of floor space. This may be acceptable as a
very rough rule of thumb, useful perhaps for the
most preliminary estimates, but it is not sufficiently
accurate for use in a written building program, A
more accurate method is the following:
Page 118
(i) Estimate the average number of volumes per
linear meter in the future book collection.
(ii) Determine the number of shelves to be used
per single-faced section of bookstack and,
from this, the number of volumes that can be
accommodated per section.
(iii) Multiply the resulting number of single-2
faced sections by 0.9 m to obtain the total
number of square meters required to house
the ultimate book collection. In the final
bookstack layout most stack sections will
be in double-faced configuration but this does
not affect the calculations.
(f) The size of the columns. Ideally, a square column
(rectangular columns are not usually recommended)
should be no larger than the depth of a double-faced
section of bookstacks. Otherwise, .the column pro
trudes into the aisle and impedes traffic. If signi
ficantly larger, it forces the elimination of at
least part of a range in each bay and thus reduces
the capacity of the stacks in some degree. The
distance between column faces should permit the
installation of a range of bookstacks with minimum
waste space. (See Figure 7.)
Page 119
215. In preparing the building 5?°scrams it is desirable to
show not only the requirements in square meters but also
the number of stack sections required. When the architect
lays in the bookstacks on the drawings - as he or the inter
ior designer should do before they are approved - it becomes
a simple matter to count sections and thus determine, with
a high degree of accuracy, the ultimate book capacity of the
building.
216. The consultant strongly recommends that new libraries
now being planned use stacks seven shelves high. It may be
desirable to use footstools with such units, but it will
add one-sixth (16 percent) to the stack capacity. At the
high cost of building today, this is a significant saving.
Other Space Allowances
217. Although seating and shelving allowances make up the
bulk of the space requirements in an academic library, there
are other functions for which estimates must be made and
set forth in the building program. In general, these will
depend upon the functions -involved and the manner in which
these are carried on. Detailed consideration of these allow
ances is not possible here. Those interested should consult
Metcalf's Planning Academic and Research Library Buildings.
1 Metcalf, op. cit.
Page 120
Space Summary
218. As indicated in Appendix III, the final section in a
good building program is a Space Summary. This is a detailed
listing of the estimated space allowances for all functional
areas of the library: seating, bookstacks, staff workspace,
storage facilities, receiving room, etc. These allowances
are usually calculated in units of area known as "assignable
square meters" (ASM) or "net square meters" (NSM). All of
the allowances in Appendix IV, and in such standard works as
Metcalf, are in these units. These areas do not include any
space that does not contribute directly to library functions.
Building Efficiency
219. In order to estimate the cost of the project, it is
necessary to calculate the "gross square meters" (GSM) in
the building. This, in turn, requires that the "architect's
space," i.e., the space required for such non-library functions
as walls, columns, elevators,, stairways, restrooms, mechanical
rooms, and similar areas, be estimated and added to the total
assignable square meters required for library functions. The
ratio of the ASM to the GSM determines building efficiency.
Thus, if 70 percent of the gross square meters is directly
usable for library functions, the building is said to be 70
percent efficient. Library buildings generally achieve an
Page 121
efficiency of between 70 and 80 percent. If the calculated
efficiency is less than about 68 percent, the architect should
restudy his design.
220. In preparing the written program, it is advisable to
calculate the total number of assignable square meters re
quired for library purposes, then to add a percentage for
the architect's space, to obtain the estimated gross square
•meters. It is good practice not to assume an efficiency
greater than 75 percent. Adding an allowance for the archi
tect's space of 33-1/3 percent of the 'n.s.m., will yield a
total for the gross square meters that approximates a building
of 75 percent efficiency.
Page 122
CONCLUSION
221. A well planned, efficient library building, serviced
by a trained and competent staff, and housing a collection
of books, periodicals and audio-visual materials carefully
selected to support the academic programme is an essential
element of a university programme.Up to the present time the
academic libraries of Indonesia have not been able to meet
these criteria.
222. This report has focused on the physical facilities of
Indonesia's academic libraries, analyzing the problems of
existing buildings, and setting forth certain basic criteria
for future library design. As stated in the report, however,
a good building does not, alone, make a good library. Other
factors being equal, however, a good building will help to
promote good service.
223. Indonesian universities, and other academic institutions,
now have an excellent opportunity to plan and build libraries
that will provide support^ for improved library services and
stronger academic programs.
Page 123 Appendix I
APPENDIX I
SURVEY FORM FOR THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES OF INDONESIA
GENERAL Date:
University: . :
Location:
Librarian's name:
Size of student body: Men Women Total
Date library constructed: Additions:
Subject division:
Division:
Departmental libraries not located in main building:
COLLECTIONS
Open or closed access: Gross Sq. Meters:
Volumes in collection: Period titles:
Rare books: Manuscripts:
Reels of microfilm: Microfiche:
Other non-print materials:
General condition of the collections:
Page 124 Appendix I
SEATING
Total reader seats:
Distribution by type: Individual carrels / 4-place tables
6-place tables , study rooms , microfilm readers ,
other •
STAFF
Prof , Non-Prof , No. "Private Offices
Workstations
ADMINISTRATIVE ASPECTS
Organization ; Chart available
Librarian reports to
Library provides service to
Automation
Annual overall budget
Annual expenditures for books
Annual expenditures for periodicals
SERVICES
Lends books to
Interlibrary loans -
Reference service
Bibliographic services
BUILDING-GENSRAL
Site
Expansion
Flexibility
Modular Model size
Load bearing walls
Lighting
Na tur al
No. of floors Elevators
Levels not served by elevators
Page 125 Appendix I
Entrance conditions
Page 126 Appendix I
Control point (circulation desk/check point
BUILDING-ELECTRICAL
Voltage
Emergency power
Outlets
BUILDING-FIRE PROTECTION
Fire escape
Fire stairs
Early warning
Compar tinenta tion_
Standpipes
Nozzles
Exits
Sorinklers
_Hand extinguishers^
Hose
Other comments
BUILDING-SECURITY
Page 127 Appendix I
Humidify_
Pollution
BUILDING - ARRANGEMENT OF SPACES
General plan
En t r anc e
Card catalog_
Service desks
Reserved books
Return of books to stacks via
Retrieval of books ___
Location of critical spaces
Administrative offices_
Bindery
Circulation
Group studies
Loading dock
Reading rooms
Receiving rooms
Reference functions
Seminar rooms..
BUILDING-ENVIRONMENT
Air-conditioning
Temperature
Dust
Page 128 Appendix I
Storage
Technical services
Acquisitions
Ca talogting
Serials
Typing rooms
Other ' "'
FURNISHING/EQUIPMENT
STYLE OF CHAIRS
SYTLE AND DIMENSIONS OF READING SURFACES
Tables
Carrels
Other
SERVICE DESKS
Size
Style(sit-down/stand-up)
CARPETED
INFORMAL FURNITURE
MICRO READERS
Nos. by type
BOOKS STACKS
Manufacturer
D imens ions
Wood or steel
Page 129 Appendix I
GENERAL COMMENTS
OFFICE FURNITURE
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
B indery
Computers_
Telex
Telephone^
Typewriters
F.G.P. January 1979
Page 130 Appendix II
APPENDIX II
THE AUDIO-VISUAL CENTER
Audio-visual facilities of any kind are not presently a part
of the organization of academic libraries in Indonesia.
Such audio-visual facilities as do exist are either in so-
called "Learning Resource Centers" or in other campus units.
The fact that information is packaged today in many forms and
that making such information available to library users,
regardless of how it is packaged, is a basic library responsi
bility, is not generally understood in Indonesia.
There is, however, some evidence that this picture is changing
as new campuses and new libraries enter the stage of active
planning. Unfortunately, this lack of experience means that
there is only a vague notion on the part of librarians and
architects of how the physical facilities for a library audio
visual center should be designed. It is hoped that this brief
description of the basic facilities will be helpful.
A basic facility should provide the materials, the equipment,
and the building arrangements necessary for students to use
any of the following: 35 mm slides, filmstrips, slide/tape
presentations, 8 mm movies, audio and videotapes, and video
discs. Libraries will not acquire all of these materials
Page 131 Appendix II
at one time. In the case of videodiscs, for example, it may
be several years before these are generally useful or avail
able for library use. Further, unless the new libraries re
ceive significantly better financial support than is now the
case, audio-visual materials will not be acquired at all.
Basic materials - monographic works and subscriptions to
periodicals - should receive first priority.
The objective, however, of making audio-visual facilities
available in academic libraries is to provide students with
access to all the information necessary to support their
academic studies, no matter how it may be packaged. It should
be emphasized here that the library is generally not the place
for the production of audio-visual materials, or for teaching
the use of audio-visual equipment and materials. Production
should be a function of a unit serving the entire campus.
The teaching function belongs in the education department of
the institution where it should be coordinated with other work
in educational methods and technology.
In the library, to provide student access to the information
contained in these materials, a suitable physical facility
for audio-visual materials should consist of three basic
elements: 1) an audio-visual control room, 2) a listening/
viewing room, equipped with individual "wet" (electrified)
carrels, and 3) an audio-visual classroom equipped for group
listening and viewing.
Page 132 Appendix II
Audio-visual control room. This is a room from which audio
and video programmes can be transmitted by means of underfloor
cables to individual student carrels in an adjacent listening/
viewing room. The control room interfaces with the listening/
viewing room by means of a service counter or desk where students
present their requests to have audio or video materials played
on the control room's playback equipment and "piped" to the
carrel at which they are seated. At this same service desk
students may also borrow projectors, slides, filmstrips, and
other materials to play or show to themselves in the listening/
viewing carrels.
The control room should provide initially for three to five
tape decks and four to six video playback machines. Some
expansion capability should be provided. An allowance of
2 2.0 m for each item of playback equipment "is adequate. In
addition, the control room should provide for the^sjtorage of
audio-visual materials and audio-visual equipment for student
use, as well as an area (preferably a separate but adjacent
room) where equipment can be repaired and maintained. In-
2 eluding two staff work stations, a total allowance of 40 m for the control room is reasonable in most cases.
Page 133 Appendix II
Listening/Viewing room. This room should be equipped with
individual carrels containing electrical outlets at which
projectors can be plugged in. It should be connected to the
control room by a conduit or trench system. Each carrel should
contain a simple switching device which enables the student
to switch from one channel .to another and thus hear the programme
emanating from any of the programme sources in the control room.
All listening should be by earphones that plug into suitable
jacks in the carrels. Built into the back of the carrel or,
more simply, placed on a shelf of the carrel, a small television
monitor allows the student to watch any television.or video
program originating in the center. In addition, students
may borrow projectors and slides at the audio-visual service
counter and project these to themselves on a small screen built
into the back of each carrel. Twenty to thirty such individual , . 2
positions at 3.0 m each are suggested for new library buildings.
Audio-visual classroom. This room should seat from 20 to 30
students so that a class .or a group of students can listen to
or watch programmes originating in the control centra , or can
view slides, motion pictures, or other materials. Suitable
cable connections with the control room are necessary. Large
television monitors are required and a permanently installed
projection screen is desirable. Adequate electrical outlets
2 should be provided. An allowance of 2.8 m per seat is adequate.
Page 134 Appendix II
These three basic facilities will provide all necessary means
for students to use the several forms of information acquired
by a modern academic library. Properly equipped and staffed,
these facilities can give students access to the media-type
learning resources needed to augment and support basic library
collections.
Page 135 Appendix III
APPENDIX III
SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAMME
PART 1. THE CONTENTS OF A BUILDING PROGRAM.^5
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
The introduction should discuss, as applicable, the
following topics:
1. The purpose of the programme»
2. The planning schedule, deadlines, related topics.
3. Previous programme revisions.
4. Identification of the person or persons responsible for preparing the programme.
5. Role.of the library or building committee.
6. Acknowledgments.
CHAPTER II. INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND"^ ""
This section should describe the institution the library
serves. Here it is appropriate to discuss the background
and educational philosophy of the institution, the academic
programme£he academic future of the institution, and present
and projected enrol .ments. Unique or unusual features of
the institution that might affect the building should be
included here: expansion of the curriculum, additional
graduate program.?^ service to the community, and similar
topics.
Page 136 Appendix III
CHAPTER III. LIBRARY BACKGROUND
This section of the programme should set forth the principal
aspects of library service. These may include the
following:
1. A brief statement covering the history of the
library - if this is pertiennt in later discussion
of future plans.
2. Present library situation - present building,
unusual or undesirable conditions that need
solution in a new building; location of various
parts of the collection,- as these affect the new
building.
3. Library policies as these affect centralization or
decentralization, and other matters that may affect
the building design.
4. Present size of the collection and projected growth,
based upon present and projected budgets.
5. Staff size and projected growth.
6. Organizational structure of the present library and
the new library, including present and future organi
zation charts. .
Page 137 Appendix III
CHAPTER IV. ARCHITECTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
The librarian has usually developed some general conclus
ions about certain architectural matters based upon
experience in his present building, his visits to other
libraries, and his reading of the library literature.
He will probably want to comment on the need for flexi
bility, discuss the probable need for expansion, the
factors to be considered in selecting a proper site, the
importance of the lighting, the need for environmental
controls, special electrical problems, planning for auto
mation, and similar topics.
Although the librarian should not try in any sense to
"play" architect, it is both appropriate and desirable
the he include in the programme the architectural matters
that are important to the library and its operation.
If he wishes to say that he does not want a building with
a great skylight and open courtyard in the centre, he
should feel free to do so. Similarly, he should feel
free to state in the -progranspe that booktrucks must be able
to reach all parts of the building and the use of levels
that can be reached only by going up or down steps is
unacceptable.
Architects are not always aware of, or do not remember,
some of these problems unless they are informed or re
minded of them by the written programr**.
Page 138 Appendix III
CHAPTER V. FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF THE BUILDING
Having discussed the introductory aspects and general
background of the proposed building, the librarian or
other person responsible for the program, can now discuss
the functional elements or areas of the new building.
This material may be organized in a number of different
ways. One convenient way to do this is to proceed on
the basis of the organizational structure to be used in
the new building. If this procedure is followed, the
discussion can cover, in turn, each department, division,
section, and unit of the library and the physical require
ments, areas required, and spatial relationships of each.
Another way to organize this material, and sometimes the
most convenient way, is by functional areas rather than
organizational areas. The topical outline that follows
as Part 2 of this Appendix is based on this method of
organizing the material.
Each distinct area or space of the building should be
described in general terms. This should be followed
by a single sheet: "Inventory of Space Requirements,"
(Part 3 of this Appendix) that presents in succinct form
the pertinent data needed by the architect to design the
various functional areas in the building. This "inventory"
helps the architect to visualize the functions and physical
requirements of each specific area of the building.
Page 139 Appendix III
CHAPTER VI. SPACE SUMMARY
It is essential for the program to contain the estimated
square meters required for each facility and the total
for the building as a whole. The number of square meters
in each functional area can be entered on the Space
Requirements sheet. In turn, the number of square meters,
for each area can be listed on the Space Summary sheet.
See Part 4.
Page 140 Appendix III .
APPENDIX III
SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAMME
PART 2. OUTLINE AND CHECKLIST FOR DESCRIBING THE FUNCTIONAL
AREAS OF THE BUILDING (CHAPTER V OF THE BUILDING PROGRAM'^
PUBLIC SERVICE AREAS
Foyer or vestibule
Lobby
Exit control
Exhibit facilities - wall cases, movable cases, etc.
Bulletin boards - built-in, movable, etc.
Entrance to Administrative offices
Hours of service
Public telephones
Lending services
Service counter - special requirements, number of staff to be accommodated
Work space for discharging books - special requirements for present and future charging systems, separation from service counter
Telephone requirements
Book lift, or need for proximity to service.elevator
Central lighting control
Office space for circulation head
Book truck storage space
Staging area (or proximity to adjacent shelving) for organizing books to be shelved
Locker or coat rack facilities for staff
Time clock location if required for student assistants
Book drops - service counter drops, after hours return facilities, special requirements
Page 141 Appendix III
Reference facilities
Type of counter or desk
Shelving for special reference collection
Telephone requirements
Office and work space - location and amount
Special requirements
Reference collection, reference seating
Card catalogwc(or COMCAT, or online terminals)
Number of units required
Size of units required (60 vs. 72 tray)
Catalog" reference tables
Type of catalog - dictionary or divided
Space required for catalog expansion
Lighting requirements for card catalog area
Location of card catalog as related to use by technical services and reference staff
Traffic flow around.card catalog
Periodicals and periodical records
Periodical indexes - location
Central serials record - where located, how serviced
Visible record files for public use
Location and display of:
unbound general periodicals
Unbound periodicals in subject fields -shelved by broad subject groups in stacks, displayed in single large periodical section or room, etc.
Bound general periodicals
Bound periodicals in subject fields -classified, filed with monographic materials, filed in single large periodical section
New book display
Paperback book display
Newspaper display and reading
Page 142 Appendix III
READING AREAS (BOOKS AND READERS)
Book stacks - type, arrangement, special units
Reading facilities - types of equipment, general arrangement
Individual study tables
Individual study carrels
Multi-place tables
Multi-place electronic carrels
Enclosed carrels
Lighting and Acoustical control
Lounge or informal reading areas
Browsing room - if any
Group studies
Seminar room
Faculty studies
Smoking rooms
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND SERVICES
Microform reading facilities
Audio-visual or media facilities
Rare books
Archives
Maps
Government documents
Copying and reproduction services
Typing rooms
STAFF WORK AREAS
Administration
Librarian's office
Secretary's office
Other administrative offices
Conference room
Office supplies storage
Staff restrooms & lounge
Page 143 Appendix III
STAFF WORK AREAS (Continued)
Technical Services
Acquisitions and cataloging department -arrangement and workflow, location of shelf list, location of trade bibliographies, relationship to bibliographic materials, relationship to card catalogs storage for books in-process, design of work stations, special files and equipment, computer terminals
Book processing area - facilities for marking and mending
Serials and government documents proccessing - if separate
Bindery preparation
Storage for books awaiting processing
Loading dock and receiving room - general location and arrangement, relationship to technical services
Book storage facilities
General storage facilities
Other work areas not covered above or in other sections
ALPHABETICAL CHECKLIST
This is the place for those items that have .not been discussed elsewhere. A partial list is given below, but each library will have variations.
Acoustics Air-conditioning Auditoriums Bells Book return chutes Bulletin boards Coat room space Clocks Computer terminals Doors Drinking fountains Electrical outlets Elevators Emergency exits
Facilities for the handicapped Fire detection and control
systems Janitor's storage Keys and locks Lighting Lockers Machine room Pencil sharpeners Signs and graphics Telephones Toilets
Page 144 Appendix III
APPENDIX III
SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAMME
PART 3. INVENTORY OF SPACE REQUIREMENTS
Space Designation:
Assignable Square meters:
Function or use: ; ;
Relationship to Other Spaces:
Number
Number
of
of
Persons
Volumes
to
to
be
be
Accommodated :
Accommodated :
Furniture and Equipment Required:
Shelving -
Desks
Files
Tables
Individual Study Carrels
Etc.
Special Facilities Required:
Air-conditioning -
Booklifts
Drinking fountains
Ducts for computer cables
Electrical
Elevators
Service Desk
Telephones
Work counter with sinks _
Etc.
Page 145 Appendix III
APPENDIX III
SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAMME
PART 4. SPACE SUMMARY
Staff Description of Space Volumes Seating Stations N.S.M.
Entrance
Vestibule (not included in n.s.m.) —
Lobby 80
Exit control 20
General Library Services
Circulation Area
Circulation Desk & Sorting Area 60 Staff workroom - work stations for 4 § 11 n.s.m. .4 44 Department Head's office 1 15
Reference Area
Reference service desk & Ready-Reference collection 200 30 Reference Dept. offices -
Head @ 15 n.s.m. 1 15 Reference librarians @
11 n.s.m. 3 33 Secretary's office 1 15
Reference collection, 10,000 vols. @ 105 vols./ section = 95 sections @ 1.2 m2/section 10,000 114
TOTAL 500,000 1,800 45 3,500
ESTIMATED ARCHITECT'S SPACE -33-1/3% OF N.S.M. + 1,165 TOTAL GROSS SQUARE METERS 4,665
All figures hypothetical, for illustrative purposes only.
Page 146 Appendix IV
APPENDIX IV
BASIC DIMENSIONS & SPACE ALLOWANCES FOR BOOKSTACKS & SEATING
The material in the following tables is not all-inclusive
or exhaustive. It does, however, provide basic recommenda
tions for use in planning new academic libraries. Where it
has been necessary to make a choice in calculating these
space requirements, economy of construction, efficiency of
operation, and convenience for students and staff have been
the prime considerations. In Table III, for example, wider
spacing and wider aisles could have been suggested, but these
would have been larger than necessary and therefore wasteful
of space and money.
In recommending the amount of workspace for readers, student
needs and convenience have been the first consideration. In
this case, architects and librarians should pay much closer
attention to balancing the various space needs of a building
than has been done in the past. In more than one library,
for example, the consultant saw bookstacks with four, five,
and six shelves (where six and seven shelves should have been
used), placed 1.50 to 1.80 meters center-to-center (when 1.37
meters would have been adequate), while students struggled
to arrange books and study papers in severely cramped and
enclosed spaces 60 x 60 cms., when they should have been
provided with spaces 90 x 60 cms.
Page 147 Appendix IV
Similarly, as discussed in the text, book shelves 35 to 40 cms.
deep, when 22.5 cms. is entirely adequate, is wasteful of both
floor space and furniture costs. Further, the lack of ad
justability of library shelving results in a loss of 10 to
15 percent in full utilization of shelving space; yet adjusta
bility is condemned by some librarians because it adds to
shelving costs. This is true, of course, but the additional
cost of good quality adjustable shelving is small when com
pared with •the cost of the additional floor space required
to shelve the same number of volumes in non-adjustable shelving.
This is not entirely the librarian's fault, however, since
there is evidence that government and the university adminis
trations have not always understood the problem.
Page 148 Appendix IV
TABLE I
VOLUMES PER LINEAR METER OF SHELF AND PER SINGLE-FACED SECTION
OF BOOKSTACK WITH SEVEN SHELVES
Volumes per Volumes per Subject Meter of Shelf Single-faced Section
General academic collection -overall average
Law
Medicine
History
Literature
Economics
Fiction
Reference
25
20
20
26
26
27
27
15
175
140
140
182
182
189
189
105
Page 149 Appendix IV
TABLE II
SHELF DEPTHS FOR VARIOUS MATERIALS
Single-faced Types of Material Shelf Depths
General collection 22.5 cms.
Art books 30.0 cms.
Reference collection 30.0 cms.
Rare books 30.0 cms.
Bound periodicals 30.0 cms.
Unbound periodicals on sloping shelves 30.0 cms.
Unbound periodicals stored flat 30.0 cms.
Newspapers in bound volumes 45.0 cms.
National bibliographies 30.0 cms.
Folios taller than 45 cms., stored flat 60.0 cms.
Page 150 Appendix IV
TABLE III
RECOMMENDED SPACING FOR BOOKSTACKS
Bookstack Spacing Type of Collection and Use Center-to-Center
General collection - open access 1.37 to 1.40 meters
Reference collection - open access 1.68 to 1.70 meters
Reference collection - closed access 1.37 to 1.40 meters
Bound periodicals - open access 1.37 to 1.40 meters
Current periodicals (unbound) on sloping shelves - open access 1.68 to 1.70 meters
Bound newspapers 1.68 to 1.70 meters
Page 151 Appendix IV
TABLE IV
AREA ALLOWANCES FOR SINGLE-FACED SECTIONS
OF BOOKSTACK ONE METER WIDE
Condition or Minimum Center- Shelf Area Collection to-Center Distance Depth Allowance
Open access bookstacks 1.37 meters 22.5 cms. 0.90 m
Closed access bookstacks, minimum aisle width of 76 cms. 1.21 meters 22.5 cms. 0.75 m Reading room reference collections 2 open access 1.71 meters 30.0 cms. 1.2 m
Periodical collections, sloping 2 shelves 1.71 meters 30.0 cms. 1.2 m
Page 152 Appendix IV
TABLE V
SEATING ALLOWANCES
Allowance in Type of Seating Net Square Meters
Individual study table or carrel, 90 x 60 cms. 2.3
Individual audio-visual carrel, 120 x 75 cms. (with electrical outlets) 2.8
Four-place table, 180 x 120 cms. 2.1 (per seat)
Side-by-side carrels in tandem, with partition between, each 90 x 60 cms. 2.3
Double carrels arranged back-to-back, each 90 x 60 cms. 2.3
Microfilm and microfiche* reader tables, 140 x 75 cms. 3.0
Informal reading chairs, medium size 2.5
Group study rooms for 4 persons 3.5 (per seat)
Group study rooms, for 6 persons 3.2 (per seat)
Seminar rooms for 12 to 24 persons 2.0 (per seat)
Conference rooms for 12 persons 2.1 (per seat)
Conference rooms for 16 persons 2.0 (per seat)
Conference rooms for 20 persons 1.9 (per seat)
Staff room 2.5 (per seat)
* Tables for microfiche readers can be smaller than the size suggested here but useful flexibility results if all tables for microforms reading equipment are the same size.
Page 153 Appendix IV
TABLE VI
STAFF WORK STATION ALLOWANCES
Work Area Net Square Meters
Acquisitions
Bindery Preparation
Cataloging
Circulation
Periodicals
Physical Processing (Marking)
Reference
Reserved Books
9.0
23.0
10.0
11.0
11.0
9.0
11.0
9.0