university of aberdeen new libary 2011 09 26
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From Stronghold to Threshold: a new Library for the University of Aberdeen
16 June 2011
Chris BanksUniversity Librarian & Director
Library, Special Collections and Museums
“Good library buildings are success stories in which architects, librarians and planners work together to create happy endings that benefit users
for decades”
Librarian, City University, New York
• A flagship new library which will– Provide a purpose-designed environment for 21st
century learning and study– Provide a Home for our precious special collections
and archives– Maximise the research potential of the collections– Open up the collections to a much broader public
The Sixth Century campaign: investment in infrastructure
• Project aims
– The best achievable study and research facilities for staff and students
– Proper discharge of our custodial responsibilities for our rare book and archival collections
– Opening up the collections to a wider public
– Transformation of the western side of the University
Key Objectives
Danish firm, schmidt hammer lassen (shl) won the international competition to design the building
They have a strong record of designing libraries and other cultural buildings
Architects
Flexible facilities for multiple audiences
• Flexible spaces for seminars• Quiet and silent spaces• Spaces for collaborative
work• Technology rich with wired
and wireless facilities• Public exhibition gallery• Purpose-built education and
learning facilities• Spaces for academic, public
and corporate seminars and events
Opportunities
• Integration of library facilities in one building will facilitate integrated exploitation of the collections
• Inclusion of a dedicated exhibition space will facilitate:– Interpretation of the
collections– Showcasing the
University’s treasures (Library, Archive and Museum)
– Events for a broad range of audiences based around the collections and the exhibitions
Transformation of space from this:
To this:
The concept
• Emphasis on study space and activity
• Varied study spaces• Flexibility• Public space• Sustainable• A building of architectural
merit
Key Elements
Responding to feedback
Power
• Students said we didn’t have enough.
• With the exception of a totally silent reading rooms on floors 4-6 we’ve powered up all desks!
• Students said there weren’t enough.
• There are now four times as many in the new University Library
Computers
Finding Books
• The footprint of QML and the fact that book sequences were split resulted in much dissatisfaction amongst students
• We’ve integrated all the various scattered sequences of books into a single numerical sequence which runs from 0xx on floor 7 to 9xx on the third floor.
• we’ve had many comments about the difficulty of locating journals – they were scattered amongst the book collections
• In the new library all journals can be found on the second floor
Using print journals
Collaborative working
• Students said that there weren’t suitable facilities for this.
• We’ve created 16 Co-Labs on floors 3-6. In these spaces up to 7 students can work together on presentations and the spaces are fitted with computers and wall-mounted plasma screens to facilitate this.
• Students didn’t really like the fact that each book had to be opened up, and the barcode aligned to the red light – they found it fiddly and time consuming.
• No more! Now, simply take a pile of books to one of the new hi tech machines and issue them in a single go without any need to open them up individually.
Self Issue
Book Return
• Students have had 24 hour book return on their request list for a long time.
• It is coming soon – we will be installing a state of the art book returns system which will even include a book sorting machine!
• Students said it wasn’t open long enough.
• The cafe is now opening at 08:15 and will remain open until 20:00 on most days
Cafe Opening Hours
Public space
Public Space
Design
The Atrium
Environmental considerations
Sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability
Getting there
Activities
• Cafe Scientifique• Word Festival• Sound Festival• Composition prize• Engagement with
schools groups• Exhibitions (currently
only small exhibitions and dispersed across the campus)
Building on the University’s existing cultural and science engagement strategies
Macdonald’s principles 1
• Functional• Adaptable• Accessible• Varied• Interactive• Conducive• Environmentally Suitable• Safe and secure• Efficient• Suitable for information
technology• …. And ….
Yes Yes Very Yes• To come Very BREEAM Excellent Yes Very Very
1 Macdonald, Andrew, “The Ten Commandments revisited: the qualities of good library space”, Liber Quarterly 16/2 (2006) - http://liber.library.uu.nl/publish/articles/000160/article.pdf
….have “oomph”
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