Library Environmental Design: Physical Facilities and Equipment: Fid-Bau Portal

Library Environmental Design: Physical Facilities and Equipment

E. G. Evans

This state of the art report summarizes current practice and accepted standards in library physical facility design. It is intended to serve as an interim planning guide for Army technical libraries until the completion of the Guided Inquiry System in the second phase of this study. Recommendations made in the report are based on a thorough review of the literature on library planning and design, an analysis of the present Army procedures for obtaining library facilities, interviews with librarians, building consultants and architects, and site visits to a number of different types of military and non-military libraries. The report concludes that a generic base exists from which to plan all libraries and makes specific recommendations to improve the procedures for providing Army technical libraries. Recommendations include (a) using a planning team approach throughout the building project; (b) using a written, fully documented building program; (c) the team explore all options for a new facility; (d) the team should use a proximity chart to analyze library activity relationships until the Guided Inquiry System is developed; (e) the team should use the interim generic evaluation method described in this report in the evaluation process until the method is fully developed. (Author)