{"id":435,"date":"2018-11-21T08:36:12","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T13:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/?p=435"},"modified":"2019-04-05T11:02:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T15:02:38","slug":"a-must-read-for-library-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/2018\/11\/21\/a-must-read-for-library-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"A Must Read for Library Construction"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

By MBLC Library Building Specialist Lauren Stara<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Every once in a while, a book comes along that is packed with so much good information that you want to share it with everyone. In this case, that means everyone who is planning a library construction project.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Practical Handbook of Library Architecture: Creating Building Spaces that Work<\/a><\/em> by Fred Schlipf and John A Moorman (ALA, 2018) is the book.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To be honest, it\u2019s a little intimidating at nearly 1,000 pages, but don\u2019t let that stop you. The authors are librarians who have decades of experience with library design and construction from the librarian\u2019s point of view, and they\u2019ve put it all down in black and white with humor and style. Chapter Two is entitled \u201cMore than Two Hundred Snappy Rules for Good and Evil in Library Architecture\u201d \u2013 need I say more?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Topics run the gamut from the 10,000 foot view (overviews of the design and construction processes) to the granular (the wording for the plaque that goes in the lobby), and everything in between. There\u2019s even a chapter called \u201cEvaluating Library Buildings by Walking Around\u201d that\u2019s great for assessing an existing facility. You can see from the photo that I started flagging important passages, but after a few chapters I had to stop because I was running out of flags.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is a book that former MBLC Construction Specialist Patience Jackson could have written, for those of you who know her. It\u2019s the book I wish I had written, with a few minor exceptions \u2013 the information is unrelentingly practical, and I admit that my training as an architect rears its head at times. One example: the section on page 103 where the authors rail against what they call \u201cdesigner staircases.\u201d I do love a dramatic stairway.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You can download the Table of Contents and the \u201cTwo Hundred Snappy Rules\u201d in PDF for free from the ALA Editions website<\/a>. This is not an inexpensive book, but we are in the process of ordering two more copies to circulate for our professional collection. Contact Lauren Stara<\/a> if you have any questions.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By MBLC Library Building Specialist Lauren Stara Every once in a while, a book comes along that is packed with so much good information that you want to share it with everyone. In this case, that means everyone who is planning a library construction project. The Practical Handbook of Library Architecture: Creating Building Spaces that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[138,86,139,107],"class_list":["post-435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction","tag-book-review","tag-construction","tag-library-books","tag-library-construction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":557,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions\/557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}