EIS Visits to Libraries : Themes

A group of folks from Earlham Information Services (Tom Kirk, Nancy Taylor, Mark Pearson, Randy Kouns, Brad Stallhut) visited some libraries in the Chicago area in July 06. Two of the libraries we visited , Valparaiso & Illinois Weslyan, were recent multimillion dollar constructions, Lake Forest had recently been extended and Elmhurst had had some internal and external renovations. We were looking for ideas for improvements that would be transferable to the Lilly Library.

Here are some themes that emerged:

Group study

Click on photos to see larger version

students study space   students in media study space   study tables   study table light, power & network   power and network connectors

The Christopher Library at Vaparaiso was noteworthy for its wide variety of student working areas. Areas of individual study, relaxation areas (coffee shop), and group study spaces were cleverly juxtaposed on the ground floor. The most innovative form that this took was bench style 'horseshoes' around a teardrop shaped table with a single LCD screen at the end (photo 2). There were six of these spaces in the Information Commons area (photo 1) and we were told that they were very popular. In the Media area tables accomodating two or three students had a single PC & screen (rather than stuffed with two) and a clever power dome to enable portables to be plugged in. Photo 3 shows how some students were using this. Since these were behind a glass partition one can surmise that the noise level would be somewhat reduced relative to the places nearer the coffee shop. The comfortable and stylish furniture was also noticeable here. The study tables also had some innovative features such as low lighting (photo 4) and popup power and network connectors (photo 5). We thought that while the lights provided good alternative illumination the eye-level positioning inhibited group work across the table. The popup power & network connectors also left something to be desired since each group of popups was oriented in the same direction and this made it difficult to get to from the other side of the table. Another method of handling power was these discrete connectors built in to the end of many of the tables (photo 6) at the Ames Library of Illinois Weslyan

Study rooms

Lake Forest : study room from the outside   Lake Forest: study rooms on second floor were visible from the entrance   Illinois Weslyan: study rooms had whiteboards and projectors   Valparaiso: group study rooms have wireless network connectivity   Valparaiso: larger group study room for 6-12 students

comfortable areas

Illinois Weslyan:   Illinois Weslyan:   Valparaiso:   Elmhurst:  

Circulation

Valparaiso:   Valparaiso:   Lake Forest:   Lake Forest:  

"Information Commons"

Lake Forest:   Lake Forest:   Lake Forest:   Illinois Weslyan:   Illinois Weslyan:   Valparaiso:   Valparaiso:   Elmhurst:   Elmhurst:  

Instructional Classroom

Lake Forest:   Illinois Weslyan:   Illinois Weslyan:   Valparaiso:   Valparaiso:   Elmhurst:   Elmhurst:   Elmhurst:  

Multi-media Facilities

Lake Forest:   Lake Forest:   Lake Forest:   Valparaiso:   Illinois Weslyan:   Illinois Weslyan:   Illinois Weslyan:   Elmhurst:  

Signage

Lake Forest:   Lake Forest:   Illinois Weslyan:   Illinois Weslyan:   Illinois Weslyan:   Valparaiso:  

Mark H Pearson
Sept 2006