Abstract

What are the most important things a 21st-century library should do with its space? Each chapter in this cutting-edge text addresses this critical question, capturing the insights and practical ideas of leading international librarians, educators and designers to offer you a ‘creative resource bank’ that will help to transform your library and learning spaces. This is an innovative and practical toolkit introducing concepts, drawing together opinions and encouraging new ways of thinking about library learning spaces for the future. The book is structured in three parts. Part 1 – Projects and trends describes features of library space around the world through a selection of focused case studies painting a global picture, identifying common directions and ideas as well as highlighting country and regional diversity. Part 2 – Trends and ideas looks at the why and how of library space, covering topics such as contextual factors, current ideas in library space development, and the creative design of new spaces. It examines how library spaces are adapting to new forms of learning, digital literacies and technological fluency. Finally, Part 3 – Ideas and futures looks to the future of libraries and their learning spaces, inviting future-scanning contributions from a diverse range of authors, including librarians, learning specialists, academics, architects, an interior designer, a furniture designer and a management specialist. This is a must-have text for those involved in designing and developing library and learning spaces, from library and university management to designers and architects. It’s also a useful guide for students taking courses in library and information science to get to grips with the importance of library design.
This book is a must-read for anyone involved in planning a new build library, redesigning an existing library or evaluating the use of space. It will be of interest to many disciplines beyond librarianship, including educators, learners and policymakers.
CILIP Health Libraries Group Newsletter
Les Watson, well known for his work on the Saltire Centre, is now a freelance educational consultant on library, learning and IT issues. He has worked in education for 40 years as a teacher, lecturer, dean and pro-vice-chancellor and has managed libraries and information services in several organizations. He has considerable experience of library developments, creating, in addition to the Saltire Centre (2006), REAL@Caledonian (2001), tlc@bedford for Royal Holloway, University of London, (2008), and the Fountains refurbishment for York St John University (2011). He was lead consultant for the web resource Technology Rich Spaces for Learning in 2007 and has produced reports for the JISC and EU on aspects of learning, teaching and information technology (IT). He is a fellow of the RSA and Visiting Professor in Learning Environment Development at the University of Lincoln, UK. He can be contacted from his website www.leswatson.net.
Informed and informative, Better Library and Learning Spaces: Projects, Trends and Ideas is an invaluable and seminal contribution to the field of Library Science and is highly recommended for professional and academic library reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
Midwest Book Review