Library Facility Design
Course
Collection Spaces [3:21]
Learn how to design an effective collection space in your library.
We're going to look at four elements in planning for your collection, including a zone map, shelving options, display areas, and signage.
When conducting your needs assessment, as discussed in the previous lesson, you will discover the collection priorities for your school. An effective way to take this information and transform it into a spatial representation is a zone map.
You can create a zone map on a blank piece of paper, a whiteboard, or software like PowerPoint. List the media in your collection. Then place each item in a circle. Change the size of the circle depending on the relative size of the media type. For example, if your nonfiction collection is twice as big as your fiction collection, its representative circle should be, too. Play around with the positions of the varied media in a way that makes sense for your community. Do you want the magazines next to the graphic novels? Do you want new fiction displayed separately from the full fiction content? If you can break up the collection into small clusters and locate them closer to where students might naturally access them, that can create visual variety and promote more browsing.
Next, consider your shelving options. Tall perimeter shelving can be great for some of the collection, but for interior shelves, look into island shelves on casters. These can be moved to separate and define areas and create flexibility for changes in the space over time. Stick with shelves that have backing, and remember to select shelving that's adjustable to accommodate picture books and other oversized books.
A vital part of housing the collection is accommodating space for display areas. There are many ways to display books to attract student interest. Find what will work best for your community by observing other libraries, visiting bookstores, and tracking experiments in your current library setup. Are students more likely to try out a book if it's got a seal of approval from other students? Do you want displays near self-checkout stations? What about integrating objects with the book displays to ignite curiosity? There's not one right way, but be sure that you're including display space in your plans.
Finally, as you contemplate collection placement, don't forget to also consider how you will communicate its organization with signage. In fact, if you don't have the budget for a full or even partial collection space overhaul, signage is an easy way to make a big change. Find out if the language makes sense to the students. Can you change library jargon to terms students use themselves? What about information desk instead of reference? Or check out station instead of circulation? How can you incorporate symbolic markers to increase ease of access for all students?
Additionally, here is where you might think about how the classification system of your collection plays a role in its design. If you're genrefying your collection, clear signs for each category of fiction will go a long way in increasing student understanding of the new organizational system.
In planning your collection space, incorporating community needs is key and can be accomplished through a zone map, intentional shelving, well-designed display areas, and deliberate signage.
Zone maps offer a way to play around with collection space options and find a solution that aligns with your collection size and your design goals. Learn more by reading the excerpt from High Impact School Library Spaces by Margaret Sullivan in the Resources below and then complete the Reflect & Practice activity.
Use the above form, a blank piece of paper, whiteboard, or software like PowerPoint to create a zone map of your library collection. Begin with how things are, then play around to create different possibilities of what you could change to better align with your community's needs, as discussed in Lesson 2, "Assessing Community Needs."
MLA Citation
Editorial Team, SLC. "Library Facility Design: Zone Maps." School Library Connection, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171561?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2172003
If you have a robust collection and nobody knows what's in it, does it really exist? Effective signage can ensure that library users know where to find what they're looking for. Explore signage strategies in the article, "Marketing Your School Library Media Center: What We Can Learn from National Bookstores" (in the Resources below), and then complete the Reflect & Practice activity.
Examine your library's signage. How can it be improved? Take at least three of your existing informational signs and update them. Either create multiple alternatives and have students vote on their favorites or establish a contest for students to design new signs.
MLA Citation
Editorial Team, SLC. "Library Facility Design: Signage." School Library Connection, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171561?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2172004
Observing how others have designed their collection spaces can offer sparks of inspiration. Head out into the world and use the form in the Resources below to make note of effective collection spaces you see in libraries—school, public, and academic—bookstores, and even museums. Which of these elements can you add to your own library design?
MLA Citation
Editorial Team, SLC. "Library Facility Design: Effective Collection Spaces." School Library Connection, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171561?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2172006
Additional Resources
About the Authors
Email: rmorris@schoollibraryconnection.com
Twitter: @rebeccajm87.
MLA Citation
Editorial Team, SLC. "Library Facility Design. Collection Spaces [3:21]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171561?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2171561?learningModuleId=2170983&topicCenterId=2247902
Entry ID: 2171561