Product details
- ISBN 9781538182406
- Dimensions: 178 x 254mm
- Publication Date: 13 Nov 2025
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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This book is for librarians, trustees, local government officials, architects, and interior designers who are designing or planning to build, renovate, or reconfigure library spaces.
Most librarians embark upon a library building project with little experience in space planning, architecture, or construction. Written by a registered architect and professional librarian, this is a guidebook for librarians embarking on a library building project. It includes a brief history of library facilities, placing them in the context of public buildings. An introduction to library planning principles and a discussion of library design concepts and trends are presented, including the impact of the 2020 pandemic on library design. Sections on working with architects, building design/construction terminology and the basics of reading architectural drawings provide insight into unfamiliar jargon and visual communication. Extensive illustrations and photographs show examples of library layouts and furniture and equipment, and the final chapter addresses the challenges inherent in a major building project.
As library services change, buildings must adapt to accommodate and provide these new innovations. Buildings are living things, and this book will offer guidance to those embarking on a project of any scale or size.
Lauren Stara, B.Arch, RA, MaLS, is a registered architect and a professional librarian specializing in library design. In her architectural career, she was a designer for the Bronx Zoo and Walt Disney Imagineering. Her library experience includes everything from front desk clerk to director, and she has also served as an adjunct instructor for library science students in the United States, Canada, and Bulgaria. As a Library Building Specialist for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners for over a decade, Lauren administered construction grants and assisting libraries with building projects. She now consults, writes, and speaks on library building design.
Kelsey Kruse is a registered architect living and practicing in Baltimore, MD, since 1985. Her focus with these firms has been hospitality, financial, and institutional work. She was Graphics Editor for Interior Graphic Standards. Other illustration work included Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction; Specifying Interiors and A Guide to Commercial Construction and FF&E for Residential and Commercial Interiors Projects.
