SELECTING LIBRARY FURNITURE A Guide for Librarians, Designers, and Architects

• Main Author: Brown, Carol R. (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Phoenix, Arizona Oryx Press 1989
• Subjects: Library fittings and supplies; Library buildings; Library architecture
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 From 1975 to 1988, while I was at Houston Public Library, I had an opportunity to work on many aspects of the building and refurbishing of library fa- cilities; in the early 1980s, I began consulting in that area, also. While I was working on the Helen Hall Library in League City, Texas, I researched construc- tion of the furnishings to be selected and designed custom features for many of the pieces. I worked with the architect, Blair Hamilton, and the librarian, Susan Mathews, in developing a color scheme for the building and choosing fabrics and finishes. This experience demonstrated that my earlier training in the fine arts was particularly applicable in planning library interiors. Over the next year, I became in- creasingly interested in the construction of furnish- ings and the elements that determine high quality in a piece of furniture. Most of my consulting jobs took me to small municipal libraries in Texas, and I soon realized that librarians in these small towns often relied entirely on others-salespeople, architects, designers-in planning the library interior. In time, it became apparent to me that librarians in all kinds and sizes of facilities had little information available to guide them in the process of selecting furnishings.