Building Libraries for the 21st Century: The Shape of Information - Hardcover

9780786406654: Building Libraries for the 21st Century: The Shape of Information

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786406658 ISBN 13: 9780786406654

Publisher: McFarland Publishing, 1999

Despite calls for electronic, virtual, digital libraries without walls, the walled variety are still being built, some of them massive. This book explores the reasons for this contradiction by examining several notable new library facilities around the world to see how modern expectations for libraries are being translated into concrete and steel. More and more libraries are looking at change not as a dreaded hazard but as an opportunity that can itself be seized to strengthen the library in the areas of mission, technologies, facilities, funding, and organizational structure. Thirteen libraries are discussed-by a librarian or administrator who worked on the project. Each author writes about the design and building concerns that were particularly relevant to that library: philosophy, political issues, or any other concerns that affected planning, building, and services in the new facility. Introductory and concluding chapters identify underlying values and themes, tying everything together. The unique combinations of issues, constraints, and opportunities show how libraries are planning to fit into the approaching era of virtual information delivery.

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About the Author

T.D. Webb is retired from a long career in academic libraries, during which he was a library dean at three universities, an assistant university library director, and associate university vice president for instructional technology services. The author of four other books on the profession, he has contributed many articles to such library publications as Library Journal, American Libraries, College & Research Libraries, IFLA Journal and Public Library Quarterly.

From Library Journal

Why has there been such a surge in library construction in the 1990s, a time when many people forecast the demise of libraries with the onset of the digital world? To answer that question, editor Webb, director of the Kapiolani Community College Library, Honolulu, and author of Public Library Organization and Structure, brings together in this work the observations, musings, and descriptions of building projects of nine librarians, an architect, and a writer. Projects discussed include six academic libraries ranging from Indiana/Purdue at Indianapolis (IUPUI) to Peking University Library, two public libraries (San Antonio and Phoenix), and three national libraries (British, Shanghai, and the Biblioth?que Fran?ois Mitterand of the Biblioth?que Nationale de France). Contributions focus on form, function, style, and significance. Project details are discussed, as are overarching matters such as "society's respect for knowledge and the services to knowledge seekers that libraries render." Interesting photographs are interspersed throughout the work, which is highly recommended for library architects. It will also be of interest to public and academic librarians, though it provides general and theoretical background rather than how-to information.
-Hampton "Skip" Auld, Chesterfield Cty. P.L., VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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