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Muses of Design/ Library

By Muses Of Design | L Redesign your school library with new spaces for community groups

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As a group, our plan is to redesign the library at Mira Loma High School in a 21st Century feel with a modern twist. The library will be equipped with up-to-date technology, spacious seating accommodations, and as well as a second story for more storage and space, in general, for students, faculty, and the community to enjoy. For student and community benefits, the second story will hold more books for checking out.

Comments

The dual entrance is an interesting idea and will allow for public access. Make sure you address how to close access to the rest of the school during non school hours and how to keep the public out of the school during the school day. I looking forward to seeing more development of your "green ideas" beyond having windows that open.
Good Luck
Mr. Cox

By Prindle_18, Educator at 09:35 am, 12 September 2011

Collect Instructions

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Gather more information about your existing school library by taking photos, sketching, conducting interviews, and doing additional research.

Think About:

  • What are all the different functions / activities that currently take place in your school's library?
  • Do you enjoy working and reading in this room now?  Why or why not?
  • How is the library different than a typical classroom?
  • When you study at home, where and how do you read? (On the couch, on the floor, on your bed, outside, at the kitchen table, at a desk in your bedroom?)  Could similar comfortable places be designed for your new school library?
  • Will you redesign the interior of your existing school library or will you build a new addition for these spaces?
  • How do students collaborate around technoloyg with other students?  Where do you do this now?
  • In what ways could your school building become a small community center for residents after school hours?

Try This:

  • Take photos of your school's library, the media center, the study hall, or any other space where students are hanging out.
  • Measure the overall size of your school's existing library.  Is it crowded now or does it have empty space?
  • Measure the number of linear feet of book shelves in your school library.  Ask the librarian if they feel your library should contain more or less space for bound books?
  • Take photos of where students are studying at school - either independently or in a small group - throughout the school day.
  • Ask your school's administrator about any types of community groups that may already use your school building in the evening.
  • Interview your school librarian and several classmates.  What do they think about the existing library?  What changes would they make if they had a choice?
  • Make a list of all the different functions / activities that currently take place in your school's library.
  • Make a list of all the things you like about your library.  Ask several friends and your teachers their opinions.
  • Several new public libraries have opened recently around the world.  What can you learn from these?  Investigate... (links to come)
  • Some of the most impressive historic libraries provide an awe-einspiring place to learn.  What can you learn from these?  Check out...(links to come)

Muses Of Design's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
The Mira Loma High School library's main purpose is to enable many students to do homework or classwork, study for tests, read, and/or use the computers for research and it is also a place for faculty
This picture is inside the main entrance of the library. As you can see, the unused textbooks are...
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This picture is of the main counter in the library. This picture shows (again) the lack of space...
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This picture includes the small librarian's office and the main printer for all thirty-two of...
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This picture is the Reference Room in the library. To utilize the maximum amount of workspace,...
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This is the exterior of the library. The windows shown in the picture are the only windows that...
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This is another picture of the exterior of the library. You can clearly see another entry point...
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This image was taken during lunch in the media room. The media room is a very small and enclosed...
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Brainstorm Instructions

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Develop preliminary sketches to help you puzzle through new ideas and solutions.

Think About:

  • Many libraries just have rows of book shelves and a few tables and chairs for students.  But is this the best way for students to access, learn, and share information today?
  • How does collaborative learning occur in a library?
  • How can you provide both quiet and noisy learning spaces in a library?
  • Does the library have a separate entrance so community groups can enter/exit in the evening without having to walk through the entire school building?

The library will need to include four big types of spaces and furnishings:

  • a reading room / study loungue (tables with computers, chairs, couches, etc)
  • book storage and a circulation book check-out counter (shelves, work counters)
  • librarian's office and workspace
  • meeting rooms (tables, chairs, technology options)

Try This:

  • You'll need to decide where will this new library be located in your school.  Are you redesigning the exsiting space or building a new addition?
  • Walk around the exterior of your school building and take photos of your existing library and / or a possible location for a new library addition.
  • Use Google Maps to view and print out an aerial photo of your school.  Identify a location for the library.
  • Contact your school's building or maintenance department.  They may already have a floor plan of your school to use as a reference.
  • Sketch bubble diagrams to figure out the spatial relationships between the various rooms and spaces in your new or redesigned library.  Which spaces will be next to each other?  Which spaces should not be next to each other?
  • Make lots of sketches to get your early ideas down on paper.  Learn from each different idea.

Your design or redesign of a new library might include the following types of sizes of spaces.  These are just suggestions.  Feel free to revise this and incorporate other spaces you think may be needed.

Library space planning rules of thumb:

space 800
students in your school		 1200
students in your school		 1600
students in your school		 2400
students in your school
Reading Room / Study Lounge with computers
 1,400
square feet		 2,100
square feet		 2,800
square feet		 4,200
square feet
Book storage and book check-out counter
 1,400
square feet		 2,100
square feet		 2,800
square feet		 4,200
square feet
Librarian's office / workroom 120
square feet		 120
square feet		 240
square feet		 240
square feet
Meeting rooms 1 room at
250 square feet		 2 rooms at
250 square foot each		 3 rooms at 250 square foot each 4 rooms at 250 square foot each
TOTAL 3,170
square feet		 4,820
square feet		 6,590
square feet		 9,640
square feet

Muses Of Design's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
Collaboratively, we have decided that to maximize space in the library, we will be adding a second floor into our end design.
At the top of the paper, there is one of our original sketches of our newly redesigned library. Our...
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This is an aerial view of the building (excluding the gardens on the sides). The first floor has...
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This is a sketch of what the front of the school (from the street) will look like. The door will be...
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This is an image of the updated changes of our design. In this new design, we have eliminated the...
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This image is a more detailed sketch of the layout of the first floor of. Having a closer look, you...
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This is a 3D image of the first floor in our library. This design has more space than the current...
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This is the general layout of our second floor. We have placed rooms for study groups who need to...
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Develop Instructions

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Now's the time to take what you've learned from the steps above and develop your own solution for a new or redesigned library.

Try This:

  • If possible, build a rough physical study model of your library.  You can't really understand the building's shape until you make a quick study model.  Don't worry about making a fancy finished model at this time.  Instead, use cardstock, scissors, and tape to quickly create a large 3D form.  See how it looks.  Break off different sections, add new pieces, and try out new ideas.
  • Take a photo of your model and upload it to your student user account here.
  • Sketch or use software such as Google SketchUp, AutoCAD, or Revit to get your ideas out of your head to share with others.

Muses Of Design's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
Going through this entire process, we have found and came up with many solutions to our concepts and designs.
This is the final design of our garden.To the right (just behind the wooden bench), there is a...
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This is an image inside our garden. You can see two people with respect to the flower beds and the...
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Here is an up close snapshot of the first floor of our final design. Much of this current design is...
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This the design of the second floor of our library. You can see the individual study rooms that we...
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This is our lounge area in the first floor of our library. This is where students can go during...
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These are the bookshelves we have chosen to be placed around our library. They are large enough to...
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This final image just shows us putting up more walls. These walls (although not shown in this...
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Final Instructions

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Muses Of Design's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
From all the feedback we have received to the changes that we have made to our original plans and designs, we have finally created a final design that we are satisfied with.
This is our scale model of our garden.
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This is our scale model of our first floor. This frontal view allows you to see the layout of the...
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This an aerial view of our second floor. You can see the media room to the left and the storage...
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This is an overall view of our first floor of our Google Sketchup Design.
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This is an image of the first floor from the back. You can get a better view of the room layout and...
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This is the big media room on the second floor. As you can see, there is more room for students to...
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This is an overall view of our second floor. You can see the final layout of the rooms in this...
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