IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2012 - 13

iNterview By

Jen Renzi

Thanks to the digitization of books, the Barnes & Noble-ization of reading rooms, technologyenabled collaborative furniture, and the occasional coffee bar, today’s libraries look and function radically differently from those we grew up with. Perhaps the most dramatic change that has occurred, though, is in how we think about the formerly musty project type: as a dynamic and ever-changing reflection of broader sociocultural concerns. No one understands that better than UCLA deputy librarian Dr. Susan Parker, who helps oversee nine facilities at the university. Among them is the Charles E. Young Research Library, a 1960s icon built by A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons and freshly renovated by Perkins+Will and Eva Maddox Branded Environments. We checked in with Dr. Parker to get a read on issues shaping library design.

You sat on the jury for this year’s IIDA/ALA Library Awards. Did anything about the submissions surprise you? What struck me most was the shared language architects and designers are using: similar forms came up again and again. I don’t know if that’s a reflection of where design is right now, or that designers are listening to what their clients are saying—because clients are all saying the same thing. Whether they serve a community, a university, or a specialized audience, all libraries face very similar issues regarding technology, collaboration, and re-presenting ourselves as a space that provides a service. Those challenges will be successfully negotiated only by having the right kind of interior design. At some libraries I’ve worked for, the prevailing philosophy was: “If we build a great collection, then it shouldn’t matter that everything is falling down, that the environment is a rat trap.” That attitude is changing. Now lighting matters, furnishings matter, design matters. I recently gave a presentation to a class at the library school with a Perkins+Will team member who’d helped with our renovation. The students were new to the idea of how powerful interior design can be and how deliberate—that every piece is there for a reason. They were fascinated. There’s a lot of talk about how libraries are becoming community spaces. But what does that mean, practically, on a daily basis? People still care about the library as a physical space. Technology lets you access information from anywhere, yet people still go to libraries to meet and to interact for scholarly or other creative work. Libraries are like a commons. That’s why you see common features: zones for specific interests or activities, programming elements, a hub with food or beverages, and, in a university, certain 24-hour components. The transformative part is those value-added features. I think we all learned a lot from the age of comfy bookstores—which are now disappearing. I sense a teeny hint of schadenfreude. It’s a little bit satisfying for those of us who’ve watched it! Yes, you can do your homework in the bookstore, but…really? This idea of community space is the genius of public libraries, buildings conceived to educate the citizen population. So this is a model that we’ve done before, just without the electronics and the coffee.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2012