Furniture in the New Library

We’ve been working with our vendor to outfit our future library spaces with furniture designs.  While nothing is set in stone yet, we’ve been discussing how different areas of the library will be used.  Our dual mantra has been flexibility and mobility.  We hope to design spaces in the new library that offer something for everyone – quiet study, collaborative works areas, rich technology integration.

Recently we’ve been trying out different lounge furniture, but our discussions with our furniture vendor have also included how to outfit the knowledge commons where students will have access to a multitude of options to engage in rich and collaborative study and research.  Take a look at the furniture in Bartle Library at Binghmaton University to get a sense of some of the possibilities.  Also consider TeamSpot by Tidebreak to imagine some of the ways we hope to provide group interaction with technology.

Many of the spaces in the library will be multi-purpose, so we are planning to include furniture that can be adapted to all of those needs.  The library instruction classroom will feature furniture that provides opportunities for collaborative learning and interaction.  It will be less about “rows of computers” and more about multiple zones and focal points, with multiple large LCD monitors triangulated around the room, instead a single large front-facing projector.

So, what do you think?  How do you plan to use the new library?  What kind of furniture would suit your needs?