Chapter X: Introduction: Evolution of Library Building (6)

=Oil.= Very small libraries have little choice. They have to cling to the old-fashioned oil lamp. But they are not so unfortunate after all, for though filling and trimming and cleaning make trouble, no softer or better reading light has been invented; and swinging argands can give excellent diffused light, as many a country store will show. With a few such lamps and an open wood-fire, no such cosiness and cheer can be matched by a city library.

You can manage good home-made shades to moderate the glare, from home-made material—even from brown paper. It will be well to cling to oil until you have no time to attend to the lamps.

=Gas.= The next stage is acetylene gas, which can be had without a public plant, and furnishes a steady and brilliant light. After it, comes usually the regular gas stage of community development. If the gas plant is good, the light may be good too, though its fumes are often hard on lungs and books. If the plant is poor, better go back to oil.

=Electricity.= But the use of electricity has become so general all over the country, even in small towns, the light is so good, so safe, and considering the advantages, so cheap, that you are likely to arrive soon at the electrical stage, and remain in it permanently through the various steps of your growth. It is unnecessary in these days, to warn against defective installation; any architect should be able to arrange that; but watch it carefully, in planning and as the contractors put their wires in.

With either form of gas, or with electricity, the choosing and placing of lights will be one of the most important of your joint problems.

As far back as 1886, J. E. L. Pickering contributed a paper on the electric light, to The Library Chronicle[208] which is so sound that it is worth reading now—a generation later.

=Location.= In placing your lamps of all kinds, do not think first of symmetry or appearance, but try to find where the fewest bulbs, of the kind you determine to use, will bring the best light most directly on the places where it is wanted, with the smallest expense.

The kinds of illumination required are:—

=Diffused.= This is the general light in corridors and rooms, sufficient for moving about, usually got from chandeliers, sometimes from wall brackets.

=Shelves and service desks.= In usual systems, these are lighted, the desks by different kinds of fixed or hanging desk-lights, the shelves by a goose-neck protruding at the top, from the cornice between every two ranges.

=Readers’.= Usually lighted by rows of lights, shades down the center of the tables; or movable individual standards near the readers’ chairs, or by hanging lamps, six or eight feet from the floor.

=In stacks.= By bulbs at the ceiling of each desk, either hanging down, or doubled up.

=Colors.= As elsewhere noted, light colors in walls, ceilings, shelving and furniture, aid any system of lighting by reflection.

=Switches.= The location of switches is most important both for effectiveness and for economy.

=Systems.= I do not propose to discuss here all the systems of lighting or makes of lamps and fixtures, but I wish to record a very deliberate opinion as to the proper trend of experiments in library lighting.

Seeing a book advertised on “Practical Illumination,” by Cravath and Lansingh, I bought and have carefully looked it over. The seven pages it gives to libraries have not helped me at all, but I have found on other pages matter of interest. This, for instance:—

“The object of artificial illumination is to enable us to see things.”

“It is undoubtedly true that the eye is more comfortable when receiving a moderate amount of light from all directions, _as it does in daylight_, than when getting all its light from a bright page in a dark room.”

“The ceilings and walls, if light in color, have considerable value as reflectors, especially in small rooms.”

[On page 7 is a table of percentages of light reflected from different wall papers.]

The scientific discussions of forms of bulbs, the material of reflectors and the forms of shades, are very interesting. So is a series of “demonstration room tests,” especially No. 11,[209] showing a fine diffused light, thrown from a concealed bulb by a reflector at the ceiling.

“Even more important than the economic side of the subject is the disastrous effect on the eyes caused by numerous common artificial lighting arrangements.”

“The ruin of eyesight now common with artificial light is due to the fact that so few people understand the importance of the proper placing, reflecting, and shading of artificial lights.”

“In order not to injure or fatigue the eye, the following points should be avoided:—

Flickering light,
Glaring lights,
Glare reflected from paper,
Light from unusual angles,
Too little light,
Too much light,
Streaks of light,
Sharp contrasts of dark and light.”

“In the lighting of desks there are five principal requirements:—

The lamp should be out of the line of vision.
Have no regular reflection or glare from paper.
Have the light free from streaks.
Avoid too great intensity.
The light should be steady.”
[I add: Don’t get in your own shadow.]

“The three reflectors best suited to lighting the shelves of the library are the opal dome, the fluted opal cone, and the prismatic reflectors.”

=Indirect lighting.= This is defined thus: “The lamps themselves are not visible. They are placed in cup or vase or trough mirror-reflectors, from which the light is thrown up towards the ceiling, to be thence reflected down into the room.”

Systems of this kind as used in libraries for all service except in stacks—for diffused light, shelves, service desks, and readers’ tables—seem to me to be most like natural daylight, and therefore best unless too costly.

The Report of Oculists and Electricians on the Boston Schools,[210] reported against indirect lighting, believing that “the cost of current to secure a proper illumination would be prohibitive.” They added, however, that “No actual experiments were made with indirect lighting, as objections to its use seemed so obvious as to render them unnecessary.”

This was in 1907 (for schools) before the experiments in libraries described below had been made.

So far they seem successful. The Crerar Library has tried one for two years. Mr. Andrews says in his last report (1912): “The indirect system of lighting has been extended over the official catalogue and the offices. Longer experience confirms the opinion that under suitable conditions the system is the best for the prolonged use of artificial light, although this is not always recognized by persons accustomed to more concentrated illumination. For this reason it has been supplemented to some extent in this library by table-lights in the reading-rooms.” He writes me further, “It is undoubtedly more expensive, but it is in my opinion also much better.”

A similar system was installed in the John Hay Memorial Library at Brown University a year ago. Mr. Koopman writes me (Apr. 18, 1912):—

“Given rooms reasonably adapted for it I should call it the ideal library system.

“In our high reading-room [twenty-eight feet high], the conditions are especially unfavorable owing to the deep panelling of the ceiling. But if I were to choose afresh I might still prefer our present system; I certainly should if I could have a flat ceiling [for maximum reflection of light]. But for rooms of twenty feet in height and under I do not see how for library purposes one could choose a different system; certainly most rooms in libraries come within that range.”

As the height of the ordinary room in a library need not be more than twelve or thirteen feet; or, if it has to correspond with two stack stories, 14 or 15 feet; Mr. Koopman’s commendation would hold for all library rooms, except lofty halls.

About the lighting of the lofty room, Mr. Charles A. Coolidge, architect of the John Hay Library, writes as follows:—

“I think the indirect method of lighting in the rooms where the ceilings are not high, is very successful. It is only in the main reading-room, where it made so many hanging fixtures, that I did not like the effect; it is also expensive, as they have to use so many more lights. It does not seem to me very cheerful there, and I think the effect would be better if we had two chandeliers in the room at appropriate places where they would give a general illumination, and would be high enough to keep the light out of one’s eyes.”

I hear that this system is also used in the new St. Louis Public Library building, but have no report as to its merits.

From these experiences, west and east, and from my own observations of other systems in very many libraries, I am prepared to recommend trial of indirect lighting; especially as encouragement of makers will undoubtedly induce them to remedy any faults and develop all merits. For diffused light it is enough, always and everywhere. For shelves, from top to bottom, it is enough. For staff desks and for readers with strong eyes, it is enough. Weak eyes, accustomed to concentrated light, may need more; hence I take it the extra Crerar lamps. New patents are already appearing. Mr. Andrews further says in his letter: “A combination of this method with the direct system, called ‘semi-indirect,’ is used in the City Club at Chicago.”

It is even possible that the expense of installation and operation may be reduced.

=Fixtures.= Have these plain and substantial. If you do not try some indirect system, but hold to direct lighting, do not surrender yourself to the first or the most insistent agent. Urge your architect to a deliberate study of lamps, their power, position, bulbs, and shading, and indeed all their appurtenances and fixtures.

Do not, in the first place, let the architect arrange the lamps for picturesque effect. If he can make the lights ideal for service and for readers, well and good; but get the utilitarian effect first; the artistic afterwards, if you can.

Again, do not accept too meekly the salesman’s or contractor’s or architect’s selection of shades and fixtures. Watch, inspect, read everywhere, and when you make up your mind clearly what is best for you, insist on getting it. But avoid especially “art fixtures.”

I have been especially warned not to use the ornamental chain pendant for chandeliers, like that shown after p. 14 of the above mentioned Report of Oculists. The slightest draft will twist them, and break the wires inside.

And for desk or table electric reading lamps, use the movable and self-adjusting kind, so that every reader can turn on his own light, and arrange its angle as he chooses.

_In General._ Very large libraries can perhaps economize by installing their own electric plants, but get them outside the building if possible, as the jar of the engines and their whir are disturbing. In a group of municipal or university buildings, the library can get its current from a common source.

L. B. Marks, 103 Park Avenue, New York, has written a paper on “The Design of Illumination in the New York Carnegie Libraries.”[211] In this he advises consulting a specialist in every new problem.

In fact, with the complexity of functions in a large library, the need increases of seeking the advice of specialists on many points;—heating, lighting, ventilation, stacks, fireproof vaults are subjects where neither the librarian or the architect may know all the latest phases of the subject, and really want skilled information.

Champneys[212] recommends that oil lamps be kept lighted at stations all over a library, lest sudden failure of the electric light plunge it into darkness.

Heating and Ventilation

Except far north, these look out for themselves fairly well. As winter approaches, they ought to look out for each other. When you begin to plan for artificial heat, you can plan for ventilation at the same time.

In the smallest libraries, in wooded regions, wide fireplaces with wood fires make cheerful if not very even heat, and excellent ventilation up the chimney. In places where wood is scarce or dear, some sort of stove, like those used in groceries, depots, or schools, is next called into play. The interior view, for instance, of the Keene Valley Public Library (in Eastman[213]) shows such a stove at the right. The floor plans show a “wood-house.” In buying a stove, one of the makes with a jacket, on the furnace principle, can combine heat and ventilation best.

=Fireplaces.= We do not often use coal grates, but architectural features common in our libraries are wood-fireplaces. The excuse for introducing them is cosiness, cheerfulness, and ventilation. They are certainly cosy when a fire is kept up, but tending them requires a deal of time, the heat is rather irregular, the ashes are a bit blowy. Ventilation is no better by fireplace than through any other aperture, unless some sort of flame is kept up—a tiny gas-jet under the flue sometimes serves as an irritant. As usually built they cost money; and they usually interfere with wall-shelving which is needed. In small libraries with wall space to spare, where wood is the cheapest fuel, it may be well to have a fireplace with a fire tended by the townspeople; but in larger buildings fireplaces are generally nuisances, to be banished to the trustees’ room, if the architect wants one somewhere.

Champneys[214] thinks “open fires are to be avoided in all public rooms, because of unequal distribution of heat, of dust and noise, and of labor.” This is undoubtedly true of soft-coal grate fires, such as they have in England, but has Champneys ever seen the cleanly cheer of a country fireplace, full of six-foot logs? Few of us can afford them even in forest regions, but what an invitation such a glow offers in a rural neighborhood!

The next step beyond the stove would be the ordinary dwelling-house hot-air furnace; doubled or reinforced by a small one, if the house is a little too large to provide properly-gauged heat for all varieties of weather by one furnace.

During these smallest stages of growth, reliance for ventilation can at first be placed on crevices, occasional opening of doors, and the open chimney.

=Window Bar Ventilation.= When these rudimentary means become inadequate, the simple device of window bars (as I have found in my own house and office for a generation past) will keep even the air of crowded rooms freshened, without drafts. There are many patented devices embodying this principle, but there is no need to waste money on them. The village carpenter can saw out for every window a plain duplicate of the lower bar, a quarter of an inch shorter, but beveled like it, to slip in easily and tight. When the lower sash is lifted, this bar inserted, and the sash shut close to it, there is a space above between the two sashes, which at the same time lets out the foul air, and lets in the fresh, without any perceptible draft. The only caution to be observed, even in cold weather, is to put the bar on the leeward windows, away from those against which the wind is blowing too strongly. This simple fresh air system is very effective. Try it on one window anywhere, and see if you do not like it.

=The Next Method.= Next comes steam heat, very common, very unsatisfactory, very cheap; with radiators, very ugly in a library, very much in the way; requiring some scheme of admitting sufficient fresh air regularly, and ejecting air that has been breathed.

A low-pressure indirect hot water system gives the best heat, most easily managed and properly combined with fresh air supply. The only reason that it is not universally adopted is that steam boilers and radiators are cheaper. Here, however, is one of the alternatives in library building where the money available ought to be put into health and comfort rather than into mere show.

For ventilation, in the simpler forms of steam and hot-air heating, the simplest, cheapest, and often most effective method is to take fresh air by several inlets direct from outside, up under radiators, to be heated by passage through them and let out into the room.

In large libraries, some more effective system of heating, with forced draft ventilation by blowers, fans or inducers, must be installed by the architect under advice of competent engineers. The part of the librarian in this stage of planning will be to get the building committee to take the most effective method, rather than the cheapest, diverting to this essential of health some of the funds which can be withheld from inside or outside ornament.

=Temperature.= One of the striking differences between England and the United States is that in the standards of temperature, Champneys[215] calls for 60° to 62° Fahrenheit for rooms, 56° for corridors. Burgoyne[215] reports 50° in the stack at Strassburg.

The A. L. A. Committee on Ventilation and Lighting takes as the standard 70° as a medium temperature for the circular inquiries it is making. It is usually assumed that a lower standard may be set for stacks, and places where attendants or readers move around rather than sit. Certainly we try to keep our houses and offices and the reading-rooms of our libraries 68° to 70°.

=In General.= An article in “The Librarian,”[216] specifies five heaters, thus:—

1. Open fire grates; cheerful but troublesome.
2. Hot-water radiators; popular.
3. Steam radiators.
4. Gas or electric heaters; only for small rooms.
5. Coal stoves; not desirable in libraries.

=Thermometers.= Perhaps the architect can plan his heating apparatus so cleverly, or your janitor can run the plant so watchfully, that an equable and agreeable temperature can be maintained everywhere. Among your fittings, however, do not fail to plan for plenty of thermometers as indicators to be watched by the staff. Underheating promotes discomfort, coughs, colds; overheating stupefies staff and readers.

=Basic Advice.= In 1893 Dr. John S. Billings, now of the New York Public Library, published an interesting and sensible volume on Ventilation and Heating, in which, however, no special mention is made of libraries. I quote some general remarks, which seem pertinent:[217]—

“It is important that those who form and direct opinion on this subject should look to it that the buildings which they plan, and especially those in which numbers of men, women or children are to be brought together, are so constructed and arranged _that no one shall poison himself or others by the air which he expires_.

“I do not mean by this that every man should aim to be an expert on plans and specifications for ventilation, nor that he should rely on his own judgment as to the best way to secure it, but that he should insist on having it provided for, and should see that skilled advice on the subject is obtained.

“Among the first questions which the architect has to solve for each building which he plans or constructs, in order to secure good ventilation are the following:—

“_First_—How much money shall be allowed to secure ventilation in this case?

“_Second_—Which of several methods should be employed to effect this, taking into consideration the character and location of the building, and the amount of funds available?

“It is also the business of the architect to see that the builders do not, in a spasm of economy or retrenchment, make a reduction in some point which will affect the ventilation, _rather than cut off some of the merely ornamental and comparatively useless decorative work of the exterior_.

“However much the architect may be inclined to let the owners have their own way in planning their own residences; when it comes to public buildings, it is his duty _not only to advise but to insist_ on proper arrangements for heating, ventilation, drainage and plumbing. If it be his misfortune to deal on such matters with ignorant committee-men who with a limited appropriation persist in omitting, for, the sake of cheapness, some of those points in construction which are essential for keeping the building in proper sanitary condition, it is _his duty as a skilled professional man to decline to have anything to do with the matter_ rather than suffer himself to be used as a tool to execute work which he knows will be dangerous to the health and life of his fellow-citizens or of their children.”

These are ringing words to be addressed to an architect. How much more do they apply to the librarian who is the expert adviser not only as to effective methods of work, but also as to the comfort and health of all his staff and for all the public who are to use the building.

A paper by Dr. Billings, on the special subject of Library Heating and Ventilation, after his experience in New York, first in old buildings and now in a new building, should be of very great value.

Plumbing, Drains, Sewers

This is another group to be provided for satisfactorily before any money is allotted to frills. The architect ought to be expert in all three specialties; but a householder wants to know just what the architect is going to do in building his house. The librarian is in this instance the housekeeper, at least, and has not only a right, but a duty, of inquisitiveness; for carelessness or mistakes on the part of draftsmen, ignorance or worse on the part of workman, might seriously affect the health of a large number of people.

=Underdraining.= Is your lot dry down below the foundations of the building? See to this before you start to build, for a damp basement for a library leads to book-tuberculosis, if nothing worse.

=Drains.= Gutters send a lot of water down from the roof, and unless this is led away by tight conductors, leading into drains that are sure to carry it off, the resulting moisture will gather along the foundations and show on the inside walls. I have had experience and expense with this trouble on my own premises.

=Sewers.= In cities, drains and sewers usually combine in joint drainage. Here you have to watch your own grounds, your neighbors’, and the town’s connections; avoiding interference, and watching for loose joints, careless workmanship, and downright dishonesty. Watch your architect, watch the contractors.

=Plumbing.= Be very careful that the water pipes do not run too near, or behind or directly under or over the shelves. Bursting pipes threaten damage and disaster to books.

In indicating where you want your water-fixtures, remember that unnecessary scattering entails unnecessary expense. Economy demands, and efficiency rarely forbids, putting pipes in stacks up and down stairs, one fixture under another, and all near chimneys or somewhere else safe from freezing.

=File plans.= As suggested under another head, keep your plumbing and drainage plans separately, file them in a pamphlet plainly labelled and catalogued. You may want in a hurry sometime to know just where every pipe and drain can be got at easily.

Cleanliness

=Prevention.= It has been suggested that library windows, especially stack windows, be made tight, never to be opened; but the hermetically sealed library does not seem to appeal strongly to the public. Dust can be excluded by carefully planned vestibules, and by opening windows only at certain times, and in certain winds, when dust outside does not drive in. In many large libraries, methods of dust-absorption are provided for air-inlets, and such excluders are common to all systems of forced draught.

=Inside Dust.= In addition to the dust that drives in from the street, and that which rises from mud tracked in, there is some that is evolved from certain book-bindings and from processes of handling, which has to be kept down. Library housekeeping is a steady process.

=Cleaners.= The old-fashioned sweeping and mopping with the old implements, are not yet out-of-date, but there are many more or less expensive patent sweepers, which are supposed to be dustless. Vacuum cleaners have come to stay. Mr. Hodges of Cincinnati anticipated their use in libraries years ago, and made an effective machine of his own. A simple way is to open dusting ducts, in which books may be dusted while all dust is blown away outside. But in a large enough library, it is now wise while installing a stack, to have some system of vacuum standpipes built in to reach every floor; and in any library some of the simpler and more effective forms of patent sweepers or vacuum cleaners may be provided and stored in basement, attic or closets.

=Bowls and Taps.= Sinks with taps for filling pails are useful on all floors, for scrub-women and for first aid in fires. They can easily be combined with wash-bowls, thus avoiding multiplicity of fixtures.

=Wash-bowls.= Using books is not always cleanly work, and both attendants and readers often need facilities for washing their hands. Wash-bowls can be concealed in closets or tucked into special cupboards in shelving, where they are not obvious. There are too few of them oftener than too many in a library. Consider the rooms there where staff or readers might wish to wash their hands after handling dusty books. Frequent ablutions would cleanse the users, and protect books. Children, sometimes adults, come to the library with grimy hands, so that wash-bowls near entrances may be welcome conveniences. But all bowls should be set where they can be watched by one of the staff.

“The library of the future will be found to contain lavatories where every one wishing to use books will first have to cleanse his hands.”—_Reinick._ See p. 222 _post._

Protection from Enemies

Blades in his “Enemies of Books” enumerates Fire, Water, Gas, Heat, Dust, Neglect, Bookworms, Mice and other vermin [to which he might have added book thieves, extra illustrators, mutilators and defacers].

Against the latter group, supervision is a deterrent.

Gas is vanishing before the electric light.

Neglect we cannot allow, or plead guilty to.

Bookworms and vermin have not apparently worried our libraries as much as those of the old world. They can hardly be guarded against in building, except as we guard against moisture and filth.

=Fire= is a great danger in our climate. There is some quality in the atmosphere—some latent condition akin to electricity, which feeds flames. We have concluded that limits of expense and considerations of convenience render it impossible to make our buildings, or any part of them, except the vault for valuables, absolutely fireproof.

In view of the fact that books will always remain combustible, and sensitive to injury from smoke and water, it is now generally conceded that all we need aim at is isolation, slow combustion through “warehouse-construction,” hollow walls, iron or steel shelving, and the like.

Outside iron shutters are considered clumsy, and not so good protection as distance from other buildings. Inside iron doors are frequently neglected, and tend to curl up in hot flames. Local fire regulations sometimes require protected doors through partitions—for which slow-burning wood, tinned, is preferred. These are often interposed between the stack and the rest of the building. The stack can be made more fireproof than the rest, without much extra expense. Its greatest danger, shared with other parts, is from crossed electric wires. Against these, careful installation by conscientious electrical experts is the chief protection.

Thoroughly fireproofing the boiler-rooms, ash-pit and waste-paper bin is a protection any building can have, and in many cases these can all be set outside. Heating-pipes can be kept from contact with woodwork or books, and can be protected with asbestos or otherwise.

=Material= is a great factor of danger or safety. Wood, unless treated chemically, is more dangerous than iron or stone, but inside iron needs protection from flame, lest it yield when most needed. In the San Francisco fire, brick and terra cotta withstood heat better than marble, granite, sandstone, or limestone.[218]

The great use now made of concrete for floors, ceilings, partitions, and walls renders modern buildings safer from fire, and is to be commended especially in libraries.

The roof is vulnerable and should be of non-inflammable material, fireproofed if possible. Sparks blown from neighboring conflagrations, lighting on an unguarded public building, give the greatest outside danger. Tar roofs are said to be non-combustible, when properly gravelled, but do not be too sure of them. Tile, slate, asbestos-shingles should insure you.

=Elevators.= These and lifts furnish in their shafts dangerous draft-flues for fires starting below. If there is any way to provide doors and trap-doors easily managed, to shut off every floor, one great danger of spread of fire is removed.

=Glass.= As outside shutters are objectionable, tough wire-glass, which does not break easily from heat, will furnish a measurable protection from outside fire, without materially diminishing light. Indeed it may transmit or reflect light better than large panes of plate glass, which shatter too easily.

=Fire-buckets= on every floor, prescribed in many insurance regulations, are not so necessary when there are water-taps handy everywhere, as recommended above. Fire extinguishers, however, are not superfluous.

=Standpipes.= In large buildings the local fire department can aid the architect by suggesting the most effective location for service pipes to command every corner of every room and passage most effectively and economically.

=Lightning.= Lightning rods, once deemed so essential, do not seem popular now, but metal standpipes, and steel stacks, well-grounded, would certainly serve to carry lightning down to the depth of permanent moisture. I cannot hear that lightning has ever found stacks attractive.

=Water.= Leaks are bad for books, and fussy for folks. Roofs and cellars may let in moisture, and a library needs tightness in both. Unless it is well constructed and tested at the outset, the leaks, the seepage of a building are hard to find and to stop. No care and thought should be spared concerning this insidious enemy, from choosing the site to flashing the roof-tree.

Since drafting this chapter, I am reminded by an article in Vol. I of the “Library Association Record,”[219] of certain bookworms or grubs I have found in old books from the damp shores of our gulf states. Mr. Widman of St. Charles College is quoted as saying, “We see the time when we shall have to burn part of our books to save the other part.” But I find no suggestion as to any provisions in building which would check such pests. Rigid exclusion of moisture from foundations and walls would probably be the only palliative.

I have noticed cloth bindings of books, especially public documents from gulf states, badly eaten by roaches.

William R. Reinick, Chief of Documents in the Philadelphia Free Library, has printed results of experiments as to insects that destroy books, in Scientific American Supplements of Dec. 24, 1910, and May 11, 1912. He says:—

“It has been stated that more books have been destroyed by small forms of life than by fire and water combined.”

“Heat, dampness, and dirt deposited in handling books, develop worms, etc.”

“Libraries keep many books in dark places, badly ventilated. Darkness, damp air, and leaving books long undisturbed, favor propagation of small forms of life.”

“_Light and cleanliness_ are the two most important factors in preventing the ravages of insects and also of fungi which grow upon and in books in a damp, warm atmosphere.”

While few libraries in our northern states have suffered from book worms and the like, will it not be well to experiment before entrusting rare books to sliding cases, or any books to dark central or especially underground stacks?

=Stacks.= There is one danger in many stacks. A wide space is left between “deck” and shelves on each edge. The danger of dropping small articles like pencils and pads is elsewhere spoken of, but do not such unnecessary wide spaces increase the danger of fire from below and leaks from above?

Fireproof Vaults

But if it is deemed unnecessary to go to the expense of fireproofing the whole building, it is certainly necessary for every library which has valuable books, manuscripts, or records, to have some sort of a strong room, proof against both fire, moisture, and ordinary book-thieves. This should be large enough for present treasures and probable growth, and can be treated as one of the luxuries of the building, where luxury can be afforded. It need not rob any reading-room of light, but can be located in a dark corner of the cellar or elsewhere which seems useless for any other purpose. Unless watched, builders are apt to slight vaults, and finish them rough, shabby, or damp. This is inexcusable, now that such conveniences are common in banks, even in small towns. There must be many expert and honest vault builders in every large city. For light, ventilation and comfort refer to any “Safe-Deposit Vaults” below banks. For absolute security read of the safety with which so large a quantity of bonds came out of the Equitable fire in New York. When you allot your bids, take the expert constructor of the firm contracting for the vault into your confidence, and ask his advice about such late improvements as need not increase his bid. He ought to want the advertisement of your approbation as much as you want an excellent piece of work.

A plain fireproof brick bin for waste paper and rubbish and one for hot ashes are guardians against fire.

A common safe will be enough for the account books and most essential records of a small library which cannot afford a vault. If the floor is made strong enough, it can be kept in a corner or a closet reserved for it in the librarian’s or trustees’ room.

Central Spaces

Large rectangular buildings have central spaces and one of the first questions for the planners—indeed the key to the whole design—is “what use shall we make of this space, leave it open, devote it to reading or delivery, or occupy it by stacks?”

=Areas= are often used to light basement windows, but they are apt to catch rubbish and in winter to invite snowdrifts, which are difficult to clean out. Where they must be used they are better if extended to form a sort of moat, wide enough to be reached by a special flight of steps, for use in cleaning, and lined with white stone or glazed brick to reflect light into the basement.

=Courtyards.= In large buildings, a large courtyard admits light to all the interior walls, but is usually too wasteful of space. The interior is generally used either for delivery, reading or stack; not solidly occupying the whole available space; lighted from the top, and so shaped as to leave small corner courtyards as shafts for light and air. If the walls of these shafts are faced with glazed brick, they may light, very effectively, inside rooms, passages and stairs.

=Kept Open.= In the Boston Public Library, the central space was planned for architectural effect, and left open. This arrangement, if the interior walls had windows planned for light, rather than for effect, would render both faces of all four sides of the building, available for useful rooms; but as it is, adequate light is not given to rooms, and thus is wasted. When attention was called to this waste, and to the disjunctive effect which threw communications out to exterior lines, the advocates of the scheme enlarged upon the opportunities it would give for readers to carry books out there and read under the æsthetic effects of a canopy which excludes direct light from the lower story, as the monks of old are pictured as using their arcades. With this in mind I have often peered out there from the staircase windows, but have never detected such a reader. The present effect may please æsthetic visitors, but I doubt if it could secure a vote from practical modern librarians.

=Central Reading Room.= With the huge reading rooms of the Library of Congress and the British Museum in mind, anyone can understand this use, which is striking. Whether it is the ideal form for a reading-room is more doubtful. It certainly, when high, wastes a deal of room in upper space, not needed for light or ventilation, and it needlessly blocks light which might render the inner fronts of the building useful for various purposes. In this position of the reading or delivery room, the corresponding stack would cross the rear, and perhaps range along the sides of the rectangle.

=Central Delivery.= Another use is for the main delivery, with generally a lower roof than a reading-room would have unless obstructive. If light for this is drawn from above it will be ample for enough floor shelving to bring certain parts of the open-access books near to the desk and catalog.

=Stacks.= Sometime in the future, all the central space of a large building may be given to a solid stack, from sub-cellars to roof, lighted only by electricity, ventilated from above by forced draught, and opening on reading and administrative rooms all around.

But until this era of dark storage (which heaven forfend!) there is a possibility of stacks in the form of cross-sections, or a Greek cross, with corner areas for light and air, and feeding a smaller central room for reading or delivery, or even feeding suites of reading rooms around the perimeter after the fashion of the Library of Congress building.

=Combination.= Still another use of the center space is possible (as in the new Brooklyn Central Library plans): stories of stacks below, delivery-room above, on the level with the ground floor of the building; the reading room above that.

=Dark Places.= There will inevitably come corners in every building where full light cannot get in. Some faulty buildings are full of such corners. Study the plans you find, to detect such faults and avoid them. When your own plans, after all your care, disclose such spots of darkness, think over your various needs and see if some use cannot be made of such otherwise wasted gaps. There are some closets, even rooms, which do not require any light, or require it so seldom that a flash of electric light, now and then, will serve almost as well as daylight. For instance, there is the book vault, the photographic dark room, many closets for supplies, shelves for duplicates; heaters, coal bunks, ash and waste paper bins, _et id genus omne_. All such that you can relegate to places hopelessly dark, will leave so much more free daylight to be used.

=Closets.= Closets in a library need not be as numerous as in a dwelling house, but they are about as useful. Careful planning can get them in where they are wanted without sacrificing space which can be used for books or readers. For instance, rooms as you have to fit them into your floor plans often have one dimension a bit too long. Some times, you have a librarian’s room which seems rather to waste two or three feet farthest from the windows. Make a closet of this, or a nook for drawers and books. The next room is a thought too wide. Slice two feet off the width into a row of cupboards or wardrobes. Show your ingenuity in such refinements of planning.

And every closet is much like every library. It is capable of, and it deserves individuality. Instead of making a dozen closets alike, plan a separate use for each, and lay out its drawers, shelves, cupboards, books, wash-bowls, beforehand. This will save you steps and minutes later, and reap the satisfaction of smooth service.

=Store-rooms.= Store-rooms differ somewhat from closets—they are more wholesale. They require much planning in detail. Do you want bins, open shelving, or glass doors? Do you want hinged doors, or sliding? Do you want bins or drawers below, and shelves above? Do you want the same treatment all round and perhaps in the middle of the floor? Do you need high shelves, or pigeon-holes, or pegs, or hooks?

You must plan storage for stationery, material, labels.

Closets of course, can be used for storage, in addition to other uses, toilet, wraps, etc.

Lifts: Elevators

=Lifts.= By this phrase are designated booklifts—for single volumes or small lots, as distinguished from elevators to carry passengers and boxes. Lifts are chiefly used in stacks, and will be considered under that head. They are also needed between administration rooms on different floors, as from the unpacking room to the catalog-room, and from the desk or the stacks up to special reading rooms.

For small libraries, hand lifts can be made to run easily. In larger libraries, electric lifts save a deal of time, but these are more expensive in first cost and cost of operation and repair.

Champneys[220] says, “Line cages with leather or rubber. Attach clips for papers.”

=Elevators.= These are not at all needed in small libraries, and their use should be postponed as long as possible as a library grows larger, not only on account of initial cost, space required, and danger of furnishing upward drafts in case of fire, but because of the treble cost of running—power, manning and tinkering. They are one of the necessary nuisances of large buildings.

When used, they may be installed in dark inside corners, and should so accommodate passage up and down that less space need be put into staircases. They should open outside rather than inside rooms, even if special corridors have to be provided. The stir of operation, entrance and exit is very disturbing for staff as well as for readers.

The necessity of installing an elevator marks a debatable and epochal point in the development of a library. Indeed I have thought of classifying buildings,—those which can get along without elevators; and those that must have them. Here comes a great leap in the expense of operation.

The number of elevators in the building, their size, their position, the system of operating them, all have an immediate bearing on annual operating expenses, and in very large libraries need a vast amount of special study and conference.

Mechanical Carriers

Some jubilation has been expressed by librarians and architects over the conquest of space through the aid of invention, but space and time have not yet been entirely annihilated. Two hundred feet by carrier may be shorter than a hundred by foot, but it is still twice as far as a hundred feet by carrier, and in planning to use mechanical aids, it is still necessary to remember that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points.

For small packages and small libraries, tubes (pneumatic propulsion or exhaust) are the simplest contrivance for horizontal carriage, and they will serve many purposes in larger libraries.

In large buildings it is usually wise to provide some sort of machinery from remote parts of the stack to the delivery desk, and also direct to the reading-room floors; although the leading specialist on this subject, Bernard R. Green[221] of the Library of Congress, warns that they should only be adopted as a matter of necessity, for they require expenditure, space and complicated machinery. There are forms to be studied in most of the very large libraries, government, university and public. As every new library building will probably devise some decided improvement in tubes and carriers, I will not take space here to describe the different devices now in use, but will advise very careful study of every problem as it arises. Burgoyne[222] describes the Boston Public Library System.[223] The Library of Congress underground system which has been in continuous service satisfactorily since 1897, has also been very well described in The Library.[224]

It seems to me that the services I have seen are heavier, clumsier and slower than is necessary, and that something of the ingenuity that has been put into commercial cash-carrier systems might devise for libraries book-baskets, run on wires, which would serve all purposes for single volumes or small lots of books. Those now operating also suggest frequent stoppages for repairs. “Carriers that turn corners are apt to get out of order,” says Bostwick.[225]

But at all events, no conveniences of machinery should serve as an architectural excuse for separating or increasing distance between departments.

=Tunnels.= For passage from cellar of one building to another in groups; or from one wing to another in the same building, underground passages may be required. They are usually floored, ceiled and walled, with stone or cement, but it has occurred to me that in some cases, large cast-iron water pipes, well laid, would make a cheaper, tighter, stronger and otherwise more satisfactory communication. For staff usage the height of a small man is sufficient; for bulky boxes the size of a car running on rails, and drawn by hand or by endless chain, would define the width, and a slight additional height would allow for overhead hanging book-baskets.

Telephones and Tubes

These are most necessary for quick work. All libraries with more than one story, or even more than one room, can use speaking-tubes to advantage. They are inexpensive, and are easily put in while building. If installed at first, they need not cost much, and save many steps, if they be run only from the librarian’s desk to the janitor. For larger libraries, they can connect desk and stack, librarian and assistants, departments with each other. In stacks they are very serviceable, placed next the lift and running both to delivery desk and to janitor’s room. In still larger libraries some form of house-telephone will speed and simplify service, with an exchange desk, switchboard, and special operator.

Consult the local telephone company about the different styles and prices. You will perhaps be surprised to find how cheaply they can be set and run, even as compared with a speaking-tube system.

Dr. Richard Garnett recommends the telautograph for transmitting inquiries and orders,[226] and also says,[227] “In planning large libraries, it will be necessary to take mechanical contrivances into account to a much greater extent than hitherto.”

Less marble columns, fewer dadoes, and more tubes and telephones, would ensure a better working library.

E.

DEPARTMENTS AND ROOMS

_In this Book suggestions are made as to location and equipment of every room in a library. Note especially Stack-towers, Carrels, and Sliding Cases._

E.

DEPARTMENTS AND ROOMS