What Librarians Want for their Libraries

A little while ago, I asked a few librarians what they would want if they could redesign their library or any aspect on it. Being a student at a school with an exceptional library, it did not occur to me that many of these things would even be problems, so they were interesting to see.

Some of the requests:

1. Study rooms

This was a huge request and it is sad to see that many libraries don't already accommodate this.  At my university library, you must reserve a study room in advance. By the time I usually even think about doing this, all of the rooms have been reserved well in advance. There are plenty of group areas so usually this has not been an issue, and many buildings on campus are open in the evenings so we can use the lobbies in those as well, but regardless it would be nice to have a lot more quieter areas.

2. Outlets

Oh, the pain of outlets. During the design phase of many libraries, laptops weren't a common thing and outlets weren't viewed as needed. My library has alleviated this problem by using the multiple outlet surge protectors, but this may not be a solution for all libraries given the locations of the outlets to begin with.  If your study tables are in the middle of the floor and outlets are along the walls, there is going to be a problem.

3. Better Lighting

I worked in my community college library for a little while and I noticed this problem as well. I have to ask, how difficult is it to update to LED lighting? Bright areas enhance studying so much and makes me want to be in a library.

4. Hacker lab / Technology Sandbox

It is so much fun to explore technology and it seems like a library would be the perfect place to do it. Unfortunately, books are becoming less relevant as more technology reveals itself, but libraries could easily transform to accommodate this. My library has a technology sandbox that has smart boards, a quad screen, Microsoft surfaces and more. It's small, but it's constantly filled and used.

There were plenty of other library specific requests as well, such as separating offices better and cutting down on the size of the circulation desk. How would you want to improve your library? Do you have a system of recommendations for improvements on the library?