INTERVIEW
Better by Design – the changing face of libraries
IN 2009, Ayub Khan, assisted by Stella Thebridge, released Better By Design (Facet Publishing). This year saw the pair review and update the title. The new edition brings a fresh perspective on design, looking at how changing habits, new technology and concerns about sustain- ability are impacting how we use public spaces. Here Ayub and Stella look at what has changed and why design is an ongoing process.
InfoPro: This is a newly revised ver- sion of Better by Design – what has changed since the first edition was published in 2009?
Ayub: The date of the first edition speaks for itself – over 10 years on, there is so much that has evolved. When we looked at potential revision for a new edition, we realised the book needed almost a whole re-write.
Stella: The first major area of change concerned environmental considerations in terms of materials used, energy-saving and eco-friendly approaches across the board of library design and sustainability and of course national and international regula- tions governing all of this. Secondly, was the unforeseen effects of the Covid pan- demic. Less dramatically, libraries across sectors were re-examining both procure- ment and project management processes, meaning that a lot that had previously been addressed to library managers in the first edition was now better described in relation to project teams and parent institutional processes.
The way library spaces are used has changed dramatically – how has that impacted on design? What do we have to think about today, that we didn’t
December 2022
Rob Green (
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk) is Editor, Information Professional.
have to think about 15 years ago? Ayub: It has always been a concern (and was expressed in the first edition) that libraries, like any other major new building, reflect yesterday’s thinking from the day they open, so that a lot of future guess- work has to take place. What has been learnt in recent years is the need for flex- ibility of design, particularly in interiors, so that spaces can be changed quickly and effectively to meet changing community needs.
There seems to be a more articulated case from library managers to decision-mak- ers and architects that communities are consulted on their wishes and that libraries do not always go the way of creating the
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