Planning library spaces to encourage collaboration

Most librarians can give examples from their own experience in which a library's physical space was either ill suited to the work to be performed or, in some unfortunate cases, a genuine barrier to productivity. In an effort to correct or avoid these situations, planners of library renovations or new construction make pre-design studies of individual workers' tasks and workflow at the work-unit level. In this article, the authors discuss how a pre-design review of library and institutional values influenced the course of a library renovation. The identification of collaboration as the major theme of the library and the institution's strategic directions drove renovation decisions and resulted in a facility that supports and promotes this concept.