1991 survey of recent health sciences library building projects By Logan T. Ludwig, Ph.D. Director
Medical Center Library Loyola University of Chicago 2160 South First Avenue Maywood, Illinois 60153
Twenty health sciences libraries reported building planning, expansion, or construction of new facilities in the association's second annual survey of recent building projects. Six projects are new, freestanding structures in which the library occupies all or a major portion of the space. Six other projects are part of new construction for separately administered units in which the library is a major tenant. The final eight projects involve additions to or renovations of existing space. Seven of these twenty libraries were still in projected, predesign, or design stages or awaiting funding approval; of those seven, five were not prepared to release the requested information. Six projects are reported here as illustrative of current building projects.
INTRODUCTION Response to the publication of the 1990 building projects survey was overwhelmingly positive [1]. Librarians, architects, and consultants were enthusiastic about an annual feature that identified planned, inprogress, or recently constructed health sciences libraries. The first annual survey generated numerous telephone calls, electronic mail messages, and written correspondence to the Bulletin building projects editor. Most of these communications thanked the association for providing information or inspiration to librarians involved in various stages of library construction. Library architectural firms commented on the usefulness of identifying library building consultants for possible collaboration on future projects. In addition, one state official found the 1990 survey a useful resource for a planned revision of statewide library standards. For these reasons and because sources of factual information about recent library construction remain scarce, a second survey was begun almost immediately after the first was completed. Whereas the 1990 survey covered ten years and included major library projects dating from the mid1980s, the 1991 survey is more focused. It identifies one library project completed in 1989, three projects completed in 1990, six projects completed in 1991, and ten projects with future completion dates. The costs of the library facilities reported in the second annual survey range from under $50,000 to more than $35 million. New construction accounts for a large Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
percentage of reported building projects, although some renovations and additions were probably not reported. Construction costs were not available for every reported project; however, the six freestanding libraries identified by this year's survey represent at least $80 million worth of investment in the future of health sciences libraries.
SELECTED HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY PROJECTS The 1991 survey identified two library building projects (Beijing and Dublin) outside the United States. In the United States, the mythologies, educational system, ethics, and economic expectations fall within a relatively narrow range. U.S. library standards, guidelines, and rules of thumb may therefore be inapplicable to countries where religious traditions inculcate awe for books rather than encourage their use, where the predominant pedagogical style stresses rote memorization, or where tropical climates make library materials especially vulnerable to insects and mold [2]. It is important to understand how library building formulae are derived and how they are driven. However, even more significant is a capability to adapt and assimilate global differences in library environments into a unified ideology. The following six summaries of recent health sciences library building programs reinforce our cognizance of the diversity and inventiveness of libraries worldwide. 115
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Figure 1 Beijing Medical Library, Beijing Medical University
Beijing Medical Library The Beijing Medical University, People's Republic of China, is one of fourteen medical universities under the auspices of the ministry of public health. Beijing Medical University, Shanghai Medical University, Huaxi Medical University, Zhongshan Medical University, and Hunan Medical University are five of the primary medical and research centers in the People's Republic of China. Beijing Medical University includes five affiliated hospitals, four teaching hospitals, the Scientific Analysis and Computer Center, the Audiovisual Education Center, a Division of Experimental Animal Science, and secondary health schools. Research is conducted in fourteen institutions, ten research centers, nine independent research units, and one state-level research unit. Courses are taught in both English and Chinese. Beijing Medical University's new library is an example of modern Chinese architecture (Figure 1). It is a U-shaped structure of four floors (10,000 square meters per floor). Special features of this library include four separate check-out counters, a history of the university showroom, a foreign guest room, and nine reading rooms. There is also a foreign language textbook center, established in 1985, the first center of its kind in China. The goal of the center is to expose faculty and students to the current information and research available internationally. The center currently houses more than 3,500 foreign textbook titles and reference materials. It has sponsored two foreign textbook exhibitions. One of the university's major goals was to have a library building that could make new technology available for its staff and patrons. To accomplish this goal, rooms for high-level computer capabilities, mi116
crofilm production, and audiovisual facilities were considered essential. In addition, the library has added more space to accommodate lectures, to conduct library orientation and training classes, to house as complete a collection as possible of foreign-language materials, and to host various university functions. Mercer Library, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Mercer Library, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and Royal College of Physicians of Ireland is an exquisite blend of old and new. The best features of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings of the former Mercer's Hospital, one of Dublin's oldest hospitals (built in 1734) have been retained and restored. The inscription "Mercer's Charitable Hospital" can still be read on the stonework of the Mary Mercer House. Behind the facade, the clock tower, and the original main door is a twentieth-century library, built according to modern library design principles and equipped with the latest technology [3]. The elegant entrance hall, with light oak paneling, brass fittings, and etched glass, is a striking feature of this 27,000-square-foot library, which occupies three floors of the Mercer Building. The floor of pink Irish granite and dark maroon Italian marble blends beautifully with the light oak paneling. A readers common room with coffee facilities offers library users a respite from their studies. The internal environment and furnishings of the Mercer Library were influenced by a tour of U.S. health sciences libraries [4]. The beech shelves are in accordance with the internationally recognized standard for library shelving. Open-plan study places in similar wood create a unified effect. A comfortable current journals reading area adjacent to the main photocopying facilities has been provided on level one of the library (Figure 2). Cantilevered chairs are covered in a blue-and-wine fabric that blends with the carpet tiles used throughout the library. A main circulation desk (issue desk) that matches the style of the shelving greets patrons as they enter the library. A great sense of light and airiness has been achieved in the Mercer Library by restoring the original windows of Mercer's Hospital and adding modern windows on the new side of the building. Shelving has been placed in the central areas of the library, with seating on the periphery of the two main floors. Levels one and two of the library contain cavity floors, which provide access to all electrical and telecommunications systems. An enclosed stairwell with attractive windows from the original facade leads to level two, which houses the main reading area and the modern textbook/journals collections. The stairwell also leads to level three, where the archives and Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
Building projects Figure 2 Mercer Ubrary, Royal College of Surgeons and Royal College of Physicians
Figure 3 Circulation and Reading Area, Patients' and Health Sciences Ubraries, Veterans Affairs Medical Center Uptown Division
AL~ ~ . .-.
rare books are stored. A medical informatics laboratory on level two of the library contains twenty-four microcomputer workstations. A periodicals office and seminar room are also located on this floor. Level three houses the library's rich collection of historical and archival material in an air-conditioned environment. Compact shelving on the specially reinforced floor has sufficient capacity for 25,000 volumes. Beautiful light oak screens similar to those used in the entrance hall library separate storage space from nonlibrary offices. Twelve networked Macintosh computers provide access to medical databases and to the library's modern automated computer system, URICA. This integrated library system (ILS) is a McDonnell-Douglas system popular in a number of health sciences and academic libraries in Europe and Australia, including the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine in London and the Library of the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Patients' and Health Sciences Libraries, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Augusta, Georgia The Augusta, Georgia, Veterans Affairs Medical Center is a two-division 1,033-bed medical center affiliated with the Medical College of Georgia. In 1987, ground was broken at the Medical Center's Uptown Neuropsychiatric and Long-Term Care Division for a replacement hospital. The hospital was a collection of aging buildings on a 105-acre reserve. The library was located in the basement of a building more than Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
sixty years old. In March 1991, the library became the first service to move into the third floor of the new building. The Veterans Affairs Medical Center library service consists of two separate libraries, the Patients' Library and the Health Sciences Library, located adjacent to each other, with a central circulation desk and a general reading area (Figure 3). The Patients' Library features two large skylights and a window wall that give the area a cheerful open feeling, which is much appreciated by library patrons. The general reading room also features a window wall overlooking an interior courtyard and a fountain on the same level. The area has become a popular gathering place for both patients and staff. The spacious Health Sciences Library allows room for the collection, which had outgrown its previous cramped quarters. Wiring and utilities have been designed to accommodate expanded computer requirements. The study and reading area has ample space for several tables, individual carrels with task lighting, and comfortable upholstered lounge chairs. A media conference room, staff offices and work areas, an index area, and the stacks separate the reading area from the busy circulation desk. Attention to the functional relationship of these components produces a touch of isolation in the study area; the serene atmosphere is conducive to serious research and study. A centrally located staff workroom with dutch doors and windows in three walls facilitates supervision by a small staff. The sharp lines of utilitarian metal shelving are softened with wood end panels of medium oak finish that match other library furnishings. The 117
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Table 1 Recent health sciences library building projects- 1991 survey Name of institution
Beijing Medical University
Name of library
Architect
Square feet
Type of construction
Cost of project
Beijing Medical Library
NA
40,000 sq. meters
New
NA
Medical Library
Karlsberger Companies
20,000 building
New
$3.6 million build-
3,400
Occupies part of second floor of twostory Medical Edu-
Haidian, Beijing, People's Republic of China Bethesda Oak Hospital
Columbus, OH
Cincinnati, OH
library
ing
cation and Research Center Methodist Medical Center of Illinois
Health Science Resource Center
NA
2,800
Renovation
NA
The Taylor Family Health Sciences Library
Argentieri Associates, Inc.
7,388 building
New
NA
Cleveland, OH
4,055
27,000 library
New/renovation
$4.1 million
2,600
Renovation
$64,000
Peoria, IL MetroHealth St. Luke's Hospital
Cleveland, OH
library Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
The Mercer Library
Dublin 2, Ireland
Dublin, Ireland
St. Louis University Medical Center
Brian O'Halloran & Associates
Medical Center Library
Andy Roth St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO
Thomas Jefferson University
Scott Memorial Library
Thomas Jefferson University Office of Facilities Planning
NA
Renovation
$700,000
Arizona Health Science Ubrary
The NBBJ Group/Gresham Larson
New: 87,000 library
New/renovation
$12,260,000
Philadelphia, PA
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ
With land acquisition, ring road construction, moving, debt issuance, etc.
Tucson, AZ Renovated: 11,000 library
17,000 LRC University of California
Science Library
James Sterling/Michael Wilford & Associates
g.s.f.
190,000
London, England
131,000 a.s.f.
Unteed, Scaggs, Nelson, Ltd.
10,800 project
Champaign, IL
7,000 library
New
$32,000,000
Renovation
$470,000
Irvine, CA
University of Illinois at Chicago
Library of the Health Sciences-Urbana
Urbana, IL
118
project
$250,000 library
Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
Building projects
Table I Extended Cost/sq. feet NA
Completion date Late 1989
Program available
Contact person
YES
Yu-mei Wang
Number of seats
1,700 total
Consutant NA
Special features
.4 chock-out counters *History of university showroom
.Foreign guest room eForeign language textbook center *9 reading rooms
Printed floor plans, photographs Fall 1992
NO
B. White
36 total 20 special 16 general
NA
*Merges hospital and nursing libraries ePrivate work area for staff
NA
February 1991
NO
R. Jones
39 total 9 special 30 general
NA
eFloor-to-ceiling glass eSemiprivate work area for staff
NA
June 1990
YES
P. Billick
32 total
NA
eCompact storage room oCustomized circulation desk *AV study carrels
$115.25 building NA
library
9 special 23 general
Program description, square footage and shelving projections, blueprints
$186.00
April 1991
YES
*Spiral staircase
eSkylight B. Doran
225 total 30 special 195 general
NA
eArchives and rare book storage *False flor for elctrical and teeoommunications
oCompact shelving eMedical informatics lab $24.50
December 1990
NO
T. S. Plutchak
175 total
NA
eReference offices eGlassed-in CD-ROM room *Classroom Study rooms
eImproved access to photocopiers *New signage
NA
February 1991
NA
E. W. Tawyea
NA
NA
*Type 1 &3cable sNew LRC
*Microcomputer lab
.Staff offices
eCompact shelving NA
$168.00
September 1992
NO
November 1993
YES
R. K. Anderson
prox.
$43.52
August 1991
NO
$35.71
Becker & Hayes/ The Omni Group
eArizona Poison Information Center eSeparate LRC *Street rerouting
J. Homan
2,200 total 200 special 2,000 general
Nancy McAdams
*LRC and Bibliographic Instruction Center eTechnical services division for university library system *Extemal courtyard *24-hr., faculty, graduate reading rooms *ILS computer in building
R. E. Fenske
54 total 49 special 5 general
NA
eAdditional campus network computer connections
Building description
project
730 total ap-
*Expanded joumal shelving *Improved HVAC
library
Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
119
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Table 1 Continued Name of institution University of Maryland
Name of library Health Sciences Library
Square feet 166,000 g.s.f.
Architect NA
Type of construction New
Cost of project
$35,227,000 estimated
Baltimore, MA
University of Nebraska Medical Center
McGoogan Ubrary of Medicine
1,997
Holland, Basham Architects
Renovation/addition
$161,865 $54,445
Omaha, NE
construction
$107,420 furnishings and equipment Vanderbilt University Medical Center
The Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Ubrary
Davis, Brody and Associates New York, NY
78,000
New
$13,500,000
Health Sciences and Patients' Ubraries
Jova, Daniels and Busby
687,930 building
New
$100,005,307 building
Nashville TN
Veterans Affairs Medical Center Uptown Division
Atlanta, GA
Augusta, GA VA Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH
Medical Library
Sarah R. Wagner KZF
$968,722 library
3,500
Renovation
NA
Cincinnati, OH
white-and-light-plum walls and the durable teal furniture fabrics have been coordinated to achieve a balance of warmth, openness, and privacy.
Scott Memorial Library, Thomas Jefferson University Major renovations to the Scott Memorial Library, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, were completed in February 1991. These were the first major renovations since the building opened twenty years ago. Major goals of the construction included * improved access to electronic resources; * general upgrading of the library's appearance, amenities, and aesthetics; * improved staff space; and * new telecommunications equipment and wiring. A large portion of the total construction cost was spent to replace existing networking and voice telephone lines with shielded and unshielded (Type 1 and Type 2) twisted pair cables. All 128 of these connections now terminate in a central control room on the library's fourth floor. Three risers connect this room with the library's DEC hardware in the building's basement. In addition, the DEC computer is now connected to the university's ethernet and campuswide fiber-optic backbone network. 120
5,786 library
This investment permits the library staff to plug into the network at each staff desk, allows data transmission at much higher speeds, and will expedite network expansion. Thirty-four workstations in the microcomputer lab are also connected, as are twentythree sites in the reference area. Twelve connections were installed in a new classroom to facilitate instruction in JEFFLINE, the library's online system. All wiring is now concealed in walls or ceilings; surfacemounted outlets provide for easy connectivity. Construction involved removing some walls and creating new ones. Among the new spaces are a classroom with seating for thirty, a learning resources center/microcomputer lab with capacity for fifty individual users and three groups, a new suite for the director and four administrative services staff, and a new home for archives and special collections. This facility includes movable, compact storage equipment that conserves floor space and allows housing of both the university's archival and rare books collections in one space. New carpeting was installed on the open staircase, on the second floor, and in selected rooms on the third and fourth floors. Working with J. P. Jay Associates, the library designed a carrel to accommodate both audiovisual equipment and computer hardware. The "Jefferson carrel" includes accommodations for Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
Building projects Table 1 Extended, Continued Cost/sq. feet $212.00, with equipment
Completion date April 1996
$81.00
June 1991
Program available NO
Contact person F. Weise
Number of seats 1,200 total
Consultant
NA
Special features
eConnected to the student union, serving as an activity center Includes TAL Center. *Shared facdlity with academic and administrative computing.
NO
N. WoelfI
15 workstations
NA
eMicrocomputer training lab/Macintosh environment *Staff offices
lnteractive instruction/Macintosh environment
$173.00
September 1993
YES
W. W. Stead
400 total 150 special 250 general
Robert Braude
.4-story construction .Covered connections to medical center *Atrium
*Information research and education program
$145.00 building
November 1990
NO
A. Bell E. Northington
87 total 33 special 54 general
NA
*2 skylights
eMedia conference room
$167.00 library NA
.Reading area with full glass wall eCourtyard and fountain
eCentral work area for staff April 1991
NO
J. Alfred
electrical wiring, network wiring, and users' personal possessions. Twenty Jefferson carrels are located in the reference area, twenty-five in the microcomputer lab, and another sixteen in the LRC. Oak laminates and painted steel were used to furnish staff offices in an overall color scheme of gray, pale green, and muted rose. Public areas were furnished with new love seats, and chairs were separated by granite-topped coffee tables. Miniblinds were added to windows, and a plant service was hired to soften the overall look of public areas. To update the open stairwell, a new alabaster and verdigris light fixture was installed. In the same area, a handwoven Turkish rug was hung against the brick wall of the stairwell; a spotlight is used to accent it.
Taylor Family Health Sciences Library, MetroHealth St. Luke's Hospital The long-awaited medical library and physicians' center encompassing two stories in the central wing at MetroHealth St. Luke's Hospital opened in June 1990. The physicians' center is located on the second floor, overlooking the first floor area known as the Taylor Family Health Sciences Library. The new facility contains the first computerized catalog in a Cleveland area hospital. The catalog and other opBull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
39 total 16 special 23 general
NA
.Customized circulation desk *AV study carrels eStaff offimces
erations and research functions run on a Novell computer network. Other additions include private study carrels, additional shelving capacity, a security system, and increased office space for the library staff. A spiral staircase provides access to the physicians' center directly above the library. Patrons are delighted by attractive light and airy spaces created by a skylight and full-
length windows (Figure 4). The smooth, polished finish of sled-based chairs and oak shelving end panels blends naturally with high-quality fabrics and carpeting. Colors are blue and gray. Formerly located in the residence building, the library's resources of more than 1,700 monographs and 8,000 bound journals were divided among six different storage areas. The new library brings together the library's personnel, collection, and services under one roof to benefit the hospital's health professionals.
The Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University Groundbreaking for this new library took place on October 29, 1991. When completed, it will be a centrally and conveniently located freestanding, fourstory facility, accessible from all parts of the medical center complex via subterranean passageways (Figure 121
Ludwig Figure 4 Taylor Family Health Sciences Library, MetroHealth St. Luke's Hospital
medicine room will be primary features of the third floor, while the fourth floor will be devoted to the newly established Center for Biomedical Literature, whose program is now unfolding. The new library will replace an existing facility located in the twenty-seven-year-old wing of an even older building at the northeastern periphery of the medical center. Stack space in the old library will be retained for the storage of older material and the archival collection. Shelving space allocations in the new building will be relatively limited; they are convertible to other purposes as technologies develop. SUMMARY OF WORKS RECENTLY COMPLETED OR IN PROGRESS
5). Architectural features of this east-west oblong building will include service functions along the south wall (elevators, lavatories, copy rooms, etc.), staff offices and stacks through the center of the building, and user spaces along the north side of the building. User areas will be connected to the remainder of the building by four bridges across a long narrow atrium. A glass arc will accent the north wall. A medical center conference room and a handsome history of
The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to library directors, project managers, and consultants who generously provided information about their library buildings, layout, and interior design, as well as construction data for this article. The data obtained from fifteen health sciences library projects are reported in Table 1. Where library construction is part of a larger project, cost per square foot is generally although not always-based on the library's actual portion of the project, rather than averaged for the entire project. Unless otherwise indicated, square footage is presented as gross rather than net assignable. Project costs include furnishings, equipment, and mechanical services and, in renovation or addition projects, may include tenant moving costs.
Figure 5 The Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University
,.,.
.,.,
1sl*4;siX
122
..
Medical Center Library Loyola University of Chicago 2160 South First Avenue Maywood, Illinois 60153
Twenty health sciences libraries reported building planning, expansion, or construction of new facilities in the association's second annual survey of recent building projects. Six projects are new, freestanding structures in which the library occupies all or a major portion of the space. Six other projects are part of new construction for separately administered units in which the library is a major tenant. The final eight projects involve additions to or renovations of existing space. Seven of these twenty libraries were still in projected, predesign, or design stages or awaiting funding approval; of those seven, five were not prepared to release the requested information. Six projects are reported here as illustrative of current building projects.
INTRODUCTION Response to the publication of the 1990 building projects survey was overwhelmingly positive [1]. Librarians, architects, and consultants were enthusiastic about an annual feature that identified planned, inprogress, or recently constructed health sciences libraries. The first annual survey generated numerous telephone calls, electronic mail messages, and written correspondence to the Bulletin building projects editor. Most of these communications thanked the association for providing information or inspiration to librarians involved in various stages of library construction. Library architectural firms commented on the usefulness of identifying library building consultants for possible collaboration on future projects. In addition, one state official found the 1990 survey a useful resource for a planned revision of statewide library standards. For these reasons and because sources of factual information about recent library construction remain scarce, a second survey was begun almost immediately after the first was completed. Whereas the 1990 survey covered ten years and included major library projects dating from the mid1980s, the 1991 survey is more focused. It identifies one library project completed in 1989, three projects completed in 1990, six projects completed in 1991, and ten projects with future completion dates. The costs of the library facilities reported in the second annual survey range from under $50,000 to more than $35 million. New construction accounts for a large Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
percentage of reported building projects, although some renovations and additions were probably not reported. Construction costs were not available for every reported project; however, the six freestanding libraries identified by this year's survey represent at least $80 million worth of investment in the future of health sciences libraries.
SELECTED HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY PROJECTS The 1991 survey identified two library building projects (Beijing and Dublin) outside the United States. In the United States, the mythologies, educational system, ethics, and economic expectations fall within a relatively narrow range. U.S. library standards, guidelines, and rules of thumb may therefore be inapplicable to countries where religious traditions inculcate awe for books rather than encourage their use, where the predominant pedagogical style stresses rote memorization, or where tropical climates make library materials especially vulnerable to insects and mold [2]. It is important to understand how library building formulae are derived and how they are driven. However, even more significant is a capability to adapt and assimilate global differences in library environments into a unified ideology. The following six summaries of recent health sciences library building programs reinforce our cognizance of the diversity and inventiveness of libraries worldwide. 115
Ludwig
Figure 1 Beijing Medical Library, Beijing Medical University
Beijing Medical Library The Beijing Medical University, People's Republic of China, is one of fourteen medical universities under the auspices of the ministry of public health. Beijing Medical University, Shanghai Medical University, Huaxi Medical University, Zhongshan Medical University, and Hunan Medical University are five of the primary medical and research centers in the People's Republic of China. Beijing Medical University includes five affiliated hospitals, four teaching hospitals, the Scientific Analysis and Computer Center, the Audiovisual Education Center, a Division of Experimental Animal Science, and secondary health schools. Research is conducted in fourteen institutions, ten research centers, nine independent research units, and one state-level research unit. Courses are taught in both English and Chinese. Beijing Medical University's new library is an example of modern Chinese architecture (Figure 1). It is a U-shaped structure of four floors (10,000 square meters per floor). Special features of this library include four separate check-out counters, a history of the university showroom, a foreign guest room, and nine reading rooms. There is also a foreign language textbook center, established in 1985, the first center of its kind in China. The goal of the center is to expose faculty and students to the current information and research available internationally. The center currently houses more than 3,500 foreign textbook titles and reference materials. It has sponsored two foreign textbook exhibitions. One of the university's major goals was to have a library building that could make new technology available for its staff and patrons. To accomplish this goal, rooms for high-level computer capabilities, mi116
crofilm production, and audiovisual facilities were considered essential. In addition, the library has added more space to accommodate lectures, to conduct library orientation and training classes, to house as complete a collection as possible of foreign-language materials, and to host various university functions. Mercer Library, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Mercer Library, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and Royal College of Physicians of Ireland is an exquisite blend of old and new. The best features of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings of the former Mercer's Hospital, one of Dublin's oldest hospitals (built in 1734) have been retained and restored. The inscription "Mercer's Charitable Hospital" can still be read on the stonework of the Mary Mercer House. Behind the facade, the clock tower, and the original main door is a twentieth-century library, built according to modern library design principles and equipped with the latest technology [3]. The elegant entrance hall, with light oak paneling, brass fittings, and etched glass, is a striking feature of this 27,000-square-foot library, which occupies three floors of the Mercer Building. The floor of pink Irish granite and dark maroon Italian marble blends beautifully with the light oak paneling. A readers common room with coffee facilities offers library users a respite from their studies. The internal environment and furnishings of the Mercer Library were influenced by a tour of U.S. health sciences libraries [4]. The beech shelves are in accordance with the internationally recognized standard for library shelving. Open-plan study places in similar wood create a unified effect. A comfortable current journals reading area adjacent to the main photocopying facilities has been provided on level one of the library (Figure 2). Cantilevered chairs are covered in a blue-and-wine fabric that blends with the carpet tiles used throughout the library. A main circulation desk (issue desk) that matches the style of the shelving greets patrons as they enter the library. A great sense of light and airiness has been achieved in the Mercer Library by restoring the original windows of Mercer's Hospital and adding modern windows on the new side of the building. Shelving has been placed in the central areas of the library, with seating on the periphery of the two main floors. Levels one and two of the library contain cavity floors, which provide access to all electrical and telecommunications systems. An enclosed stairwell with attractive windows from the original facade leads to level two, which houses the main reading area and the modern textbook/journals collections. The stairwell also leads to level three, where the archives and Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
Building projects Figure 2 Mercer Ubrary, Royal College of Surgeons and Royal College of Physicians
Figure 3 Circulation and Reading Area, Patients' and Health Sciences Ubraries, Veterans Affairs Medical Center Uptown Division
AL~ ~ . .-.
rare books are stored. A medical informatics laboratory on level two of the library contains twenty-four microcomputer workstations. A periodicals office and seminar room are also located on this floor. Level three houses the library's rich collection of historical and archival material in an air-conditioned environment. Compact shelving on the specially reinforced floor has sufficient capacity for 25,000 volumes. Beautiful light oak screens similar to those used in the entrance hall library separate storage space from nonlibrary offices. Twelve networked Macintosh computers provide access to medical databases and to the library's modern automated computer system, URICA. This integrated library system (ILS) is a McDonnell-Douglas system popular in a number of health sciences and academic libraries in Europe and Australia, including the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine in London and the Library of the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Patients' and Health Sciences Libraries, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Augusta, Georgia The Augusta, Georgia, Veterans Affairs Medical Center is a two-division 1,033-bed medical center affiliated with the Medical College of Georgia. In 1987, ground was broken at the Medical Center's Uptown Neuropsychiatric and Long-Term Care Division for a replacement hospital. The hospital was a collection of aging buildings on a 105-acre reserve. The library was located in the basement of a building more than Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
sixty years old. In March 1991, the library became the first service to move into the third floor of the new building. The Veterans Affairs Medical Center library service consists of two separate libraries, the Patients' Library and the Health Sciences Library, located adjacent to each other, with a central circulation desk and a general reading area (Figure 3). The Patients' Library features two large skylights and a window wall that give the area a cheerful open feeling, which is much appreciated by library patrons. The general reading room also features a window wall overlooking an interior courtyard and a fountain on the same level. The area has become a popular gathering place for both patients and staff. The spacious Health Sciences Library allows room for the collection, which had outgrown its previous cramped quarters. Wiring and utilities have been designed to accommodate expanded computer requirements. The study and reading area has ample space for several tables, individual carrels with task lighting, and comfortable upholstered lounge chairs. A media conference room, staff offices and work areas, an index area, and the stacks separate the reading area from the busy circulation desk. Attention to the functional relationship of these components produces a touch of isolation in the study area; the serene atmosphere is conducive to serious research and study. A centrally located staff workroom with dutch doors and windows in three walls facilitates supervision by a small staff. The sharp lines of utilitarian metal shelving are softened with wood end panels of medium oak finish that match other library furnishings. The 117
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Table 1 Recent health sciences library building projects- 1991 survey Name of institution
Beijing Medical University
Name of library
Architect
Square feet
Type of construction
Cost of project
Beijing Medical Library
NA
40,000 sq. meters
New
NA
Medical Library
Karlsberger Companies
20,000 building
New
$3.6 million build-
3,400
Occupies part of second floor of twostory Medical Edu-
Haidian, Beijing, People's Republic of China Bethesda Oak Hospital
Columbus, OH
Cincinnati, OH
library
ing
cation and Research Center Methodist Medical Center of Illinois
Health Science Resource Center
NA
2,800
Renovation
NA
The Taylor Family Health Sciences Library
Argentieri Associates, Inc.
7,388 building
New
NA
Cleveland, OH
4,055
27,000 library
New/renovation
$4.1 million
2,600
Renovation
$64,000
Peoria, IL MetroHealth St. Luke's Hospital
Cleveland, OH
library Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
The Mercer Library
Dublin 2, Ireland
Dublin, Ireland
St. Louis University Medical Center
Brian O'Halloran & Associates
Medical Center Library
Andy Roth St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO
Thomas Jefferson University
Scott Memorial Library
Thomas Jefferson University Office of Facilities Planning
NA
Renovation
$700,000
Arizona Health Science Ubrary
The NBBJ Group/Gresham Larson
New: 87,000 library
New/renovation
$12,260,000
Philadelphia, PA
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ
With land acquisition, ring road construction, moving, debt issuance, etc.
Tucson, AZ Renovated: 11,000 library
17,000 LRC University of California
Science Library
James Sterling/Michael Wilford & Associates
g.s.f.
190,000
London, England
131,000 a.s.f.
Unteed, Scaggs, Nelson, Ltd.
10,800 project
Champaign, IL
7,000 library
New
$32,000,000
Renovation
$470,000
Irvine, CA
University of Illinois at Chicago
Library of the Health Sciences-Urbana
Urbana, IL
118
project
$250,000 library
Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
Building projects
Table I Extended Cost/sq. feet NA
Completion date Late 1989
Program available
Contact person
YES
Yu-mei Wang
Number of seats
1,700 total
Consutant NA
Special features
.4 chock-out counters *History of university showroom
.Foreign guest room eForeign language textbook center *9 reading rooms
Printed floor plans, photographs Fall 1992
NO
B. White
36 total 20 special 16 general
NA
*Merges hospital and nursing libraries ePrivate work area for staff
NA
February 1991
NO
R. Jones
39 total 9 special 30 general
NA
eFloor-to-ceiling glass eSemiprivate work area for staff
NA
June 1990
YES
P. Billick
32 total
NA
eCompact storage room oCustomized circulation desk *AV study carrels
$115.25 building NA
library
9 special 23 general
Program description, square footage and shelving projections, blueprints
$186.00
April 1991
YES
*Spiral staircase
eSkylight B. Doran
225 total 30 special 195 general
NA
eArchives and rare book storage *False flor for elctrical and teeoommunications
oCompact shelving eMedical informatics lab $24.50
December 1990
NO
T. S. Plutchak
175 total
NA
eReference offices eGlassed-in CD-ROM room *Classroom Study rooms
eImproved access to photocopiers *New signage
NA
February 1991
NA
E. W. Tawyea
NA
NA
*Type 1 &3cable sNew LRC
*Microcomputer lab
.Staff offices
eCompact shelving NA
$168.00
September 1992
NO
November 1993
YES
R. K. Anderson
prox.
$43.52
August 1991
NO
$35.71
Becker & Hayes/ The Omni Group
eArizona Poison Information Center eSeparate LRC *Street rerouting
J. Homan
2,200 total 200 special 2,000 general
Nancy McAdams
*LRC and Bibliographic Instruction Center eTechnical services division for university library system *Extemal courtyard *24-hr., faculty, graduate reading rooms *ILS computer in building
R. E. Fenske
54 total 49 special 5 general
NA
eAdditional campus network computer connections
Building description
project
730 total ap-
*Expanded joumal shelving *Improved HVAC
library
Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
119
Ludwig
Table 1 Continued Name of institution University of Maryland
Name of library Health Sciences Library
Square feet 166,000 g.s.f.
Architect NA
Type of construction New
Cost of project
$35,227,000 estimated
Baltimore, MA
University of Nebraska Medical Center
McGoogan Ubrary of Medicine
1,997
Holland, Basham Architects
Renovation/addition
$161,865 $54,445
Omaha, NE
construction
$107,420 furnishings and equipment Vanderbilt University Medical Center
The Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Ubrary
Davis, Brody and Associates New York, NY
78,000
New
$13,500,000
Health Sciences and Patients' Ubraries
Jova, Daniels and Busby
687,930 building
New
$100,005,307 building
Nashville TN
Veterans Affairs Medical Center Uptown Division
Atlanta, GA
Augusta, GA VA Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH
Medical Library
Sarah R. Wagner KZF
$968,722 library
3,500
Renovation
NA
Cincinnati, OH
white-and-light-plum walls and the durable teal furniture fabrics have been coordinated to achieve a balance of warmth, openness, and privacy.
Scott Memorial Library, Thomas Jefferson University Major renovations to the Scott Memorial Library, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, were completed in February 1991. These were the first major renovations since the building opened twenty years ago. Major goals of the construction included * improved access to electronic resources; * general upgrading of the library's appearance, amenities, and aesthetics; * improved staff space; and * new telecommunications equipment and wiring. A large portion of the total construction cost was spent to replace existing networking and voice telephone lines with shielded and unshielded (Type 1 and Type 2) twisted pair cables. All 128 of these connections now terminate in a central control room on the library's fourth floor. Three risers connect this room with the library's DEC hardware in the building's basement. In addition, the DEC computer is now connected to the university's ethernet and campuswide fiber-optic backbone network. 120
5,786 library
This investment permits the library staff to plug into the network at each staff desk, allows data transmission at much higher speeds, and will expedite network expansion. Thirty-four workstations in the microcomputer lab are also connected, as are twentythree sites in the reference area. Twelve connections were installed in a new classroom to facilitate instruction in JEFFLINE, the library's online system. All wiring is now concealed in walls or ceilings; surfacemounted outlets provide for easy connectivity. Construction involved removing some walls and creating new ones. Among the new spaces are a classroom with seating for thirty, a learning resources center/microcomputer lab with capacity for fifty individual users and three groups, a new suite for the director and four administrative services staff, and a new home for archives and special collections. This facility includes movable, compact storage equipment that conserves floor space and allows housing of both the university's archival and rare books collections in one space. New carpeting was installed on the open staircase, on the second floor, and in selected rooms on the third and fourth floors. Working with J. P. Jay Associates, the library designed a carrel to accommodate both audiovisual equipment and computer hardware. The "Jefferson carrel" includes accommodations for Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
Building projects Table 1 Extended, Continued Cost/sq. feet $212.00, with equipment
Completion date April 1996
$81.00
June 1991
Program available NO
Contact person F. Weise
Number of seats 1,200 total
Consultant
NA
Special features
eConnected to the student union, serving as an activity center Includes TAL Center. *Shared facdlity with academic and administrative computing.
NO
N. WoelfI
15 workstations
NA
eMicrocomputer training lab/Macintosh environment *Staff offices
lnteractive instruction/Macintosh environment
$173.00
September 1993
YES
W. W. Stead
400 total 150 special 250 general
Robert Braude
.4-story construction .Covered connections to medical center *Atrium
*Information research and education program
$145.00 building
November 1990
NO
A. Bell E. Northington
87 total 33 special 54 general
NA
*2 skylights
eMedia conference room
$167.00 library NA
.Reading area with full glass wall eCourtyard and fountain
eCentral work area for staff April 1991
NO
J. Alfred
electrical wiring, network wiring, and users' personal possessions. Twenty Jefferson carrels are located in the reference area, twenty-five in the microcomputer lab, and another sixteen in the LRC. Oak laminates and painted steel were used to furnish staff offices in an overall color scheme of gray, pale green, and muted rose. Public areas were furnished with new love seats, and chairs were separated by granite-topped coffee tables. Miniblinds were added to windows, and a plant service was hired to soften the overall look of public areas. To update the open stairwell, a new alabaster and verdigris light fixture was installed. In the same area, a handwoven Turkish rug was hung against the brick wall of the stairwell; a spotlight is used to accent it.
Taylor Family Health Sciences Library, MetroHealth St. Luke's Hospital The long-awaited medical library and physicians' center encompassing two stories in the central wing at MetroHealth St. Luke's Hospital opened in June 1990. The physicians' center is located on the second floor, overlooking the first floor area known as the Taylor Family Health Sciences Library. The new facility contains the first computerized catalog in a Cleveland area hospital. The catalog and other opBull Med Libr Assoc 80(2) April 1992
39 total 16 special 23 general
NA
.Customized circulation desk *AV study carrels eStaff offimces
erations and research functions run on a Novell computer network. Other additions include private study carrels, additional shelving capacity, a security system, and increased office space for the library staff. A spiral staircase provides access to the physicians' center directly above the library. Patrons are delighted by attractive light and airy spaces created by a skylight and full-
length windows (Figure 4). The smooth, polished finish of sled-based chairs and oak shelving end panels blends naturally with high-quality fabrics and carpeting. Colors are blue and gray. Formerly located in the residence building, the library's resources of more than 1,700 monographs and 8,000 bound journals were divided among six different storage areas. The new library brings together the library's personnel, collection, and services under one roof to benefit the hospital's health professionals.
The Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University Groundbreaking for this new library took place on October 29, 1991. When completed, it will be a centrally and conveniently located freestanding, fourstory facility, accessible from all parts of the medical center complex via subterranean passageways (Figure 121
Ludwig Figure 4 Taylor Family Health Sciences Library, MetroHealth St. Luke's Hospital
medicine room will be primary features of the third floor, while the fourth floor will be devoted to the newly established Center for Biomedical Literature, whose program is now unfolding. The new library will replace an existing facility located in the twenty-seven-year-old wing of an even older building at the northeastern periphery of the medical center. Stack space in the old library will be retained for the storage of older material and the archival collection. Shelving space allocations in the new building will be relatively limited; they are convertible to other purposes as technologies develop. SUMMARY OF WORKS RECENTLY COMPLETED OR IN PROGRESS
5). Architectural features of this east-west oblong building will include service functions along the south wall (elevators, lavatories, copy rooms, etc.), staff offices and stacks through the center of the building, and user spaces along the north side of the building. User areas will be connected to the remainder of the building by four bridges across a long narrow atrium. A glass arc will accent the north wall. A medical center conference room and a handsome history of
The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to library directors, project managers, and consultants who generously provided information about their library buildings, layout, and interior design, as well as construction data for this article. The data obtained from fifteen health sciences library projects are reported in Table 1. Where library construction is part of a larger project, cost per square foot is generally although not always-based on the library's actual portion of the project, rather than averaged for the entire project. Unless otherwise indicated, square footage is presented as gross rather than net assignable. Project costs include furnishings, equipment, and mechanical services and, in renovation or addition projects, may include tenant moving costs.
Figure 5 The Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University
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122
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