A Hospital Library Building Program BY EMILIE LIGHTFIELD TENHUNDFELD,* Head of Circulation NANCY LORENZI,t Medical Center Librarian
Health Sciences Librarv University of Cincinnati Medical Center ABSTRACT A building program for a 400-bed hospital library was developed by formulating a list of questions that would help to clarify an understanding of the library's needs, by visiting nearby libraries in similar institutions, and by preparing a program planning guide.
CHRIST Hospital, a 400-bed short term general care facility, is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The hospital has an approved internship program, approved residencies in neurosurgery, urology, and medicine, and training programs in medical technology and physical therapy. The library is housed in the Institute of Medical Research, a building adjacent to the hospital. At the time the hospital administrator asked the librarian to develop a library building program, the Christ Hospital Institute of Medical Research was administered under a contract by the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. These administrative ties required both hospital and university input to the building program. The library's current 15,000 volume collection is located on three levels, consisting of a reading room and two floors of journal stacks. The facility contains 4,140 square feet with 19 reader stations. Acquisition of materials has been primarily in two areas: (1) clinical research materials in support of the research programs of the Institute of Medical Research; and (2) medicalsurgical materials in support of patient care and hospital needs. During the years 1970 through 1974, the collection increased from 10,000 to 15,000 vol* Emilie Lightfield Tenhundfeld was formerly the librarian at Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. t Nancy Lorenzi served as a consultant to the Christ Hospital Institute of Medical Research Library.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 64(1) Jan. 1976
umes. Available shelving space to accommodate this growth was inadequate. Physical, logistic, and administrative problems, coupled with limited budget increases insufficient to cover the rising costs of publications, placed the library in a critical position. The librarian, in consultation with the Medical Staff Library Committee of Christ Hospital, decided that materials related to patient care and hospital administration would be transferred from the Institute of Medical Research to the hospital. Thus the medical community of the hospital would be served with library materials for ready reference while the research staff of the institute would have access to a separate collection of items directly related to the programs of the institute. The administration of the two libraries would be coordinated in order to develop the best services, acquire and organize materials in the most efficient manner possible, and limit the amount of duplication of materials and work effort. Hospital administration agreed to consider the new concept and, because a building program was underway, we were asked to design a complete library building program within twelve weeks. To plan an adequate building, program, three steps were required: (1) formulation of a list of questions that would help to clarify our understanding of the library's needs; (2) visits to hospitals similar in bed size, training programs, and information needs, to become familiar with existing programs and how similar problems were handled bv other libraries; (3) preparation of the final library building program guide. In order to clarify the library's needs, we prepared an outline of questions. As more 41
TENHUNDFELD AND LORENZI
questions requiring an answer were indicated, III. Types of Service: additional questions arose. We began to feel A. What types of reference service will be that we were on a tumble through outer space provided? and therefore affectionately titled our list "2001 B. Will interlibrary loan services be provided? Random Questions"; this title reflected the year and not the number of questions. C. Will the library maintain an audiovisual collection? (The hospital has its own audiovisual/training department.) "2001" RANDOM QUESTIONS D. Are there or will there be archival mateI. Most Important Questions: rials or a history of medicine collection? A. Where will the library be located in the 1. How and where will these materials hospital? be maintained? B. What will be the place of the library in 2. Will the library budget be used to the organization of the hospital? purchase materials to add to this C. What type of financial support can be collection? expected? E. Will the library have a MEDLINE terD. Will the library remain as it is now, or minal? will the nursing collection be added? F. Could the librarv provide shelving and E. What is the current square footage?reading space for a browsing area of collection size?-seating capacity?nonmedical materials, and are reacstaff size? tions favorable to the support of' such a F. What will be the optimum collection collection? size?-optimum staff size? G. In establishing a circulation policy, G. What are future considerations for exshould the library: pansion? Will the textbook and serial 1. Consider a circulating or noncircollections be kept current and backculating policy? files be kept for five years? Will storage 2. Consider open or closed stacks? be provided for older materials? Could 3. Consider a policy of circulating masome of the collection be put on miterials on a time continuum; that is, crofilm? only circulate materials prior to a H. Which material now held by the library five-year cutoff date? can be weeded? 4. Consider circulating materials to seI. How will the library relate to: lected user groups only? 1. Other area libraries? 5. Maintain library hours for twenty2. The medical center libraries? four hour access or only when library 3. The Kentucky-Ohio-Michigan Lipersonnel are on duty? brary Program? 6. Consider a one-, three-, seven-, J. What types of future service roles fourteen-day, etc. loan period. should the library play? Should the H. Will photocopy facilities be available? library purchase only print materials? 1. Can the library support its own phoShould audiovisuals be included? tocopy machine? Should on-line reference services be 2. If the library is to utilize the hospiconsidered? tal's photocopier, is the machine loII. Users: cated near the library? A. Who will use the library? 3. Will there be a photocopy policy? B. How frequently will each group use the 4. Will patrons be responsible for their library? own duplication needs or will library C. What types of services and information staff assist users? needs does each user group want or 5. Should the machine be coinhave? operated or have an auditron feaD. Will special library education programs ture? be necessary for each group? What IV. Technical Services: should an education program consist of' A. Will acquisition guidelines be deterand how should it be implemented? mined by the scope of the library? 42
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 64(1) Jan. 1976
HOSPITAL LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAM
B. Will there be a bindery contract? Is there adequate room to prepare and process materials for binding? C. Will there be a cataloging contract on a fee-for-service basis per book processed?; if not, how will this work load aff'ect other library services? D. Will there be adequate work room for the processing of incoming journals? E. Should the library maintain a public catalog? F. Should the library place some or all of its collection on microfilm to conserve
space? G. Should the library participate in exchange programs? V. The New Library: A. What types of paging systems will be available for hospital personnel to answer telephone calls? B. Should the library consider having conference facilities and scheduling use of' them? C. Would library patrons favor group or individual study rooms within the liD.
E. F.
G.
completed a survey of users to measure their information needs and their frequency of library use. The user population use rate and estimated seating required for each user group is indicated in Table 1. With the results of our study of' seating needs. we calculated seating for each user group as follows: High usage-Seating for one-third of user group Medium usage-Seating for one-tenth of user group Low usage-Seating for one-fiftieth of user group
VISITS TO OTHER HOSPITAL LIBRARIES We elected to visit hospital libraries within a 100-mile radius of Cincinnati. Criteria for visiting a hospital included location, recent experience with a library building program of some type, comparable hospital and training programs, similar library collection size, and the attitude of hospital library personnel. On our return, we made sketches of' the library visited, noting the placement of book and journal stacks, reading areas, types of study brary? In deciding on types of seating should facilities, current journal display methods and circulation and reference desks. After our whirlthe library consider: wind tour of hospital libraries and many hours 1. Tables? 2. Carrels: single, two seat, four seat. spent answering questions from the list, we were ready to draw up a building program. electrically wired? 3. Lounge areas? LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAM Will there be security personnel for The library's objective is: to provide books, control of' the building? and other educational audiovisuals, periodicals, If' the library has more than one exit, what type of security will be provided to TABLE 1 control the exits? USER GROUP SEATING NEEDS Can air conditioning of' the building be Number determined by thermostat to insure of UaeNumber proper temperature for the library? Fre -I User Group Seats Users quency of Will smoking and food be permitted in IRequired l__ the library? What types of' telephone service should House staff (residents, High 20 55 the library provide to insure privacy interns, fellows, junand maintain a quiet atmosphere? ior interns) Usage
H. I.
1. One or more house phones? 2. Service telephones within the li-
brary? 3. Direct, outside the hospital, telephone lines? J. Should display areas be available? The majority of' questions could be answered by committee consensus. However, in order to obtain a more realistic idea of patron usage we Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 64(1) Jan. 1976
Attending staff (active) Low Low Attending staff
i
240 378
5
400
40
400
8
1,000 2,573
83
5
(courtesy) Nursing staff (stu- Medium dents, instructors) Clinical staff (students, Low laboratories, etc.) Other (non-medical) Low Total
5 I
43
TENHUNDFELD AND LORENZI
materials necessary for patient care, continuing education, and administration, and to support the hospital institute's research programs. To achieve this objective we used three concepts for the overall building plan. 1. The library should be flexible enough to accommodate new methods of communication and education. 2. The library will be integrated with local, regional, and national library programs. 3. Room for expansion will be incorporated into the plan. General Description: Our overall concern was that the general appearance and atmosphere of the library should be warm, open, and inviting. Lighting should be positioned so that the furniture can be moved or rearranged as needed. The floors should be carpeted. A paging system for hospital staff should be audible and easily accessible. A book drop should be available and located on the outside corridor wall. The library should consist of' four areas: reading room, librarian's office, audiovisual rooms, and a workroom/storage area. Reading Room: The reading room should provide enough seating space for seventy to eighty people at any given time. The furniture includes tables, study carrels, and lounge chairs with occasional tables. The reference area of the reading room should have: 1. a desk for the reference librarian, a telephone with an outside line, and an electrical outlet; 2. shelving for indexes and other reference materials such as encyclopedias, atlases, and dictionaries; 3. special tables for oversized indexes. Standard adjustable steel shelving should be arranged in areas according to use. The library should be designed to contain 15,000 volumes comprising 4,000 medical-nursing books and 11,000 bound journal volumes. The catalog, large enough to contain cards for 8,000 items (5 cards per book on average) should be centrally located. The circulation desk should be built near the entrance and the workroom and should be of standing height. The desk should be equipped with a discharge unit and removable trays, a cabinet with a coin drawer, and depressible
44
book return units. Shelving near or behind the circulation desk to hold materials waiting pick up should be provided. In addition periodical racks or some other furniture to display current journal issues will be required. These units should be centrally located and hold about 250 journals. Some method for displaying new books and bulletin boards should be provided also. Librarian's Office: The librarian's office should be centrally located so that the librarian is accessible. The office should have a glass window or door so the librarian can see whether patrons need assistance. Soundproof treatment is necessary for conferences with physicians and staff. Audiovisual Rooms: The AV rooms should be of different sizes to accommodate one to six people. One room should be equipped for computer-assisted instruction and MEDLINE. The other rooms should be furnished with wet carrels. All rooms should be built to accommodate various activities such as listening to tapes, filmstrip previewing, slide viewing, microfilm reading. Sufficient electrical outlets, glass in doors or windows, and some soundproof' treatment will be needed. Workroom/Storage Area: The workroom should be large enough to accommodate at least three staff members working at one time, with space provided for desks, tables, and a counter. This area should be soundproof' so that normal office noise does not disturb users in the reading room. A sink with hot and cold water; storage cabinets for supplies; facilities for staff belongings; shelving for processing materials, bindery shipments, and reserves; card catalog drawers for internal library records and the shelf' list; and vertical f'iles for library business records should be provided. The storage area should contain shelving for duplicates and MLA exchange shipments, shelving or cabinets for audiovisual equipment, and storage cabinets for audiovisual software. SUMMARY
Our proposed building program was submitted to the hospital administration. The administration acknowledged receipt of our proposal.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 64(1) Jan. 1976
Health Sciences Librarv University of Cincinnati Medical Center ABSTRACT A building program for a 400-bed hospital library was developed by formulating a list of questions that would help to clarify an understanding of the library's needs, by visiting nearby libraries in similar institutions, and by preparing a program planning guide.
CHRIST Hospital, a 400-bed short term general care facility, is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The hospital has an approved internship program, approved residencies in neurosurgery, urology, and medicine, and training programs in medical technology and physical therapy. The library is housed in the Institute of Medical Research, a building adjacent to the hospital. At the time the hospital administrator asked the librarian to develop a library building program, the Christ Hospital Institute of Medical Research was administered under a contract by the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. These administrative ties required both hospital and university input to the building program. The library's current 15,000 volume collection is located on three levels, consisting of a reading room and two floors of journal stacks. The facility contains 4,140 square feet with 19 reader stations. Acquisition of materials has been primarily in two areas: (1) clinical research materials in support of the research programs of the Institute of Medical Research; and (2) medicalsurgical materials in support of patient care and hospital needs. During the years 1970 through 1974, the collection increased from 10,000 to 15,000 vol* Emilie Lightfield Tenhundfeld was formerly the librarian at Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. t Nancy Lorenzi served as a consultant to the Christ Hospital Institute of Medical Research Library.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 64(1) Jan. 1976
umes. Available shelving space to accommodate this growth was inadequate. Physical, logistic, and administrative problems, coupled with limited budget increases insufficient to cover the rising costs of publications, placed the library in a critical position. The librarian, in consultation with the Medical Staff Library Committee of Christ Hospital, decided that materials related to patient care and hospital administration would be transferred from the Institute of Medical Research to the hospital. Thus the medical community of the hospital would be served with library materials for ready reference while the research staff of the institute would have access to a separate collection of items directly related to the programs of the institute. The administration of the two libraries would be coordinated in order to develop the best services, acquire and organize materials in the most efficient manner possible, and limit the amount of duplication of materials and work effort. Hospital administration agreed to consider the new concept and, because a building program was underway, we were asked to design a complete library building program within twelve weeks. To plan an adequate building, program, three steps were required: (1) formulation of a list of questions that would help to clarify our understanding of the library's needs; (2) visits to hospitals similar in bed size, training programs, and information needs, to become familiar with existing programs and how similar problems were handled bv other libraries; (3) preparation of the final library building program guide. In order to clarify the library's needs, we prepared an outline of questions. As more 41
TENHUNDFELD AND LORENZI
questions requiring an answer were indicated, III. Types of Service: additional questions arose. We began to feel A. What types of reference service will be that we were on a tumble through outer space provided? and therefore affectionately titled our list "2001 B. Will interlibrary loan services be provided? Random Questions"; this title reflected the year and not the number of questions. C. Will the library maintain an audiovisual collection? (The hospital has its own audiovisual/training department.) "2001" RANDOM QUESTIONS D. Are there or will there be archival mateI. Most Important Questions: rials or a history of medicine collection? A. Where will the library be located in the 1. How and where will these materials hospital? be maintained? B. What will be the place of the library in 2. Will the library budget be used to the organization of the hospital? purchase materials to add to this C. What type of financial support can be collection? expected? E. Will the library have a MEDLINE terD. Will the library remain as it is now, or minal? will the nursing collection be added? F. Could the librarv provide shelving and E. What is the current square footage?reading space for a browsing area of collection size?-seating capacity?nonmedical materials, and are reacstaff size? tions favorable to the support of' such a F. What will be the optimum collection collection? size?-optimum staff size? G. In establishing a circulation policy, G. What are future considerations for exshould the library: pansion? Will the textbook and serial 1. Consider a circulating or noncircollections be kept current and backculating policy? files be kept for five years? Will storage 2. Consider open or closed stacks? be provided for older materials? Could 3. Consider a policy of circulating masome of the collection be put on miterials on a time continuum; that is, crofilm? only circulate materials prior to a H. Which material now held by the library five-year cutoff date? can be weeded? 4. Consider circulating materials to seI. How will the library relate to: lected user groups only? 1. Other area libraries? 5. Maintain library hours for twenty2. The medical center libraries? four hour access or only when library 3. The Kentucky-Ohio-Michigan Lipersonnel are on duty? brary Program? 6. Consider a one-, three-, seven-, J. What types of future service roles fourteen-day, etc. loan period. should the library play? Should the H. Will photocopy facilities be available? library purchase only print materials? 1. Can the library support its own phoShould audiovisuals be included? tocopy machine? Should on-line reference services be 2. If the library is to utilize the hospiconsidered? tal's photocopier, is the machine loII. Users: cated near the library? A. Who will use the library? 3. Will there be a photocopy policy? B. How frequently will each group use the 4. Will patrons be responsible for their library? own duplication needs or will library C. What types of services and information staff assist users? needs does each user group want or 5. Should the machine be coinhave? operated or have an auditron feaD. Will special library education programs ture? be necessary for each group? What IV. Technical Services: should an education program consist of' A. Will acquisition guidelines be deterand how should it be implemented? mined by the scope of the library? 42
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 64(1) Jan. 1976
HOSPITAL LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAM
B. Will there be a bindery contract? Is there adequate room to prepare and process materials for binding? C. Will there be a cataloging contract on a fee-for-service basis per book processed?; if not, how will this work load aff'ect other library services? D. Will there be adequate work room for the processing of incoming journals? E. Should the library maintain a public catalog? F. Should the library place some or all of its collection on microfilm to conserve
space? G. Should the library participate in exchange programs? V. The New Library: A. What types of paging systems will be available for hospital personnel to answer telephone calls? B. Should the library consider having conference facilities and scheduling use of' them? C. Would library patrons favor group or individual study rooms within the liD.
E. F.
G.
completed a survey of users to measure their information needs and their frequency of library use. The user population use rate and estimated seating required for each user group is indicated in Table 1. With the results of our study of' seating needs. we calculated seating for each user group as follows: High usage-Seating for one-third of user group Medium usage-Seating for one-tenth of user group Low usage-Seating for one-fiftieth of user group
VISITS TO OTHER HOSPITAL LIBRARIES We elected to visit hospital libraries within a 100-mile radius of Cincinnati. Criteria for visiting a hospital included location, recent experience with a library building program of some type, comparable hospital and training programs, similar library collection size, and the attitude of hospital library personnel. On our return, we made sketches of' the library visited, noting the placement of book and journal stacks, reading areas, types of study brary? In deciding on types of seating should facilities, current journal display methods and circulation and reference desks. After our whirlthe library consider: wind tour of hospital libraries and many hours 1. Tables? 2. Carrels: single, two seat, four seat. spent answering questions from the list, we were ready to draw up a building program. electrically wired? 3. Lounge areas? LIBRARY BUILDING PROGRAM Will there be security personnel for The library's objective is: to provide books, control of' the building? and other educational audiovisuals, periodicals, If' the library has more than one exit, what type of security will be provided to TABLE 1 control the exits? USER GROUP SEATING NEEDS Can air conditioning of' the building be Number determined by thermostat to insure of UaeNumber proper temperature for the library? Fre -I User Group Seats Users quency of Will smoking and food be permitted in IRequired l__ the library? What types of' telephone service should House staff (residents, High 20 55 the library provide to insure privacy interns, fellows, junand maintain a quiet atmosphere? ior interns) Usage
H. I.
1. One or more house phones? 2. Service telephones within the li-
brary? 3. Direct, outside the hospital, telephone lines? J. Should display areas be available? The majority of' questions could be answered by committee consensus. However, in order to obtain a more realistic idea of patron usage we Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 64(1) Jan. 1976
Attending staff (active) Low Low Attending staff
i
240 378
5
400
40
400
8
1,000 2,573
83
5
(courtesy) Nursing staff (stu- Medium dents, instructors) Clinical staff (students, Low laboratories, etc.) Other (non-medical) Low Total
5 I
43
TENHUNDFELD AND LORENZI
materials necessary for patient care, continuing education, and administration, and to support the hospital institute's research programs. To achieve this objective we used three concepts for the overall building plan. 1. The library should be flexible enough to accommodate new methods of communication and education. 2. The library will be integrated with local, regional, and national library programs. 3. Room for expansion will be incorporated into the plan. General Description: Our overall concern was that the general appearance and atmosphere of the library should be warm, open, and inviting. Lighting should be positioned so that the furniture can be moved or rearranged as needed. The floors should be carpeted. A paging system for hospital staff should be audible and easily accessible. A book drop should be available and located on the outside corridor wall. The library should consist of' four areas: reading room, librarian's office, audiovisual rooms, and a workroom/storage area. Reading Room: The reading room should provide enough seating space for seventy to eighty people at any given time. The furniture includes tables, study carrels, and lounge chairs with occasional tables. The reference area of the reading room should have: 1. a desk for the reference librarian, a telephone with an outside line, and an electrical outlet; 2. shelving for indexes and other reference materials such as encyclopedias, atlases, and dictionaries; 3. special tables for oversized indexes. Standard adjustable steel shelving should be arranged in areas according to use. The library should be designed to contain 15,000 volumes comprising 4,000 medical-nursing books and 11,000 bound journal volumes. The catalog, large enough to contain cards for 8,000 items (5 cards per book on average) should be centrally located. The circulation desk should be built near the entrance and the workroom and should be of standing height. The desk should be equipped with a discharge unit and removable trays, a cabinet with a coin drawer, and depressible
44
book return units. Shelving near or behind the circulation desk to hold materials waiting pick up should be provided. In addition periodical racks or some other furniture to display current journal issues will be required. These units should be centrally located and hold about 250 journals. Some method for displaying new books and bulletin boards should be provided also. Librarian's Office: The librarian's office should be centrally located so that the librarian is accessible. The office should have a glass window or door so the librarian can see whether patrons need assistance. Soundproof treatment is necessary for conferences with physicians and staff. Audiovisual Rooms: The AV rooms should be of different sizes to accommodate one to six people. One room should be equipped for computer-assisted instruction and MEDLINE. The other rooms should be furnished with wet carrels. All rooms should be built to accommodate various activities such as listening to tapes, filmstrip previewing, slide viewing, microfilm reading. Sufficient electrical outlets, glass in doors or windows, and some soundproof' treatment will be needed. Workroom/Storage Area: The workroom should be large enough to accommodate at least three staff members working at one time, with space provided for desks, tables, and a counter. This area should be soundproof' so that normal office noise does not disturb users in the reading room. A sink with hot and cold water; storage cabinets for supplies; facilities for staff belongings; shelving for processing materials, bindery shipments, and reserves; card catalog drawers for internal library records and the shelf' list; and vertical f'iles for library business records should be provided. The storage area should contain shelving for duplicates and MLA exchange shipments, shelving or cabinets for audiovisual equipment, and storage cabinets for audiovisual software. SUMMARY
Our proposed building program was submitted to the hospital administration. The administration acknowledged receipt of our proposal.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 64(1) Jan. 1976
