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Planning for Special Needs

South Education Center Serves wide range of unique learners

The South Education Center, a $19 million project for Intermediate School District 287 in Richfield, Minn., was designed to respond to a wide range of unique learners. Students with autism, high school students requiring an alternative-learning environment, students with children and students with behavioral and emotional challenges all benefit from services offered under a single roof.

The 108,000-square-foot, three-story building serves 250 students in middle school through age 21.

A Collaborative Approach

District 287 was created by 13 Minneapolis west metro-area school districts to provide educational services and programs that complement and support their programs.

From its inception, the center presented a challenging array of planning and design goals. It was designed so that each program would occupy its own unique space while still presenting an integrated environment.

In addition, the building was designed with the flexibility to accommodate cost-effective reconfigurations as programs and priorities change.

District 287 and TSP, an architectural firm with several offices in the Midwest, began planning with several school stakeholders in 2005. Planners collaborated with several agencies and groups, including the City of Richfield, Richfield Public Schools, neighborhood residents, Nine Mile Creek Watershed District and Xcel Energy, each of which contributed to the design direction and influenced the outcome.

Asking the Right Questions

TSP led the district’s team through a series of planning exercises that began with broad philosophical issues and then progressively narrowed the focus to pragmatic details. This dynamic process evolved as the mindset changed from “making do” with existing facilities to envisioning a collaborative learning environment ideal for each learner.

Planners and designers posed questions that were intended to elicit information about unique students’ needs as well as shared needs. The right questions and thoughtful listening led the design team to the most appropriate solutions.

For example, the Students with Unique Needs program serves students from 5 to 21 years old who have intense social, emotional and behavioral needs, along with cognitive and other health impairments, such as autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders.

Through the planning and design exercise, TSP learned that these students benefit from a customized curriculum in an environment in which class sizes are very small, with three to four students per classroom. Designers learned that the environment must be designed to minimize noise and distractions to help the students feel calm.

The South Education Center was designed to serve special needs students from 13 Minneapolis-area school districts.

As a result, the program is located on the first floor with its own bus drop-off location. Spaces for learning, individual work areas and sensory rooms allow the environment to be modified to the level of sensory stimulation that a student may need at various times of the day. Quiet areas enable students to remove themselves from instruction if they are overstimulated.

Spaces are carpeted and have acoustical wall treatments to minimize noise and the impact of disruptions. The common area includes a large motor-skills room with swings, rocking chairs, balls, access to a shared multi-purpose room for recreation and calming, and a separate dining space for students who are unable to dine with others.

The staff shares a common workroom, which allows space to collaborate, communicate and share resources. The workroom is adjacent to classrooms so teachers are close at hand and available for students and to assist other staff.

On the perimeter of the second floor, students share 10 classrooms linked together and a full science lab and lecture room, which doubles as an art classroom. Classrooms circle a common office area, allowing staff greater visibility and access. A first-floor daycare center cares for up to 30 babies and toddlers and allows for childcare and parenting education.

Spaces are designed for maximum daylight since many students suffer from depression and/or Seasonal Affective Disorder. A commons area not only allows for breaks and study but can also function as a large gathering area and a special-events space.

Toward Independent Living

The facility also houses transition programs that serve 18- to 21-year-old students with disabilities as they transition from an educational setting toward living and working as independently as possible in the community.

There are large and small classrooms and flexible activity spaces for hands-on learning. A kitchen/dining area is accessible for learning about nutrition, cooking and cleaning. A simulated apartment offers real-life experience to train students in independent living skills, such as basic food preparation, laundry, personal finances and housekeeping. Students also operate a school store located near the cafeteria so they can gain retail experience.

The district’s Vocational Evaluation and Training program provides 14- to 21-year-old special education students with vocational opportunities.

As a result, it is the only program located on the third floor, and the space is designed to look and feel like a workplace, complete with a time clock at the entrance and a break room.

A 2,000-square-foot work floor in the center allows students to do a variety of jobs from light clerical and paper management to light industrial assembly or disassembly.

Mark C. Thiede, AIA, is an associate with TSP.

A Sustainable Design
Sustainable design concepts were integrated from the inception of planning. The district participated in Xcel Energy’s Energy Design Assistance program, which allowed TSP to work with the Weidt Group to model various possible design options and ultimately choose the most cost effective solutions. The mechanical system uses displacement ventilation and a geothermal heat pump system to deliver fresh air to the occupant zone through low-velocity, high-volume diffusers. The geothermal well field located under the parking lot and heat pumps within the building deliver heating and cooling to the individual spaces. Heat pumps are configured to provide optimal energy transfer of heating and cooling from the ground to the rooms to reduce total energy demand. The system is estimated to provide an annual energy saving of over $160,000, with a payback period of less than five years. The daylighting system consists of exterior sun-shading devices, special glazing to diffuse sunlight, sloped ceilings to bounce sunlight farther into interior spaces and lighting controls to reduce reliance on artificial lights. A rain garden was created for stormwater management. Other green concepts include recycled materials, materials with low-VOC content, reflective roof surfacing, and a site that is near transit lines.

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Platinum Update: Community College Achives 70 Percent Energy Reduction

SAN FRANCISCO — Utility records at the LEED Platinum certified Ohlone College Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology reveal that the campus achieved a nearly 70 percent reduction in gas and electricity consumption during its first year of operation.

Since its completion in early 2008, the campus achieved a 69 percent reduction in electricity use and 72 percent reduction in natural gas consumption, compared to a similar facility designed to meet California’s Title 24 requirements. The college also achieved net-zero energy consumption from April to August in 2008.

Planning began in 2003 when Perkins + Will developed a master plan and basic architectural design based on a traditional campus. However, an emphasis was put on sustainable design shortly after Douglas Treadway was named president and district superintendent in July of that year.

“When Dr. Treadway arrived, he put the project on hold so we could determine if the current plan represented the best we could do for our students, community and environment,” says Patrice Birkedahl, Ohlone development director.

The campus now features the largest photovoltaic array in the Silicon Valley, according to planners. Rooftop solar panels cover 35,000 square feet and generate 710 megawatts of power.

HVAC needs are met with a closed ground loop geothermal system that can cool or heat water before it enters the HVAC system. Because the site is located adjacent to federally protect wetlands and the aquifer is shallow, a horizontal bore system was used, instead of the common vertical bore, to prevent contamination.

Two 16-foot diameter enthalpy wheels are used for energy recover when warm indoor air exits the building as exhaust. The system recovers 95 percent of energy lost in traditional buildings, according to planners.

Landscaping at the campus features drought-tolerant plants that require 20 percent to 30 percent less water, compared to other landscaping options. The irrigation also features a weather-monitoring system that calculates evaporation by measuring the temperature and wind.

Many of the building materials and furnishings at the campus are environmentally friendly. Highlights include recycled jean denim for building insulations, low-emission paints and Forest Stewardship Council certified hardwoods.

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University Campuses Can Benefit From Data Center Consolidation

Data centers are becoming the critical link for a variety of university operations.
New technologies are allowing for remote access and global distance learning is becoming commonplace. As a result, data centers are demanding more respect and attention.

Many institutions are seeking cost-effective alternatives to consolidate and improve data center operations.

Universities are increasingly finding that even though there is a main campus data center, separate departments choose to have their own server rooms. These spaces often occupy valuable on-campus real estate, limiting flexibility.

Typically run by a staff member with an interest in computers, server rooms are often initiated with a grant program or project of need determined by an individual. The overarching theme is that those who run server rooms are certain that they must have direct access to their equipment. However, direct access is rarely necessary with today’s computer technology.

Separate server rooms can create multiple problems for an institution. Since the educational and office buildings that house these rooms were not designed to handle the power load required for the latest technologies, they can tax the building’s systems.

If construction is scheduled for a facility, server managers may stop a power shutoff because it will interfere with their work. They may also protest department relocation and expansions because that would require the server room to move.

Even if a server is funded through a research grant, it will be up to the facility managers to handle the complications they cause to the building operations, and possibly even assist with IT issues.

If a school wants to keep multiple server rooms, decision makers must realize that each separate system may use different technologies that are hard to maintain or standardize. These smaller systems are an inefficient user of power and computer processor time, especially when compared to a large data center.
Although it is difficult, if a university can force its departments to relocate their servers to a central location, it will benefit the institution overall.

RTKL has designed a departmental server room concept that should ideally be located in an area conveniently accessible from the campus.

Here, a co-location environment is created in a university’s data center, with separate compartments for each department’s equipment and computers are locked in cabinets or cages as security requires.

If its servers can be moved to one location, a college will be able to better plan for the future as campus space will be more flexible. They will be able to enforce a network standard and have only one type of cooling and electrical infrastructure to maintain.

As a benefit to the departments, their computer equipment will run more reliably and efficiently, and grant programs will still be back-charged for power, space and cooling.

Co-location style data centers usually present an “if you build it, they will come” scenario. A few departments will commit to the concept early because they need to expand, but the majority of the departments typically resist. Once the new data center is running, however, they will see the value to their group to move.

Existing Issues

Whether or not a university pursues a co-location type of data center, there are a number of topics to consider regarding expansion or new construction.

University networks support all kinds of functions that may range from payroll and transcript data to live video seminars from a professor halfway across the world. With this type of personal information and educational material on the network, there is an increased need for information storage that is accessible in real time.

These requirements force most colleges to continually expand their data centers. Unfortunately, most are also unable able to expand because of poor planning.

Often, existing data centers are located in the basement of a building or adjacent to other programs that are hard to relocate. Many are poorly located for service and have very little security beyond a swipe-card lock. The typical existing computer room was designed around low-density computer and storage equipment. Today, space is at a premium and new technology can put more computer power in a smaller box. However, the new technology also generates more heat, which requires a more advanced cooling solution and more power. This leads to hot spots and power reliability problems if solutions are not put in place.

Data center master planning

A design team can evaluate current equipment and space to determine a growth profile for the future.

This profile will lead the institution’s needs into the future in terms of servers, networking and storage, providing cooling load and power requirements. Such information is critical in determining when a new data center is needed and how much funding is necessary.

Another evaluation is needed to determine the level of reliability required by each system. The goal for a data center is to maximize reliability and minimize dollars spent, while maintaining future flexibility. To do this most efficiently, each system should be supported to its level of recommended reliability.

A data center planner can determine what level of redundancy is needed and the best way for a university to achieve that redundancy. Some solutions will involve using an existing data center as a backup system, which can provide more reliability at a smaller price tag.

During the master planning process, other goals can be established for the new data center, including using green building techniques. A green data center may seem like an oxymoron, but LEED points can be achieved with data centers and there is the potential to reduce energy costs.

Selecting the Right Site

The site chosen for a data center can greatly affect its value to a university. Because on-campus real estate is often in high demand, a remote data center is highly recommended.

Today, connectivity is strong enough for institutions to use remote locations to utilize even the most intensive applications.

The benefits of a stand-alone, remote data center include better security, cheaper land and the preservation of valuable campus real estate, and potentially more opportunities for future expansion.

Factors to Consider

Often important factors to evaluate for a new data center, whether it is remote or on campus include:

• What is the proximity to quality, well-maintained electric substations? Neighbors can affect power. A data center should not be located near heavy industrial sites, since their machinery tends to create a dirty power situation that can shorten the life of equipment.

• Is there dark fiber, or fiber optic cables for lease, available in the area? These are critical to transport information to the site.

• Is the site big enough to accommodate the school now and in the future?

• Is there a reliable water source for the cooling towers, which require an immense quantity of water? Municipal water is required, with some amount of water storage on site.

• Are there any freight train lines, flood plains or fuel refineries nearby? These can harm the site, so the risks must be assessed.

• Is the location convenient to the main campus so that staff can easily service the facility?

• How do the upfront and operating costs compare to a facility on campus? Land in the suburbs may be cheaper than near a downtown campus, but power rates may be more expensive.

At the end of the master planning process, a university should have a good conceptual plan, site plan schedule and budget. This plan should allow for large-scale growth while meeting the stated goals for the building.

Expanding or creating a new data center is a complex challenge. As institutions expand, those that prepare carefully for the future will be positioned to succeed operationally and financially.

This can only be accomplished by targeting a university’s needs, whether it’s merging departmental servers into one location, creating a new data center that can support the existing individual infrastructures, or working within the existing spaces.

Those facilities that assemble the right team — including the architectural firm, the engineering firm and the information technology specialists, among others — will be designing a successful path for years to come.

If a university can force its departments to relocate their servers to a central location, it will benefit the institution overall.

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UCSF Second Only to Johns Hopkins for NIH Money

SAN FRANCISCO — The University of California, San Francisco received nearly $450 million in research and training grants from the National Institutes of Health in 2008, moving it up the list of recipients to second behind Johns Hopkins University, according to the NIH.

“NIH funding has been the foundation of biomedical progress in the United States and validates the quality of the research proposals it supports,” says J. Michael Bishop, UCSF chancellor. “In light of the extremely challenging funding environment, this broad-based support of UCSF research is testament to the caliber of scientific discovery occurring in each of our schools.”

Because of limited funds, only 9.6 percent of research proposals received NIH funding on first submission. That percentage has dwindled consistently in the last 10 years from 23.1 percent, according to the NIH.

The university’s school of dentistry ($18.99 million), school of nursing ($8.97 million) and school of pharmacy ($19.7 million) all ranked first in their field for research funding from the NIH. The school of medicine came in at second ($383.7 million) to Johns Hopkins. UCSF was ranked third in overall funding from the NIH in 2007.

Johns Hopins was followed in funding by University of Pennsylvania ($437.1 million); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor ($423.2 million); and University of Washington ($391.2 million.

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Don’t Break for the Winter

Prepare Now for Spring Performance, Efficiency

School administrators who are used to working with a tight budget are applying even greater pressure to cut operations costs and have placed cost-cutting at the top of every department’s to-do list this winter as the economy continues to slow.

Cost-cutting measures go hand in hand with economic downturns, and schools are adjusting their budgets accordingly. Ironically, facilities management, a department that is often one of the first to receive budget cuts, has perhaps the greatest potential to return value to schools heading into the spring months.

If schools defer upgrades and capital improvement projects due to budget constraints, they need to make do with their current systems. There are several ways for schools to make older systems run more efficiently, saving the school capital, reducing risk of failure and maintaining environmental health. Saving a small percentage on energy costs creates capital to pay for essentials, such as technology, teacher salaries and supplies.

Despite cost-cutting measures, a silver lining remains: Most public school districts created their 2009 fiscal year budgets during last summer when oil prices were at record highs. School heating budgets are likely under spent following a decrease in oil prices.

Seasonal Planning

By maximizing building operations, schools can conserve energy, resources and money using maintenance programs and design and construction concepts that improve a building’s function. A school renovation that incorporates a high-performance design can net a 20 percent to 30 percent savings each year on utility costs, according to the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council.

However, making a school building more efficient does not require new energy systems. Scheduled maintenance of cooling systems during the winter can maximize efficiency with current systems. Deferring maintenance places crucial assets at risk for more-extensive damages and costlier repairs in the future.

Beyond helping schools save money, research shows that energy-efficient schools can bolster academic performance and improve the health of occupants. More than 53 million children and about 6 million adults (one in five individuals) spend a portion of their day inside school buildings. A significant number of students and teachers struggle with distractions including noise, glare, mildew, lack of fresh air and hot or cold temperatures.

During the winter, school administrators should identify major repairs that need to be done to heating equipment while planning for spring maintenance and renovation matters and any building upgrades scheduled in the summer. Officials should start by reviewing and documenting last season’s energy performance of building equipment and target areas for efficiency improvements.

Typically, mid-winter planning includes preparing to service or renovate building systems such as controls, lighting, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, flooring and ceiling. Much of this work can be completed in conjunction with a school’s regular winter servicing.

Energy audits and other forms of light maintenance can deliver effective energy management to a school and its surrounding community.

Once the snow melts away, maintenance and renovation efforts will move full-speed ahead. Here are some key initiatives that should top all school facility managers’ lists as their buildings emerge from the winter season:

• Repair roof leaks and other sources of unwanted moisture
• Repair any moisture-damaged ceiling tiles
• Replace and maintain filters regularly
• Make sure all supply and return vents are clean and not blocked
• Ensure drain pans properly drain
• Check for piping damage and inspect condensate traps
• Clean cooling and heating coils as necessary, you can if you want to learn more about this.
• Inspect plumbing and conduct any repairs immediately
• Identify the best spring operating settings and setback temperatures for the HVAC system according to occupancy schedules.

There are also a variety of quick energy conservation measures that can bolster the above maintenance efforts:

• Tune boiler burners to optimize for energy efficiency
• Replace steam traps for steam heating systems
• Upgrade building controls and implement new energy-efficient control strategies for heating and cooling systems
• Install variable speed drives wherever possible to leverage savings for partial load operation
If energy budgets are currently under spent due to the recent fall of prices for commodities used for winter heating, school administrators should consider shifting the funds to energy efficiency upgrades.

Whether a school benefits from a fuel adjustment in its regular billing or a straight rate reduction, investing the surplus now will continue to pay dividends in the future by reducing utility expenses as well as improving the learning environment for both students and teachers.

Lou Ronsivalli is service offer product management leader for the Americas at Trane, a provider of indoor systems and services for schools.

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The Digital Age

For many of us, changing anything in our daily routine can be difficult, and many find the Internet overwhelming, but setting goals and a timeline to use new Web tools can make it more manageable.

Create a plan to accomplish your goals with the entire year in mind so you don’t overload yourself by trying to learn several new technologies at once. The following low-cost technologies are examples of learning tools that could easily be applied to improve every classroom.

Blogs

Get started reading a Blog that interests you. Blogs are now the go-to source of information for many people, and many reputable organizations disseminate information with them.
Teachers can help their students learn with this powerful communication tool that has the potential to create a learning experience outside the classroom in a more informal environment. They are easy to create, and most blogging software programs are free.

Podcasts

Podcasting is one of the most exciting and fantastic technologies to emerge in recent history. A podcast is an audio recording, stored as an MP3 file that anybody can download. The technology can be used in classrooms for homework assignments, presentations and other learning activities.

Twitter

Additional Resources:

Blogs
Why read a blog:

Podcasts
10 Podcasts for Teachers and Kids

Twitter

Ning Network

Photo Sharing

Google Docs

Twitter is a free social networking service that allows users to send and read updates (known as tweets) that are text-based posts of up to 140 characters. Twitter is a communications gateway that asks the question: “What are you doing now?”

It provides a venue to ask friends or colleagues questions. It is also a great place to find news and people who are knowledgeable with a variety of topics. Twitter allows people to use their friend lists to propagate information faster, and try to draw more direct help to find a solution for a problem.

Ning

Ning is an online platform that allows users to create their own social Web sites and social networks. Ning allows communities to create individual Web pages, blogs, engage in forum discussions, create interest groups, share photos and videos, present RSS feeds, and more.

Ning has many educational and administrative benefits. You can create a Ning to create class environments for interaction and media sharing, and have a space for interaction and sharing with team or grade level partners. I have observed schools that have created online book and film discussion space and others that have engaged students in exploring real-world issues using digital tools and resources.

Photo Sharing

Photo storage sites allow you to store your photos and access them from any computer. You can organize the photos by groups and make albums to share. This tool is great for visual classroom projects.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets

Google provides a free way to write a document and share it with up to 250 individuals. It’s a great tool for collaboration projects, brainstorming and developing new ideas. It has a word processor, spreadsheet and a presentation function.

You can create and share your work online and then upload and save it to your desktop. It allows you to edit anytime, from anywhere and you decide who can access your documents. You will be able to work and share changes in real time, and the files are stored securely online.

Howie DiBlasi is an IT consultant who speaks regularly about 21st century schools and teaching techniques. Send questions to school@emlenpub.com.

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LACCD Eliminates Surplus With Online Tool

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Community College District is working to achieve its zero-waste policy through a new program that diverts excess equipment and furnishings from landfills.

The LACCD has diverted 98 percent of surplus materials from landfills through a partnership with Agoura Hills-based asset management firm AsseTek.

More than 65 percent of its assets are being sold on publicsurplus.com, an online auction house similar to eBay. The rest is donated to charter schools, shelters and nonprofit groups or sold to certified waste-recyclers.

The Internet auction site allows the school to sell anything from portable classrooms and buses to computers and furniture.

Gilda Arteaga, data technician for AsseTek, recently helped with the latest auction of surplus materials from the campus at East Los Angeles College.

“We sold seven pallets full of PC equipment, as well as a double-deck convection oven, used furniture and numerous other surplus assets,” Arteaga says. “Most of these items start at less than $100.”

Auction sales of those items amounted to $6,700 for the college district, she says.

The relationship with AssesTek has also benefited graduates at LACCD campuses. The company’s CEO Tom Brown estimates that 75 percent to 80 percent of his employees graduated from colleges in the district and helped jumpstart the program.

The company hires students that were recommended by the college’s staff and maintained at least a 3.0 grade-point average, Brown says.

“A lot have stayed with me,” he says. “Over the last four and a half years we hired three students from Los Angeles Valley College that became part of our software development team.”

AsseTek’s client list also includes the Long Beach Unified School District. Brown is also in talks with the Foundation for California Community Colleges to extend the program to campuses statewide.

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University of Georgia Receives Maintenance Award

ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia received Cleaning Industry Management Standard Certification with honors by the International Sanitary Supply Association, making it the second university to achieve the distinction.

The award was given to the university’s physical plant building services department for the maintenance of 28 buildings on the north campus that is referred to as the green corridor.

The CIMS certification was developed in 2006 and recognizes the management, operations and performance systems of cleaning organizations.

The UGA services department submitted documentation outlining its efforts to meet the five key requirements under the ISSA standards: quality systems, service delivery, human resources, health, safety and environmental stewardship, and management commitment.

The department can apply for re-certification every two years.

“I sincerely believe this is an invaluable tool for our program and by going through this process we learned quite a bit about our operation and where improvements can be made,” says Al Jeffers, the University’s building services interim superintendent. “Our intention now is to roll our green program with CIMS across the entire campus.”

Bruce Stark, of Stark Consulting, who served as the independent certification assessor, says there are three programs that highlight the university’s commitment to the environment:

• A green cleaning initiative was introduced in 2007 to improve indoor air quality. It led to the removal of more than 300 products from the university’s overall chemical inventory.

• A building services academy program puts new building service workers through two weeks of orientation and training prior to their work assignment on the campus.

• Health and safety training programs for building service employees emphasize hazardous material spill containment and response and other overall worker safety programs.

The University of Michigan was the first university to receive CIMS certification in 2007.

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Georgia School Design Includes 72 Surveillance Cameras

THOMSON, Ga. — Security surveillance cameras could become requisite features in junior high school design to prevent gang activity, vandalism, bullying and guns on campus if more school administrators follow the example of Thomson-McDuffie Middle School.

The $17.5 million, 140,000-square-foot facility opened in August 2008 with 72 video surveillance cameras to monitor the more than 600 enrolled students.

“We think it’s going to be a model school in Georgia,” says Mark Peterson, McDuffie County School superintendent. “We think that we’re going to have a lot of visitors to come to our school and see what it is that we’re doing differently.”

Students ages 12 through 14 are more likely than older students to be victims of crime at school, according to the U.S. Department of Education. An attack or robbery victim at school is usually a boy in the seventh grade assaulted by another boy his own age.

Cameras were placed in the school’s hallways, at entry and exit points and in the gymnasium. Day-night dome cameras are installed inside the bus stop in front of the school to monitor the grounds and parking lot.

“Students know the cameras are watching them as they move through the school,” says Sergio Collazo, national sales and marketing manager for Toshiba, which manufactured all of the cameras at the school. “But the unobtrusive appearance keeps it from being intimidating.”

Some areas will remain out of view from the cameras. They were not installed in bathrooms, locker rooms or inside classrooms.

School officials met with security representatives in early 2007 and decided on a hybrid analog/digital solution because a full IP system was cost-prohibitive. The system utilizes CAT5e cabling that is also used for the campus’ computer network.

“Besides saving money, it essentially future-proofed the building if the administration chose to add IP cameras later down the line,” says Chad Umbarger, vice president of sales for HeitneREPS Inc, a security systems company that worked on the project.

The system allows authorized staff to log on to their computers to view real-time images transmitted from around the school. The Thomson Police Department was given network IP addresses. In case of an emergency, live images can be accessed through the school’s wireless infrastructure by officers within 150 feet.

The school also features a central visual checkpoint at the intersection where the school’s six hallways meet, where a large color monitor lets staff watch all hallways from one location.

However, the technology also extends to classrooms.

“The technological aspects of the school are beyond what we’ve seen in the state of Georgia,” says Steve Rhodes, principal of Thomson-McDuffie. “Eachof our classrooms will have a DVD projector in the ceiling. All will have slate writers.”

After the school opened, police officers and representatives from other schools toured Thomson-McDuffie Middle to explore how to deploy similar approaches to combat crime and vandalism.

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Wandering Eyes and Security

In years past, library security involved locking all but the main entrance doors and stationing a security guard at the circulation desk nearby. The configuration allowed officials to monitor library property and building occupants.

However, libraries have acquired a host of new responsibilities that bring more people into the libraries, and students work and relax in the building differently. The operational change has altered the design of libraries as well as the way design supports security.

Not Just for Books Anymore

During the last 10 years, which saw the rise of the Internet, the role of the campus library has changed. Libraries remain symbols of institutional intellectual aspirations, but those aspirations have expanded beyond books, magazines and microfilm to include all of the information available online in the digital domain — including digital data, print and video information.

At the same time, today’s students learn differently than their predecessors. They are less formal and more collaborative. They recognize the thin, perhaps invisible division between social and academic experiences.

Students do more academic work outside of formal environments. Classrooms, residence halls and student centers offer spaces designed to promote learning via cross-pollination among individuals and groups of people for students and faculty.

Library design has evolved to accommodate collaborative learning processes, becoming a kind of quasi-student center, campus hub and a general destination for activities that go beyond reading and writing.

Flexible furnishings and infrastructure are planned at Ohio State University’s Thompson Library, where students will congregate along the edges to see and be seen.

Libraries offers Internet cafés and meeting rooms, where students can plug laptops into the wall or grab a WiFi connection, sit in groups around tables, and work in concert on projects.

The book stacks have changed, too. The percentage of the building dedicated to stacks has shrunk and closed stacks — except for rare books — are scarce. Many books are warehoused; they remain available, but it takes a little longer to retrieve them.

The books that remain in the library are increasingly stored on compact, automated shelves. By cramming more books into smaller areas, libraries are freeing up space to accommodate flexible, informal people-oriented learning and meeting areas.

Library Design and Security

The changing uses of libraries have forced librarians to create more than one entrance.

The expanded mission of today’s campus libraries has created security challenges. Constrained campus budgets can’t afford to place security officers at each newly opened library door, and with more doors open and less monitoring, the risk of theft is greater.

However, the functional needs of campus libraries and security considerations have a common architectural answer.

Modern library spaces include areas for group study, gathering and socializing, presentations and lectures, special projects and dedicated media or technology areas. Building these kinds of spaces with fewer corridors and partitions eliminates nooks and crannies that create hiding spaces and other security concerns.

Transparency between public and semi-private spaces can reveal a spark of life within facilities.

Glass walls can provide acoustic privacy, while enhancing sightlines and security. Glass can also enclose library staff offices, providing them with the same clear sightlines across the floor. This can greatly reduce the risk of thieves, vandals and others with criminal intentions.

Security Tools and Technologies

Several new architectural ideas are designed to enhance library security.

Libraries are installing low-slung temporary lockers where students can store their things for a short time. This allows them to make errands and do other tasks without packing and carrying laptops, books and other supplies.

Technologies include RFID tags on books, laptops and other library materials, which work with sensors that sound an alarm when an RFID tag passes through a turnstile or other architectural feature leading directly to an exit.

Entrances can be equipped with intrusion alarms that activate when doors or windows are forced open.

Card access control to the library can ensure that only people in good standing with the campus community have access through all of the doors. Systems can be used with smart cards that serve as student IDs.

Most libraries today have used and continue to use video cameras to monitor entrances, exits and common areas with valuable equipment. Although deterrence is a benefit of this type of security system, plenty of people still commit crimes in areas with video surveillance. In that case, video generally proves to be more useful as an investigative tool that can be reviewed after an incident.

However, recent software innovations have produced a new software tool called intelligent video, which can be loaded onto microchips placed inside of cameras. The software triggers an alarm in the security center when certain images or motions are detected.

Airports use intelligent video technology to scan for abandoned packages, to detect fights and to detect people in areas where they aren’t supposed to be.

Intelligent video technology is probably too expensive for use in college libraries. However, its price declines substantially every 12 to 18 months. It won’t be long before intelligent video can improve library security by adding another set of wandering eyes.

Youngmin Jahan, AIA, LEED AP, is a principal with the GUND Partnership. Jahan specializes in academic libraries and learning communities. She can be reached at (617) 250-6800 or yjahan@gundpartnership.com

Christine Verbitzki, AIA, LEED AP, is an associate with GUND Partnership. Verbitzki is GUND’s BIM CAD manager and the firm’s senior educational programmer. She can be reached at (617) 250-6800 or chrisv@gundpartnership.com.

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