Whether building a new facility from the ground up or remodeling an existing library, the following guidelines will help to better optimize limited resources to fulfill long-term goals.

Design for Accessibility
School and university libraries are inclusive by nature — open all students. Thus, the facility should be accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.

The American Library Association (ALA) has published an online resource to help ensure all collections, entrances, bathrooms and other facilities remain compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Designing a library with ADA guidelines in mind can reduce the need to duplicate core functions later on. It’s more expensive to add additional bathroom facilities, ramped entrances or handicap-accessible terminals as retrofits.

Internet Connectivity
The facility should be outfitted with Wi-Fi access and plenty of terminals. Students might rely on their school or university library for everything from studying and technical research to blogging or job hunting. If the budget allows, institutions should also include additional power outlets throughout the facility so students can charge their own laptops and devices.

Organization, Shelving and Furniture
Optimizing limited real estate is one of the primary challenges libraries face. In addition to managing ever-increasing collections and daily student traffic, libraries might also host workshops, exhibitions and/or campus events.

Finding the right balance between on-site storage and wide-open spaces can be difficult. Sometimes there are compelling reasons to keep every title on the floor. Movable, modular cabinets can help economize limited real estate in these circumstances. Other times, you may be better off using basement or off-site storage. With this approach, you’ll need to provide searchable access via Internet or Intranet so patrons can retrieve titles remotely.
Whichever strategy you adopt, remember that collections generally grow with time. Plus, future expansions may eventually require investing in modular cabinets or diverting more resources to off-site storage facilities.

Compartmentalization
Although the majority of students and users will use common rooms for reading and studying, you may want to designate certain sections as quiet spaces. This segmentation benefits everyone. Quiet areas, for example, diminish unnecessary disruptions from workshops and general traffic.

Comfort and Aesthetics
There’s a general misconception that library use is on the decline nationwide — mostly as a result of increased Internet use, e-books and mobile devices. However, this notion is largely unfounded. The library’s role has evolved with time. It is increasingly more of a social center than a reference resource.

In effect, the library is a multipurpose facility that for some students serves as an extension of the dorm room or coffee shop. This is especially true for students who might lack access to computers or Internet at home. As such, a library should provide a welcoming environment that offers Internet access, optional food or drink, and close proximity to public transportation — or convenient facilities for parking cars and locking bikes.

Arguably, though, the most important criterion is comfort — i.e. warm lighting, plush seating and clean environments.

Stakeholder Involvement
One of the most important aspects of library planning is feedback. Educators and administrators should obviously remain involved throughout the process. Student and user input will ensure you ask and answer the most vital questions, including the role the library will play and the services deemed most critical to success. Not only will this feedback help you economize limited resources as you move forward with construction and renovation, but it will also make your library a more valuable asset.

Denny Hammack has worked in the storage industry for nearly 30 year. Currently, he is the president of Patterson Pope, a supplier of high-density shelving storage solutions, products and moveable cabinet systems. Learn more at  .

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According to the act, no fewer than two hearing aid compatible receivers are required in all newly constructed or altered spaces. The number of devices required increases based on seating capacity.

“When we think ADA requirements, what we think about is wheelchair access,” said Cory Schaeffer, co-founder of Bluffdale, Utah-based Listen Technologies, a manufacturer of assistive listening products. “However, compared to 1.4 percent of the population in a wheelchair, 17 percent have hearing loss [based on the World Health Organization’s definition].”

One reason that awareness is so low, according to Schaeffer, is many people consider hearing loss an issue that primarily affects older people. However, an estimated 12.5 percent of children and adolescents aged 6–19 years of age (approximately 5.2 million and rising) have suffered permanent damage to their hearing from excessive exposure to noise. The increase is often attributed to the use of ear buds or noise-canceling headphones used to listen to music, digital video players and other devices.

Hearing loss can have a tremendous impact on a child’s education. According the , “even a small amount of hearing loss can have profound, negative effects on speech, language comprehension, communication, classroom learning and social development.”

Fortunately, there are solutions designed to facilitate the specification and installation of assistive listening technology. The hardware available is not specifically designed to integrate with this type of technology so installations can be unwieldy and overly complex, according to Marc D’Agostino a national audiovisual, technology and security consultant with D’Agostino & Associates of Stamford, Conn. The majority of the projects D’Agostino & Associates creates are bid specification documents for classroom and larger assembly areas in K-12 schools.

“For schools, the goal is to incorporate technology that meets ADA requirements while minimizing hardware, space and installation requirements, all while staying within the budget,” D’Agostino said.

D’Agostino often specifies a bundled speaker and assistive listening system from OWI Incorporated, a Carson, Calif.-based manufacturer of advanced audio equipment. OWI ceiling and wall-mounted speakers for schools have their own built-in amplifier, so no external amplifier is required. The Energy Star-compliant unit also provides power to the assisted listening system through the connection, eliminating the need for an additional power source. Perhaps most importantly, OWI speakers are one of the few systems at an entry-level price point that already have the built-in line out required to interface with an Assisted Listening System using a simple, three-wire connection.

The speaker can also eliminate the need for a separate, dedicated PA speaker, according to D’Agostino. To ensure emergency announcements can be made even if electrical power is lost, public address systems are typically hard-wired to a dedicated speaker in each classroom used for only that purpose. The system is connected to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS battery backup) and generator that turn on automatically during a power outage.

Because OWI speakers are built with a multi-coil speaker and priority override features, they can serve double-duty and eliminate the need for the separate PA speaker. In the event of power loss, the speaker will still function.

Regardless of the technology or systems installed, there are many incentives for schools to stay current with ADA requirements for the hearing impaired. Schools that fail to comply may receive complaints, which can now be filed online with the Department of Justice. In addition to being required to remedy the situation, schools can incur fines from $55,000 to $150,000.

Ultimately, though, it’s about children and quality education.

“As parents, we want our kids to do well at school because we want them to have the best opportunities in life,” Schaeffer said. “The ADA requirements provide K-12 students that have hearing loss with the same advantages and opportunities as everyone else. It’s a win-win-win for the child, parents and the school.”

Jeff Elliott is a Torrance, Calif.-based technical writer. He has researched and written about industrial technologies and issues for the past 20 years.

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