When recording recent episodes with former library building specialist Patience Jackson, she called our attention to a speech from 1915 that exists in our files. The writer and speaker was Alice Chandler, who made advisory visits to libraries across the Commonwealth, critiquing everything from their buildings to their cataloging systems. In her speech, which our colleague Liz Babbitt reads in its entirety at the end of this episode, Ms. Chandler relays the numerous faults of recently constructed library buildings throughout Massachusetts. As library building specialists, we were taken aback by how relevant and true her statements remain. Therefore, we decided to discuss the similarities between our common comments today and those made 105 years ago by Ms. Chandler. We don't cover every aspect of planning, design, and construction, but we hope you find some useful information for your own project.
The tome to which Lauren alludes, The Practical Handbook of Library Architecture by Fred Schlipf and John A. Moorman, can be found in the ALA store.
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, please email me at andrea.bunker@state.ma.us.
