Abstract
Often when we visit libraries, we are not able to ascertain the reasons why it has been designed in a certain way and how these design decisions have been made. Like the library buildings themselves, Collaborative Library Design from Planning to Impact has managed to elegantly apply the collaborative design process in order to weave together the story of ten library design projects situated across public, academic and school libraries in America.
Although the book presents ten library design projects, the real challenge was to integrate the stories and experiences of the 30 different voices involved these projects. However, as you read through the different projects you can see that there has been great effort in the attempt to provide consistency in the way the stories have been told.
The concept of the collaborative design process may not be one that is familiar to those wishing to design a new library or transform an existing one. With this realisation, Gisolfi has gone to great lengths to addresses this by providing the reader with a clear and concise explanation of this upfront in the introduction section of this book, and by doing so, he has also been able to promote this concept as well as set the tone for the remainder of the book.
As you become familiar with the process of collaborative design, the book then separates the ten library design projects into two major sections focusing on different sectors, i.e. public and academic/school libraries. In reviewing this, what would be have beneficial here was for the author to include any similarities or differences in the way that these sectors approach and make use of the collaborative design process.
Each of the library design projects was very well written and easy to follow. The background and contextual information for each of the libraries provided the reader with a sense of what the library was before and the reasons as to why the transformation had to occur. To me, the highlight of each of the design project stories was that these were written in a passionate and authentic manner by those who worked in these libraries or directly involved in the design project itself. In essence, it provided me with a unique insight into the rich history of these libraries, the communities they serve and the people who worked there.
Apart from providing information about each of the library design projects, another great aspect of the book was to allow the stakeholders in each of the design projects to share their knowledge and offer advice for those seeking to do the same at their own libraries. This is where the truly collaborative nature of the book comes to the forefront and demonstrates that it practices what it preaches.
To complement the stories surrounding each of the design projects, the book has intertwined beautiful, high-quality photos and diagrams. These photos have been able to capture the essence and sprit of each of the libraries and provide the reader with a sense of being at the library itself.
The conclusion provides a nice bookend by incorporating and summarising Gisolfi’s experience in conjunction with the experience that was obtained from the ten library design projects. It takes it one step further by acknowledging the changing nature of the libraries and the spaces that are needed to support this. Finally, it accomplishes what it sets out to do, which is to advocate and promote the collaborative design process via the context of libraries.