“It is virtually impossible to predict how library buildings
will change in the future except that the only certainty is that they will
change.”
Henry Faulkner-Brown
Faulkner-Brown, consultant for the UNESCO Alexandria library, outlines
a common problem for libraries. This change can arise from a variety
of pressures including growth of collections, change in technologies, change
in social and political systems, and change in economic conditions.
The simplest of all these conditions to predict and manage is the growth
of the collection.
The archives of the GBQ will continue to grow steadily. The general
collection will also increase but since the possibility of discarding books
exists for the general collection it need not increase as quickly.
A variety of approaches exist to handling the expansion of libraries.
Build More Than's Needed Now
A solution common to many contemporary libraries is to build space
for future expansion at the time of initial construction. The Vancouver
public library, designed by Moshe Safdie, and the public library
in the Hague, designed by Richard Meier, have floors of the library which
are currently occupied by other government offices. At the Hague
the top floor is occupied by municiple employees. When the time comes
for the library to expand the offices will be removed and the library will
gain one extra floor.
Subdivide Existing Space
Another technique used to expand libraries is to use the existing space
more intensely. The Hague library also allows for expansion
in this manner. Certain areas of the library are able to bear the
weight of mobile stacks. This allows the area to hold twice the number
of books stored on standard shelves. Due to budget restrictions these
areas had to be restricted to small zones near the main columns.
Another method of expansion involves subdivision of the existing space
into new floors and mezzanines. The Boston Athenaeum library was
onriginally built in 1849. When originally constructed it was a three
storey building. Now the building has ten storeys including two basements,
numerous mezzanines and two new floors constructed over the roof
of the original building.