CHAPTER XII

FURNITURE

=159.= The effect of shabby fittings and furniture on the minds of visitors is not such as will tend to the promotion of discipline, nor will it instil respect for the library into the minds of ratepayers and readers. A fine building, appropriately fitted up, will not only impress the average visitor, but it will cause the citizens to take pride in the library as a civic institution. A fine building shabbily fitted up inside will probably have quite a different effect. While a strong distinction is to be drawn between luxury and propriety in such matters, a much better purpose will be served by procuring good and substantial fittings and furniture than by wasting on extravagant exteriors most of the money available for building.

=160. Reading Tables.=--For general reading rooms the tables should not be too long, nor, if readers are to sit on both sides, too narrow. A table to accommodate, say, eight persons, four on each side, should be 8 feet long × 3 feet wide × 32 inches high. The rails of reading-room tables should not be made so deep as to interfere with the comfort of persons using them, and cross rails connecting the table legs near the floor level should never be used, as these only serve as foot-rests. A certain number of tables should be made with desk or sloping tops, as shown in illustration (Fig. 43). Oak, walnut or other hard woods should be used for library furniture. Pitch pine is not recommended, as it invariably splits as the resin dries out.

=161.= In reference libraries, especially in those designed for students with open access to the shelves, quite a liberal space should be allowed. It has not hitherto been the practice, save in large libraries like the British Museum, to give reference readers as much table room as is desirable, nor to give students the amount of isolation which they require. The general policy has been to seat readers at long tables and separate them from their opposite neighbours by means of a screen, as is done at the British Museum, and in libraries like the Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. This method, which is depicted in Fig. 44, gives a certain amount of seclusion, but it does not provide a sufficiency of room for books and materials. Then, of course, no municipal library can hope to compete with the British Museum in the provision of expensive furniture. To ensure that each student reader will obtain a liberal share of room, combined with comfort and isolation, a system of separate tables in the form illustrated (Fig. 45) is strongly recommended, or some way which will secure the same accommodation. The plan of making the table the unit of space instead of the readers will automatically solve the problem of how much room to give each reader.

The table illustrated (Fig. 45) gives the following accommodation:--

Six square feet of free table-top with a sunk ink-well.

A back board six inches or nine inches high to prevent overlooking by neighbours, and provide space for ruler and pen racks, shelves, clips, etc.

A sloping writing desk can be added if required.

Shelves under the table for holding extra books, materials or an overcoat.

An extension slide to pull out and form a book-rest or supplementary table for papers.

In addition, if space permits, an umbrella holder can be fitted to the left-hand support of the table, so that each reader will be isolated and self-contained.

=162. Periodicals, Tables and Racks.=--The question of the methods of displaying periodicals and magazines is discussed in Chapter XXXI., and it is not necessary to consider the matter of policy here. Various kinds of tables have been designed for displaying magazines in covers in a fixed place, and for simply enabling them to be easily read in the ordinary way. Where periodicals are kept in racks, tables in the forms described in Section 160 will be found sufficient. In cases where the tables have to perform the combined function of racks and tables, other arrangements are necessary. There are many forms of rack-table, but only three need be described. The first, which is used in several large libraries, provides a large elevated rack above the table-top, on which the periodicals are placed, so as to free as much as possible of the table surface for readers. This is illustrated (Fig. 46).

In this form of table-rack the periodicals are not fastened to their places, and, owing to the varied sizes of the periodicals in an elevated position, they give a somewhat untidy appearance to a room.

=163.= A less conspicuous form, and one equally effective, dispenses with the elevated platform, and the rack simply rests upon the table-top as illustrated (Fig. 47). If necessary, the periodicals can be fastened to the rack by means of cords or chains encased in rubber or leathern thongs, and the contents of each table can be displayed upon an adjustable titles list in the form described in Section 474, fastened to the ends of the rack.

=164.= A remarkably effective form of periodical table, which has a separate place and title for each, is shown in Fig. 48.

This makes effective division between readers seated on opposite sides of the table, and tends to prevent conversation and the interchange of periodicals. The periodicals can be fixed by means of chains or cords if thought necessary. At Wolverhampton, Islington, Hammersmith, Croydon and other places this plan of “tethering” magazines is adopted.

=165.= Periodical racks are made in a large variety of forms, and the following illustrations are typical of most of the devices used (Figs. 49 and 50). Another kind often seen is the “Cotgreave.”

A smaller rack for railway time-tables is illustrated on p. 162 (Fig. 51).

=166. Reading Easels.=--In connexion with these special tables, book-stands or easels for keeping a number of books open at once will be found useful. It often happens that a student desires to compare his authorities, and an easy means of keeping several books open at a given place is necessary. The book easels shown below are the best form yet devised. Fig. 52, which is made entirely of metal, has the advantage of leaving the table surface practically free and unobstructed, while the automatic means provided for keeping books open at any place, irrespective of the number of leaves, is of great utility.

Fig. 53, constructed of wood, is also a light useful article, but as it rests the book close to the table surface more obstruction is caused, while the leaf-holders are not automatically adjusting.

There are various other forms of wooden reading easels, but they are light articles designed to fold up, and will not carry large reference books with any great degree of security.

=167. Chairs.=--There is such an immense variety of library chairs that the chief difficulty becomes that of selection. A strong chair with a saddle seat fixed to a special rail instead of direct to the legs is best, and in all ordinary situations arm-chairs are preferable, as they give an automatic spacing of elbow-room which renders calculation unnecessary. It is wise, however, to avoid a very wide arm-chair, and to use small chairs only if space is limited to two feet per reader.

=168.= Where the space between tables is very restricted the chairs should be fastened to the floor, so that there can be no blocking of gangways. One plan is that adopted at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, North Library, Fulham, and elsewhere, of having revolving arm-chairs mounted on pedestals secured to the floor. These have the one great disadvantage of being non-adjustable. Readers cannot pull them a little forward or push them back, and thus such fixed chairs have the defect of all fixed things--they cannot be moved to suit varying conditions. Another form for a crowded situation is a small strong chair of good design anchored to the floor by means of a stout cord (Fig. 54). Each chair has a stout staple screwed under the seat in the centre, and a similar staple is screwed into the floor at a suitable distance from the table front, and corresponding in situation with the staple in the chair seat when placed in position. Lengths of stout window cord are then cut and provided with swivel hooks at either end, which are fastened to the staples on the floor and on the seat, allowing a sufficient length of cord to admit of a fair amount of play and movement when anchored. On granolithic or other cement or concrete floors, fixed chairs cannot be used readily.

This kind of anchorage allows of a chair being moved backwards, forwards or sideways, and readers can get to and from their seats without trouble. Arm-chairs are not recommended for this style of fastening.

All kinds of chairs should be shod with rubber or leather pads to deaden the noise of movement on the floor. There are several varieties of such pads to be obtained from furnishing firms.

=169.= Hat rails of metal or wood are sometimes provided under all chairs--a very necessary provision in wet weather. The Continental system of uncovering the head when entering public buildings is not yet very common in the United Kingdom, but readers should certainly be encouraged to do so by having the means of bestowing their headgear placed easily at hand. General hat, coat and umbrella stands or racks are not popular in public libraries, and need not, as a rule, be provided. But some kind of hat and umbrella holders should certainly be provided in connexion with the chairs. A very good combination arm-chair is shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 55). This provides hat and umbrella accommodation, and may also have attached to the left, or both arms, a folding wire-work drop holder, in which to place completed papers, light books or other articles not wanted to litter the table-top (Fig. 56). Of course, such chairs with these additional accessories could only be used in situations where there was plenty of room. In many cases umbrella rails are attached to every table, and this is usually the best plan.

=170.= Every library should buy more chairs than are required. This will enable the chairs to be removed for cleaning purposes in batches of a dozen or more, their places being taken by the spare ones. This will prevent the seating accommodation from being reduced during any cleaning operations.

=171. Desks.=--For staff purposes ordinary school desks will be found ample. These are provided with side flaps and a locking compartment. A Canadian form with shelves and a lock-up desk flap, with pigeon holes, suitable for going against a wall, is a useful type of desk for assistants doing a special class of work, as the desk flap can be locked back out of the way, and so protect the papers or work.

=172.= For large libraries, where an elevated superintendent’s desk is necessary, the combined desk and drawer cabinet used in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, has many advantages.

=173. Lecture Room.=--Furniture and fittings for children’s departments and lecture rooms require special consideration. The former are dealt with in Division XIII. In the lecture room the principal fittings are the platform and the fittings connected with the use of the lantern. Platforms should be wide, and should be as long as it is possible to make them having regard to economy of space in the room. A height of three feet is suitable, and the structure should be solid, so that it may not echo or squeak beneath the tread, and a covering of some sound-deadening material--thick cork-lino or cocoanut-matting--is desirable. A counter or fixed table running along the front has been found useful, and to this water, gas, and similar fittings may be connected for use in science lectures; but this counter is not usually required, and it may obstruct the screen and will certainly prevent the use of the platform for dramatic and similar representations for which a clear stage is necessary. Green baize hangings as a background and front curtains of this material are very effective for several purposes. The platform should so be placed that it can be reached by the lecturers without the necessity of passing through the audience.

For lantern screen there is nothing better than a smooth wall finished off in flat white, but where this is impossible a rigid is preferable to a rolling screen as giving a surface free from folds and kinks. Screens should be kept perfectly clean, as dirt injures the effect of slides incalculably. The lantern itself should be of the electric arc variety, as being easy to manage and always ready with little delay, especially where the “direct” electric current is available. It is best installed in a room outside, or a gallery closed in from, the lecture room, the projection being made through an opening. An electric signal which provides at the platform a push for the use of the lecturer, and sounds a “buzzer” or flashes a small lamp in the operator’s apartment, is probably the best form of lantern signal.

The chairs in lecture rooms should be as comfortable as means will allow, and should be fitted with rubber tips to ensure quiet. Quiet floor coverings should be used in the room, and, indeed, all fittings and furniture should produce that ease of body which will allow the mind to occupy itself exclusively with what is going on upon the platform.

DIVISION VI

BOOK SELECTION AND ACCESSION