This past class we skyped with Peg Sullivan, a consultant for school library design. She spoke about the AEIOUs of design:
A - Activities
Design the library around the activities that occur there. If students want to eat, make sure the place has wipe-able surfaces and perhaps tile floors (as opposed to carpet). If students want to study, make sure there are private and group study areas. Just make sure the space caters to the activities it houses.
E - Environment
What sort of environment should your library facilitate? Calm and soothing? Bold and bright? Care must be taken when choosing colors, shapes, and artwork.
I - Interactions
The library is a place or interactions. How will you promote these social interactions in your library design? Perhaps you can situate furniture accordingly, and make sure that your office is easily accessible for students and teachers.
O - Objects
What objects will be in your library - furniture? technology? desks? shelves? displays? I think to the libraries we have visited which displayed student artwork, and how nice it was that the artwork was brought in from another discipline showing that the library is a place for all disciplines. Also the displayed artwork enables students to take ownership of the library.
U - Users
Always focus on the users and their needs. Users include students, but also parents, school administrators, and fellow teachers.
And last, but certainly not least, ensure the library is set up for growth.
It looks like the biggest takeaway from Peg's talk for a number of us in class was the AEIOU's of design she introduced. They really do simplify the basics and necessities of school library design, and how you want the environment in the library to be. It sounds like something she came up with recently too, so maybe we got the first presentation of it! :)
ReplyDeleteYes- we all love our acronyms. I did try to apply the concepts of AEIOU- post library re-design and I really found them applicable and made changes to my design because of them. It would be easy to keep updating an AEIOU wish list too, so you are always prepared for budgeting matters.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of this conversation was being reminded to take interactions in to account. In shaping your space, you are able to shape how your users will be able to make use of it.
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