Moveable Library Furniture

A major trend in library space design is movable library furniture. This furniture complies with the design principle of affordance allowing library users to create solo or group study spaces on the fly. Furniture available is both modern and pleasing to the eye and comes in a variety of forms. In images 1 and 3 you can see the whiteboards and wall dividers on castors breaking the barriers of fixed whiteboards and study rooms. Additionally, in images 2-4 the movable tables and chairs allow for group study up to how ever many chairs there are in the room! This form and function enables students to complete their required tasks and not feel as though they are in a stuffy rigid environment. While not movable booth seating is also popular these days giving the library environment a feeling similar to a restaurant or coffee shop and inspiring collaboration.

There are number of functional factors surrounding the design principles of the factor of safety and flexibility-usability tradeoff that need to be considered in relation to movable furniture. With movable furniture fixed elements such as lighting and electrical fixtures need to be considered. Having floor or wall outlets can help mitigate access and safety issues such as stretched our cables which create tripping hazards. Additionally proper spacing between walk-ways to emergency doors etc. need ot be considered. Limits will need to be placed on where furniture can be moved to prevent obstruction of emergency exits. This may mean having some fixed furniture in those areas to prevent moveable furniture from entering them.