Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/280

256 ground floor could be used for the purpose. The situation of the children's room, on the first floor, adjoining Bates Hall, seems also faulty. If the room is largely used, as it is sure to be, the noise inseparable from a large concourse of young children must be a nuisance to readers using Bates Hall for study. The proper place for such a room is on the ground floor, close to one of the street entrances.

There must be considerable delay in obtaining a book from some parts of the stack-room, which would not occur if the delivery desk were placed centrally, instead of in its present position. The proper place for the reading-room seems to be in the centre of the building, with the books arranged in stacks around it. If the plans of such a library as, say, Strassburg (Figs. 137, 138), or of Leipzig (Fig. 136), be carefully examined, it will be seen that the average distance of a book from the point of issue is much the farthest at Boston, and, of course, the period of waiting for the borrower is increased.

The natural lighting of the stack-rooms is insufficient; in many places it is necessary to burn electric light the whole day, at great expense, and with much discomfort to the attendants. An examination of the plans of many of the larger libraries figured in this volume will show that it is possible to have sufficient windows to give light between each bookcase in the largest stack-rooms, without destroying the distinctive architectural features of the outside of the building.

Reference has already been made in Chap. I. to the advisability of keeping the ornamentation of