Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/50

 CHAPTER II

NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING, HEATING, AND VENTILATION

question of the lighting of the library, both by day and night, is most important. It is best to err on the safe side, and give too much natural light than too little; for it is an easy matter to subdue with blinds too great a light, but the initial mistake of a faulty natural lighting can only be remedied by the use of artificial illuminants or costly structural alterations, if indeed the latter are even possible. In designing a library the architect should adopt a style which will admit of high windows with square tops, for a square foot of clear glass two feet from the ceiling will admit more light than ten square feet at the same distance from the floor. This proposition is very elementary, but in how many cases do we see it forgotten, and the comfort of the readers sacrificed for an artistic but unsuitable elevation? A striking instance of this want of foresight is seen in the Dundee Free Library, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott. Here we have Gothic-pointed windows, suitable indeed to give the "dim, religious light" of a cathedral, but of little use for reading 26