INCLUSIVE DESIGN: LIBRARIES FOR EVERYONE
By: Katie Stone, R.A. | Senior Associate, Assistant Studio Director & Deputy Municipal Market Director
Libraries are among a community’s most vital public facilities. More than just a repository for books and media, libraries provide a space for us to explore our interests, expand our knowledge, and congregate with our community.
In order for libraries to achieve their highest potential, they must be usable by all members of the community. At minimum, per the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), libraries in the United States are required to be accessible based on guidelines defined by the U.S. Access Board.
Accessible design ensures that people with physical disabilities can use the same overall facilities as those without. Beyond accessible design, however, is inclusive design. Inclusive designs emphasize universal usability by all, such that each user gets the same approximate experience, regardless of disability status and without the need for adaptation or alteration.
Libraries serve an incredibly diverse population, and therefore should always aim for inclusivity as the gold standard for design. There are a number of ways to maximize inclusive design and ensure that your library can serve the entirety of your community.
Welcome All Users
Rather than creating separate entrances, circulation paths, or amenities for people with disabilities, libraries should opt for universal designs that provides equal and easy access for all visitors. When H2M architects + engineers collaborated with the Oceanside Library on a building addition and renovations, improving access to the building and its amenities was essential.
The design team relocated the building’s main entrance from a remote location in the center of the street facing façade to a location in close proximity to the property’s accessible parking and adjacent crosswalk. The main entry plaza incorporates a stair, ramp, built-in benches, bike racks, and landscaping to signify entry and accommodate various models of arrival, entry, and pickup. Additionally, the building’s previous limited-use, limited-accessibility (LULA) elevator was replaced with two hydraulic elevators to provide more efficient access to the amenities on the second floor and lower level.
Provide Adequate Space
Standard practice for renovation projects typically includes widening the aisles between stacks, providing better access and ease of movement for wheelchair users, parents with strollers, plus-size people, and companions for people with disabilities. Lower stacks (42 inches and under) also provide increased visibility, security, and connectivity within each space. While these modern features involve a tradeoff with valuable collection storage, library clients tend to value the more open feel and improved access.
Another tactic to create adequate space is to provide flexible furniture layouts to allow for the reconfiguration of rooms to meet the specific needs of the people using each space. Flexibility allows a library to capitalize on space sharing and accommodate various functions and user groups, no matter the day, week, or time of year.
Provide Equal Toilet Facilities
The ADA requires that toilet facilities be accessible and items such as clearances, door swings and hardware, and mounting heights follow code-regulated standards. Quality design will go beyond these minimum requirements to ensure that toilet facilities are easily accessible for patrons and staff, including families, people using wheelchairs and other mobility aids, and people of all genders and abilities. For example, changing tables should be available in both men’s, women’s, and single-occupancy gender-neutral bathrooms.
The Oceanside Library took inclusivity even further with the implementation of a dignity toilet room near its major public spaces. A dignity toilet room is a single-occupancy facility with an attached private room for caretakers, preserving the user’s privacy while ensuring that their caretaker can assist when necessary.
Make Navigation Easy
Library buildings should not only be easy to access, they should also be easy to navigate. Public elevators should be as close to the stairs as possible and spacious enough to fit wheelchair users and their companions. They should also provide access to every single level of the building; there should be no portion of the library that is accessible by staircase and not elevator. Signage and wayfinding, meanwhile, can be incorporated into the library’s design using intrinsic signifiers such as color coding. This allows visitors to locate rooms and facilities even if they are unable to read the language on the signs themselves.
The layout of a library can also be rearranged such that the most important or popular rooms are the easiest to find. Working with the North Babylon Public Library on a building addition, the team designed a new large community room on the main floor directly adjacent to the main entrance to maximize ease of use.
Libraries should also consider implementing LED lighting, which improves visibility and may be essential to a vision-impaired visitor’s ability to maneuver the building safely and securely.
Offer Private, Customizable Spaces
Even when every effort is made to incorporate inclusive design into public spaces, visitors may have additional needs that can only be accommodated in a private space. For visitors with sensory processing disorders, individual rooms with customizable lighting, temperature, and furniture arrangements can offer a quiet respite from uncomfortable sights and sounds.
There are a number of creative and clever ways to implement these types of inclusive design elements within the library’s existing aesthetic. Inclusivity is an important aspect of providing library services to the entirety of your constituents, and, more broadly, it is a design philosophy that will make your library more welcoming and enjoyable for everyone.
