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Libraries

The new breed of today’s library is a far cry from the historical model.
Libraries now house cafés, lounge areas, presentation spaces, and plenty of computer and study areas.

Gray and magenta Public Office Landscape seating adjacent to a glass-walled meeting room containing Eames Molded Plastic Chairs.

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Five college students, all sitting in white Eames Aluminum Group Chairs, work individually in a large study room.

Adaptable

Libraries are one of the facilities on campus where change is, or can be, most visible, although some qualities of the traditional library remain. Most libraries provide both quiet and active spaces for individual and collaborative learning.

Social

Humans are social beings, and libraries provide a context for interaction. Libraries must be a venue for intellectual and social engagement, and for working with printed books or digital archives.

A college student walks through an interaction space featuring Swoop Plywood Lounge Chairs and Eames Molded Plastic Chairs.
A college student works on a tablet computer while seated at a table serviced by white Eames Aluminum Group Chairs.

Stimulating

Students often ask for open environments, places where they can benefit from the stimulation of other voices and other people studying next to them.

College students participate in a study group while sitting in white Sayl Chairs.

Healthful

Libraries enrich the soul and the intellect. But they also need to enrich the body, providing comfort and healthful spaces that keep students refreshed, even as they spend long hours studying.

Three college students work in a study area featuring blue and green Embody Chairs and black Nelson Coconut Lounge Chairs.

Resourceful

Other services such as academic counseling are relocating to the library, giving them far more visibility and access, so that advisors and students are able to more easily connect with each other.

Sustainable

Sustaining the physical and emotional well-being of students, who may spend marathon hours in intense study, is essential to the mission of the library.

A female college student checks her smartphone while sitting on the grass outside an academic building.

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