When Change Is Set in Stone: An Analysis of Seven Academic Libraries Designed by Perry Dean Rogers and Partners, Architects (review)

The literature of academic librarianship contains relatively few book-length treatments of library design issues. Given the profession's renewed focus on the "library as place" amid technology-inspired predictions of the library's demise, there is an acute need for serious works indicating the potential and importance of physical library facilities. When Change Is Set in Stone makes a surprisingly useful contribution and addresses several gaps in the existing literature.

At first glance, this volume appears to be a coffee table book with attractive photographs and little substance. Its focus on library projects completed by one architectural firm, albeit a highly respected one, also makes the reader suspect its intentions. The initial preface description of the book as "a unique opportunity to appraise carefully and to present seven college and university libraries designed by Perry Dean Rogers & Partners of Boston" (p. 4) also raises warning signals.

Those initial concerns are dispelled, however, upon closer inspection. In fact, this monograph provides a facility-by-facility assessment by Michael Crosbie (architectural critic) and Damon Hickey (librarian critic) of seven building projects completed by Perry Dean Rogers in the late 1990s. Their review covers three new libraries (Hollins, Maryland-Baltimore Health Sciences and Human Services, Marshall), three expansion/renovation projects (Colorado State, Dickinson, Wooster), and one expansion (Wooster) project completed in the late 1990s. For each building, the two authors provide separate critiques from their own professional perspectives. Hickey also provides an insightful chapter on "Factors Affecting the Construction of New Academic Libraries" and a briefer piece on "Questions and Tips for the Planner."

This book is not an in-depth guide to facility planning. Bazillion and Braun's excellent Academic Libraries as High-Tech Gateways: A Guide to Design and Space Decisions (2^nd ed., American Library Association, 2001) and Leighton and Weber's monumental Planning Academic and Research Library Buildings (3^rd ed., American Library Association, 1999) provide more detailed assessments of facility planning considerations. They are complemented by Sannwald's exhaustive Checklist of Library Building Design Considerations (4^th ed., American Library Association, 2001) as "must-read" items for any librarians contemplating a facilities project.

However, the Crosbie and Hickey book is one of those "hidden gems" making several unique contributions to the literature. First and most obviously, the book offers an abundance of attractive and informative architectural photos— in color— from all seven facilities reviewed. The reader is able to relate comments and criticisms from the text to specific features emphasized in these photographs. These illustrations also suggest a variety of interior and exterior design alternatives, rather than a "one size fits all" approach to library design. Adroit librarians can use these visual examples to illustrate design choices to campus administrators, physical plant officials, and architects. In addition to providing interior and exterior photos, the book provides both site plans and floor plans for each facility. The site plans place each project into a campus master-planning context, while the floor plans are used to describe the successes—and shortcomings—of service point, collection, user, office, and other spaces.

Local planning assumptions about physical layout, technology, collections, users, staff-to-staff communication, and inclusion of non-library facilities are addressed candidly. For example, the authors find that the layout of public spaces in the University of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library works well for users, while the placement of offices on different levels has had a disruptive effect on staff communication. Occasionally, the authors disagree. For example, the architectural critic found Colorado State University's Morgan Library well designed for users, while the librarian critic found it somewhat difficult to navigate.

The political dimensions of building...