"Libraries designed for users". Nowadays concept of library architecture and interior

Abstract

The aim of the study was to emphasize the importance of library building as community asset. All – location of the library, architecture, layout, equipment and functions – matters when we talk about the place where users come to acquire knowledge, communicate, socialize and take a rest. Six library building projects (three Latvian library projects – the National Library of Latvia (the Castle of Light), the branch library “Vidzeme” (branch of the Riga Central Library), Pārventa Library (branch of the Ventspils Library), and three foreign library projects – the National Library of Belarus, the New Library of Alexandria (the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina), the National Library of the Czech Republic (the Eye above Prague)) were chosen to compare architectural solutions for the library needs. Several libraries were chosen to compare modern interior design approaches: the Art, Design and Media (ADM) Library at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, the Taipei Public Library in Taiwan, the Strozier Library at Florida State University, the Engineering Library of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, the Coventry’s Arena Park Library in United Kingdom and the Library & Learning Resources (LLR) at the University of Borås in Sweden. The importance and interest of the study is to show that such issues as interior design and architectural solutions can be important in creating appropriate and friendly place for library users.