Library Design Influences on User Behavior and Satisfaction

“Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”: Territorial Dividers Increase User Satisfaction and Efficiency in Library Study Spaces

“…Many studies have addressed spatial considerations in library design (e.g., library as place: Applegate, 2009;Bennett, 2003;Bennett et al, 2005;Demas & Scherer, 2002;Holder & Lange, 2014;Shill & Tonner, 2003), explored spatial needs to improve services (e.g., Acker & Miller, 2005;Fox & Stuart, 2009;Hunley & Schaller, 2009;Miller, 2008), and pondered the impact of physical space, its furniture, and equipment on students' behavior and satisfaction when planning campus libraries (e.g., Bennett, 2006;Bennett, 2007;Campbell & Schlechter, 1979;Clee & Maguire, 1993;DeClercq & Cranz, 2014;Foster & Gibbons, 2007;Gayton, 2008;Potthoff, Weis, Montanelli, & Murbach, 2000;Rempel, Hussong-Christian, & Mellinger, 2011;Shill & Tonner, 2004;Webb, Schaller, & Hunley, 2008). Of particular relevance to the present problem are findings that seem to point to a library user's preference for studying in a library (thereby in the presence of others) but having a private study area.…”

“…Our aim in the second study, which was conducted after our design suggestions were implemented, was to obtain assessment measures from the users and make comparisons with the earlier measures, in line with the research suggesting data gathering before and after remodeling library spaces (Campbell & Schlechter, 1979;Foster & Gibbons, 2007;Montgomery, 2014;Norton et al, 2013). Thus, the second study can be considered a field experiment, enabling us to compare the measures obtained after the changes with those obtained as part of the initial survey.…”

Library Quarterly Management Literature, 1931–2004

“…He analyzes a variety of economic factors, including the rate of population growth, the retirement rate from the labor force, and current and future hiring patterns of the major employers of librarians. David E. Campbell and Theodore M. Shlechter examine the influence of library design on user behavior [108]. Gail Schlachter evaluates various union models [90].…”

An Ecological Systems Approach To Evaluation

“…Some of the measurement techniques appropriate to ecological research have already appeared in the community psychology literature. Behavioral mapping (Holahan and Bell, 1978), behavior settings (Carr et al, 1976), activity range (Ostro and Adelberg, 1976), and behavioral diaries (Campbell and Shlechter, 1979) provide examples. However, the use of such methods has not been commensurate with the frequency of articles calling for an ecological approach.…”