HIT: Library Furniture

[Terri Lent <Tlent@AOL.COM>]

Dear LM_NETters,

Thank you sooooo much with all your help with my new school and library!
 Here's the results to my request about new furniture!

Terri Lent
Manassas Park HS/IS
Manassas Park, Va.
tlent@aol.com

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   You can seat more people at a round table than a square or rectangular
one. If your library has carpets, get the chairs with ski sled type legs
rather than the four post-type legs.

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       When an addition was added to our old library (mid-1970s), new
furniture was bought for the new wing.  Both round and rectangular tables
were ordered.  We found that the round tables took up more room and were less
likely to be used.  Why?  Two reasons surfaced.  1) The round tables simply
didn't have as much room to spread out.  Students preferred either the
rectangular tables or carrels.  2)  If one person was sitting at a
rectangular table and another person came and sat at the same table, there
was no problem.  If one person was sitting at a round table, person #2 didn't
sit at the round table, even though there were three empty seats.  There
wasn't enough room for each person to have their "space" at the round tables.
          When the college built a new building for us in 1993, we brought
the old
furniture with us, but ordered additional furniture.  We ordered all
rectangular tables - no round ones.   We put the old round ones in places
where they would be used (like right next to our K-12 curriculum lab); people
will still sit at the rectangular tables first!

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        I really like my Jasper Seating oak tables and chairs.  I chose not
to get round tables this time, opting for a combination of 6 square and 6
rectangular tables.  I believe Demco carries this furniture, but you can call
Jasper Seating in Indiana for a list of dealers.

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       We opened a new LMC 4 years ago.  We're 7-12 so bought 20 adjustable
rolling chairs for the computer area thinking these would be great for the
little 7th graders and the big football players.  They had the gaskets wore
out in some of them by the first year.  (As soon as we weren't looking you
could hear the swish, swish as they played the chairs up and down.)  After I
set them at an average level and removed the up/down lever they started
taking out the back adjuster knobs.  (The janitors have permanent screws in
many of them now.)  The rollers are nice because these chairs get moved
around so much as kids work in groups.  There is some "sliding" across the
floor, but it's not too bad.  These chairs are not going to last long.
        WE bought many individual tables for a "quiet" area.  No working
together there and there is to be very little talking.  It works pretty well.
 If you buy chairs with arms, watch the length.  We made sure that when you
rested your arm on the chair's arm,  your hand (with a pen or a marker) was
just hanging in space, so as to discourage ink vandalism on the wooden arms.
 We bought chairs with slider legs instead of 4 straight legs and really like
that feature. We had very limited funds and bought cheap individual tables.
 Wrong!
Already we had to replace the tops. The bored study hall kids peeled the
veneer and covered them with graffiti in no time.

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        We have only square and round tables with 4 chairs to a table. I've
also worked in a library that has long tables that will seat 6 to 8.  I MUCH
prefer the 4 to a table. Noise level and crowding are kept to a minimum that
way.
        We also have a "couch" and individual cushioned seats (vinyl) that
have worked well, but I would love some really comfortable sofas and chairs
in the magazine reading area -- sort of like a living room.  Our library
tv/vcr are also in that area (for make-up viewing of videotapes -- not for
general viewing such as soap operas or basketball games).

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         Try Buckstaff.  Excellent stuff!

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          We just opened a new middle school and I bought the furniture from
a Canadian company called Palmeiri (I might have spelled this wrong).  When
we did the bid 2 years ago the Canadian dollar was down and we got more
furniture for our dollar. Every other major library furniture company was
$10-20,000 more.  Because I had some extra money I was able to afford some
extra pieces that have made a difference.  One is a large round padded bench
with a planter in the middle to place a tree or plant.  The students love to
gather and sit there.  We also purchased 5 sled stools that students can
easily move anywhere in the media center.  We have the standard tables with
electric outlets installed in them, double padded chairs (which I love:
padded seats and padded backs) 4 lounge chairs and 2 love seat type couches.
 One piece that I'd do over again is the glass
display case.  It a high three leveled one and it opens from the back. It's
solid oak and very heavy and I want to place it in front of a wall but I have
to have it moved everytime I change the display.  Also I wish I would have
had a light installed in it as a 3 level case will always be dark on the top
shelf. We have an oak paperback rack that forms a zig-zag
with three sections.  I wish I would have spent more money there and
purchased another two sections.  This is where the children like to get their
books from as they stand and spin the racks as they search for a title.  Good
luck and have fun.

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       We bought new library tables, chairs, circulation desk, and computer
stations last fall, and I made a massive error in wood selection for the
tables and chairs. We bought oak from Gaylord (they only had one quality),
and their particular kind of oak was way too soft.  For example, just from
pushing chairs in, we have "table dents" on the backs of the chairs.  Some of
the table legs already have small chunks gouged out, and the chairs even have
some splintered areas.  What a disaster!  My students are not
library-wreckers, just normal kids. I thought I'd been so careful, too.  We'd
previously bought an oak computer station and stools from the same company,
and I was more than pleased with the quality of those.  However, those table
and chairs were certainly not meant for daily usage in a real library:  our
thirty-year-old previous furniture was much more durable than this new stuff!
         Maybe you can enlist the help of someone who understands woods
before you make decisions.  (Not all oak is soft oak!)  Maybe you can even
request a sample of a chair leg.

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        I am just finishing a new library and we went with Brodart furniture.
 I asked on the LM_NET which one most peopel liked, Blanton Moore or Brodart
and Brodart was the winner

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        My bottom line: buy the most solid and cleanable you can afford. We
have heavy oak chairs, for example. They were purchased in the rich 70's and
still are one of the nicest pieces of furniture in our library. We can not
afford to replace these at $150.00 each but they seldom break.  New
furniture! How exciting for you.

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        When we renovated the high school library several years ago we chose
solid wood furniture from the Buckstaff Co. for its durability and appearance
and we have not been disappointed.  You know how hard high school kids can be
on furniture!  Our tables are 3x5 parson style with a formica inlay top and
the chairs are solid wood, traditional style, no padding yet very comfortable
(even the students say that!).  You can justify the higher cost when you
don't have to replace it as soon.

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            We "refurbished" our space about 2 1/2 years ago.  In addition to
reconfiguring our stacks we did new carpet and furniture including a unit for
our nine (now twelve) workstations which have access to our OPAC, our CD-ROM
tower, and Internet, but not our circulation area... We purchased the
furniture from a library consultant named Ken Burchill of San Mateo, CA, but
I think he ordered the tables, carrels, and chairs from Gaylord.  The
workstation unit matches the rest of the wood in the library (kind of a light
maple) and the worktops are the same formica-type surface as the study
carrels.  The tables are small rectangles seating four with the same wood and
inset tops of the same
surface as the other work surfaces except a plain plum color instead of the
all over design (he though the same design would look too busy and it
probably would have).  The chairs are upholstered with some fabric he
guaranteed to resist pencil stabs, etc. and it has held up well.  (also
plum). Our stack ends are light blue as is the surface of the half height
reference shelves and the circ desk.  The carpet is medium gray tweed.  (it
looks kind of peaceful and possible worshipful with the plum, but it is easy
to live with and after all, we are a Catholic school!).  We have been very
pleased with the furniture and workstation unit.  They seem to be holding up
well and don't show marks too badly, etc.  He counseled us to get upholstered
chairs, because he said comfortable students are busy students and will work
harder and quieter.  It at least helps absorb some of the "busy" noise....
and makes the library look nice.  He also said four was about the right
number to have work going on without a "coffee klatch" effect.  (before we
had large rectangles that seated six and the apron wouldn't allow handicapped
persons to roll under the work surface with their wheelchairs). I would
probably go for all study carrels, but in reality, that wouldn't serve the
students' needs.  The only thing I might do differently is the chairs.  I
would still buy upholstered, but I saw some in the UC San Diego library on a
tour that I thought would work better for our kids.  They were constructed
with a bar across the bottom of the legs and made of a resilient material
(metal tubing?) so that if one rocked back on them, they wouldn't fall over,
but wouldn't damage the four legs by putting undue pressure on them either.
 Since that time we have added three more seated workstation areas (we
started with one handicapped access one and eight standing ones) and I think
that is good
for longer searches (librarian as well as students...!)

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     Last fall we purchased Sauder 3 position library  chairs.  Love em. Good
fabric and construction

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       One suggestion I would make if you order upholstered seating, order a
couple of yards of the fabric when you place your order for the inevitable
cuts, tears, etc. in the future.  Within the first year, we had a cut on the
back of one chair, and the company no longer had the fabric so we're living
with a cut!  Wish I had thought ahead!