How to plan a library building for library work

"How to Plan a Library Building for Library Work" by Charles C. Soule is a practical guidebook on library architecture written in the early 20th century. This work provides detailed insights into the essential features, considerations, and methodologies involved in designing and constructing a library. It emphasizes the importance of functionality over aesthetics, underlining that a library should serve its community effectively while being adaptable to future changes. The opening of the guide presents an advocacy for thoughtful library design, stressing the necessity of cooperation among librarians, architects, and building committees to create a library that is not only beautiful but also functional and efficient. It articulates principles about the utility of library spaces, the historical evolution of library building types, and the significance of considering future growth and needs in the planning process. The prelude sets a reflective tone, indicated by the author's ardent belief in libraries as "workshops for the future" rather than relics of the past, aiming to ensure that libraries are built with purpose and practicality at their core. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Charles Carroll Soule was an American bookman with a side specialty in the architecture of libraries. Born in Boston to Richard Soule Jr. (1812–1877) and Harriet Winsor (1816–1905) he attended the Boston Latin School and Harvard College (1862), and fought in the Civil War. After the war he engaged in public speaking about post-slavery reconciliation in Orangeburg County, South Carolina.