Library Buildings and Equipment Section

The architectural realisation of a building and its opening to the public with a range of services are central components of the building and design process of libraries. Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is the final step in this process. It provides a useful opportunity to assess whether the construction and design of the building has indeed met the library’s and users’ requirements and how effectively the building functions for both users and library staff as well as how easy it is to maintain. As buildings age and as various external and internal changes impact upon them, it is necessary to be able to provide an objective and empirical assessment of how such buildings and the spaces within them function as well as identifying problems and proposing solutions to the governing bodies.

The Library Buildings & Equipment Section Standing Committee is looking for papers which discuss innovative ways to evaluate space, functions, services and maintenance of new and old library buildings. We are particularly interested in case studies that highlight the reasons for, the methodology used and the outcome of, a Post-Occupancy Evaluation of a library building. Special emphasis should be given to the economic implications of effective and efficient operations and maintenance in relation to financial constraints. The evaluation can consider a single aspect such as service patterns, functional design issues, technical systems issues, or legibility issues from the various perspectives of the users, library staff and architects. We would like the programme to balance theoretical approaches and best practice case studies of Post-Occupancy Evaluation in library design and construction.

The theme of WLIC 2012, “Libraries now! Inspiring, Surprising, Empowering” should provide the context of the presentation.

Please provide

• name and institution of presenter(s)
• an abstract of the paper describing the project, process or research carried out (1 page, up to 350 words) preferably in English
• relevant biographical information of author(s)/presenter(s)

Send your proposals by 31 January 2012 via e-mail to the chair of the LBE section
Dorothea Sommer (dorothea.sommer@bibliothek.uni-halle.de).

The abstracts will be reviewed and selected by a Review Committee. The paper can be given at the congress in any of IFLA’s official languages. Successful proposals will
be identified and announced by February 20, 2012.

If a paper is selected authors must commit to presenting it in Helsinki.

All presenters and their papers will be listed in the final IFLA Programme. Therefore presenters must forward the full text of their papers by April 15, 2012 to allow time for review and for preparation of translations. The time allowed for the presentation will be 20 minutes. Papers should be no longer than 20 pages.

Please note

All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation can be issued to authors.

Congress Attendance Grants

The Finnish National Committee and IFLA have worked hard to secure funds for Conference Participation Grants. Up-to-date information is available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.