Output measures and library space planning

FOR HALF A CENTURY dating from the work of Joseph Wheeler as a library building consultant, public library planning has depended almost exclusively on population as the basis for determining book and seating capacity which in turn are the main determinants of building area requirements. This system on which the old American Library Association andmost state library standards are based is an excellent one because i t makes the democratic assumption that every community should have equal access to information and that equal access to information is based on providing books and seating in proportion to the service population. At its most sophisticated, this standard even provided for increased seating and book proportions in smaller communities. For example, towns of under 10,000 population would have ten seats per thousand population instead of the five per thousand standard for larger towns. Similarly, five books per capita might be the standard for towns of under 10,000 while three books per capita were recommended for larger communities. In the 1950s, public library leadership decided to promote library systems. Any town smaller than 150,000 was urged to group with other communities so that they could benefit from the optimum library services that would be available to 150,000population library systems