library redesign Archives - Carroll Seating Company

Published: 14 July 2015

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Furnishing a Library

Your school library isn’t supposed to be a dusty collection of books no one checks out. The entire library experience has changed as fast as technology has, and we can help you update your library and give it the face lift you need.

A Few Great Ideas

Small Group Workspace – If you haven’t yet designed a spot for small groups to work withing your library, it’s certainly time. Collaborative learning is very much the focus today, and including a space where groups can get together and create that next big project is an absolute must.

Creative Play Space – If your library is designed for smaller children, it needs to include creative play space. Here, brightly colored walls are a must, as are smaller bookshelves and lots of table space complete with games, puzzles, and more to help promote those important pre-reading skills that will turn students into lifelong readers in the future.

Tech Central – While students still rely on printed texts for some things, the chances are good that they want access to e-readers and more while they’re in the library, so build in a space to allow them to use that tech. You’ll want to ensure you’re a wi-fi hotspot, and you may also want to build in charging ports here and there so students can plug in when the juice is running a bit low.

Why Carroll Seating Company?

We’ve been working with schools just like yours for more than six decades, developing beautiful spaces that help enhance student learning. We carry a complete line of shelving and furniture options for libraries of all shapes and sizes, from those for very young preschoolers to those designed for the heaviest academic environments. We’re continually working to include the right pieces for better functionality.

The real difference with Carroll Seating Company, though, is that we work with you to meet your needs. From the moment you first call, you’ll be working with an individual project manager, ready to help you choose your equipment and get it installed. We also have add-on services you’ll love, including custom casework that will help your environment promote reading and research in a way you never thought possible.

To learn more about what we can do for your library, contact us today by calling 847-434-0909 to get started or visit us online to learn more.

Published: 24 June 2014

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Furnishing a Library

Statistically speaking, reading scores for elementary students across the nation are in nothing short of a freefall. Despite the continual focus on this essential skill, few students are picking up books and sitting down to read just for fun, and it’s certainly contributing to a lacking love of books the world over. One simple way to change that? Give them a library space they’ll want to visit again and again. Summer is the perfect time for a library redesign. Take a moment to imagine the possibilities.

Get Colorful: Schools are still often drab places, and libraries are little different. It’s amazing what some color can do, though. Whether you’re talking about a simple paint job on the walls themselves, a mural depicting your school mascot and colors, or even bright chairs, bookcases, and workspaces, color can help encourage kids to come in and stay.
Get Creative: Quick, imagine that you’re nine years old again. What would be the coolest possible thing you could have in a library? What if the entire library had whiteboard walls where you could record your thoughts about your latest read? What if every nook and cranny was decorated like a favorite children’s book from Alice in Wonderland to Harry Potter? If you can dream it, we can help you make it happen.
Get Comfortable: Libraries aren’t going to be amazing reading spaces if you don’t have comfortable, cute tables and chairs for students to relax. Get a pair of cushy chairs that look just like rocket ships! Add tables that look like fast food restaurant booths your students already know and love. Consider study carrels with soft seating options instead of traditional hard chairs. The cozier your spaces, the more likely students are to want to come back and stick around.

Ready to get started on your library redesign? Give us a call. From start to finish, we’ll help you do more with your library space and help encourage students to read!

Published: 18 March 2014

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Furnishing a Library

If you recently walked into a library and thought, “This isn’t quite what I remember,” you’re not alone. Many of today’s libraries are designed to be open environments, perfect to support diverse needs, including those of individuals and groups. It’s a popular idea, and with good reason. Libraries aren’t what they used to be. Demographics are changing fast, and so too are the needs of libraries. They’re often as much about community collaboration as they are about individuals spending time with reference materials. As a result, the physical landscape of libraries has to shift at the same time, and much of the responsibility of that shift lies in the right furniture.

Tables and Chairs Defining Libraries?

Libraries were once just about books, but that can’t be the case anymore. Sure, just a few decades ago the best way to study up on a concept was to look through past printed material, but people don’t work that way anymore. Instead, the best researchers consult printed material, digital material, and even other people to share information. As a result, libraries have to move from shelves of printed material to technology bases that allow as much space for equipment as they do for people. Getting the right book may be as simple as using the library’s wifi connection to download it from their site instead of consulting the card catalog to go back in the shelves and find it.

Enter furniture solutions. With comfortable chairs to sit in while you’re holding your tablet, spots to take a break and talk with other patrons, and bright, friendly story time areas for the smallest patrons, the idea of an open library quickly becomes a reality, even without other vast changes to the space itself. The simple addition of open and individualized study spaces in the same spot transforms what used to be a dark place with people going “Shhhh!” all of the time to a light, airy environment where grabbing what you need may mean plugging in or heading back to the stacks for a closer look at that book.

To learn more about our complete line of open library furniture, contact Carroll Seating Company today. From the initial design to the installation phase, we’re right here to help you develop the perfect space for all of your patrons.

Published: 25 February 2014

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Furnishing a Library

The idea of open concept library furniture is growing fast. Libraries simply aren’t closed, dark spaces full of shelves and silent tables anymore. They’re changing as fast as the way people obtain information is, and a big part of that change is a shift in the furniture. If you’re thinking of giving your library a facelift, but you’re not quite sure what’s available, this quick guide can help.

Shelving

Any great library has lots of shelving, but it does not have to look quite so traditional these days. There are so many different choices. Looking to make an area friendlier for littler hands? Why not try a cute shaped display shelf that’s just the right size for your pint sized patrons. Need to display the best selections in a given section? End panel shelving or even canopy topped shelving may be the ideal answer.

Often how you store your materials is just as important as what materials you have in your facility, so feel free to dream big. From decorative end panels that help further a theme to cute choices that incorporate flexible seating options, reviewing your shelving choices carefully is a must.

Seating

Comfy arm chairs. Stacking modular seats. Traditional sturdy wood chairs. Squishy soft bean bag chairs. Wondering what they have in common? They’re all often part of today’s library at the same time. Those cozy spots are ideal in the places where your patrons might spend a bit of time chatting about the latest best seller.

The modular seating is ideal for the larger community gatherings your library might play host to. The sturdy wooden chairs are a must when it’s time for a more serious look at things. No matter what look you’re going for, the key with today’s library seating options is to make certain you’re serving the needs of everyone at the same time.

Study Areas

As important as collaboration can be in a library, quiet study is just as essential, so putting some thought into those individualized study spaces is an absolute must. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of modern options there too. Incorporate a little technology with plug in spaces for laptops and tablets. Get more traditional with flexible study carrels that can reconfigure as needed. Go with tables that work just as well for one as they do for an entire group. It’s all in the flexibility these days.

Proper Planning

Open concept library furniture is a broad area. You can’t simply choose a few products out of a catalog and have the right look for your library. Instead, you need an entire planning team on your side to look at your current space, show you the right options for that space, then help you put it all together. So, before you start that order form, contact the qualified library planning team at Carroll Seating Company today, then get ready to build the library of your dreams.

Published: 22 October 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Furnishing a Library

Libraries are changing fast. What was once simply a repository for books and a mecca of study has now morphed into a center of learning, complete with a variety of multimedia aspects. Whether you’re talking about an elementary school or a university library, today’s choices have to do far more than they ever did before, and the right furniture is part of that mission. Fortunately Brodart offers a wide variety of choices to help you meet your goals.

Start With The Basics

You need the right places for your patrons to sit and study materials, and there are a number of great choices that can really open your library to new uses. Their line of lounge furniture means comfort, style, and an easy experience that is ideal throughout the library. Creative collaborative choices include the Epoch Iso Tables, that are perfect for traditional study or powering up the laptop for a complete online experience. The synchTable option also gives patrons five different mobile shaping options that can change as your library does.

Don’t forget about your computers in the equation, either. Brodart offers a range of choices that are perfect for computer use. From those with a more traditional look to surfaces with adjustable heights, a sophisticated feel, or even a creative feel that will help younger patrons go to new places with their computer use, the sky is the limit with your multimedia furniture.

Right Down to the Chairs

What they’re sitting on can make almost as much difference as where they sit. Instead of going with traditional library chairs, you may want to go with something like the unique two position chair or even the Brodart creative line that will reintroduce art and design to your library setting.

Don’t Forget those Little Touches

Your furniture choices don’t have to end at the furniture your patrons use when they study, read, or collaborate. There are lots of finishing touches that will pull the look together. When was the last time you thought about your end panels? They don’t have to be simple wood finishes. Instead, they can employ amazing designs that will have you rethinking libraries entirely. Go as loud and bright as you like, particularly if it helps to draw readers further into the shelves.

Don’t stop at the ends of the shelves, though. Think about the shelves themselves, too. If you’ve been in a book store recently, you’ve probably seen the open shelving choices so many marketers are employing. That’s also more than possible in the library setting. With choices like these, you can put your most requested materials in unique configurations that will help to ensure all of your materials shine.

Libraries are not the places they once were, and the right furniture choices can help you change that.

Published: 9 April 2013

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Casework & Millwork

Public libraries are unlike any other spaces on the planet. They’re not even really like other libraries. College libraries serve only the needs of university students and academics. School libraries are specifically designed for kids of various ages. Specialty libraries are often dedicated just to experts.

Public libraries, though, have to meet the needs of the many. From great reading areas for kids to help entice them in day after day to careful spaces constructed for elderly patrons, public libraries need special attention when it comes to design, so we’re nothing short of proud to put our name on the design work of the Alsip Marionette Park Library.

A Year in the Making
Some design projects take just a few months. Others, like this one, take quite a bit more work. We got started in January of 2012. After preliminary designs, pricing, and all of the details that go into any of our projects, we were finally able to install some of our Brodart Contract Furniture line in February of 2013. All of it was custom made for the library.

In the adult sections, we were able to design double faced computer carrels to save space as well as individual study carrels with pop up power and data for those using laptops. We also integrated new reading tables, study tables in the study room, double sided book displays, and custom OPAC stations as well as dictionary and atlas stands.

In the children’s area, we designed square and round tables at heights that worked for both children and adolescents. We also created half-moon computer stations with velcroable front panels for reading fun. Additionally, we added a customized children’s puzzle table among other things.

This project really demonstrates how far we’ve branched out from the idea of seating. We wanted to be part of this from the start. With us, you know you’re never going to have to flip open a catalog, point to what you want, and have us assemble it. Instead, we invest ourselves in delivering exactly what you’re looking for, and we succeed with quality and precision.