Light and libraries Available to Purchase

Lighting – from the firmament and the filament – is intrinsically linked with library design, influencing many factors from user comfort and productivity to spatial perception and connotation. For centuries, daylight governed libraries, forging built form and determining access hours. Within the last 100 years, the ascendancy of electric lighting has expanded possibilities and added challenges to library lighting design. The recent advent of the computer, and the light emanating from their screens, has provoked consideration of other light issues. This article addresses how to integrate light – in all its manifestations – within the context of library design.