This is an interesting article by Philadelphia Inquirer critic Inga Saffron about the new library at Temple University, which is going to use robots to retrieve books. This allows the books to be stored in a very small space, and the rest of the building to be used for technology, meeting rooms, collaborative work spaces, and social spaces. This is based on warehouse technology used by Amazon and others, and has already been implemented at the North Carolina State University library.
Joe Lucia, Temple’s dean of libraries, believes these buildings are the most inclusive spaces at a university and serve as an “academic Switzerland.” An engineering student may never wander into the humanities building, he explained, but all students need to consult a library’s holdings. The library’s location on the new central quad will cement its place as Temple’s community center. Besides the glass reading room, the building will be packed with study rooms, seminar rooms, digital work spaces, as well as a ground floor café-and-study area that will be open 24 hours.
The wealth of work spaces is made possible by the automated book-retrieval system. The new library will be about 200,000 square feet, roughly the same as the existing Paley Library, built in 1966 by Nolen-Swinburne. (It will probably be retrofitted for classrooms.) But because the automated system allows the new library to store books in tightly packed trays, storage will take up just 10,000 square feet. The ratio is almost the reverse at Paley, which has open stacks. Because the books will be protected in their own concrete room, the new library can have many more windows. It is sad that the one place where windows are scarce is on the side facing Liacouras walk. Long blank walls could be off-putting on such a pedestrian stretch, and Temple officials say they are exploring some design changes.
One of the good things about the automatic book-retrieving system is that it’s already been tested at Snohetta projects such as the Hunt Library at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. The system delivers the books within five minutes, and it’s become such an attraction that students are known to take selfies with the robot.
This also makes me think about the future of urban retail. Who will need big box stores with shelves packed full of duplicate items? Instead you can have showrooms with just one of each item, or even holograms, for people who want an up-close look at an item they have already seen on the internet at home. The actual items to be purchased can be stored very compactly in the back, basement, or second floor of the store, and retrieved in minutes by a robot. For that matter, why would you want to carry a bulky item home if it can be delivered to your door within a few hours. In that case, it doesn’t matter if the warehouse is down the street, on the edge of town, or out by the airport or rail station or factory that actually makes the items. Each retailer doesn’t need to operate its own warehouse and delivery system. If 3D-printing technology really comes into its own, this system would get even more interesting.