{"id":38,"date":"2007-11-08T21:30:35","date_gmt":"2007-11-09T02:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/2007\/11\/08\/poorly-designed-public-buildings\/"},"modified":"2007-11-08T21:39:21","modified_gmt":"2007-11-09T02:39:21","slug":"poorly-designed-public-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/2007\/11\/08\/poorly-designed-public-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"Poorly Designed Public Buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a public building in my community that is so poorly designed, I just have to comment.\u00a0 It’s amazing this building was designed, approved, funded with tax dollars, constructed and accepted.\u00a0 Apparently no one raised any objections as to its usability and fitness for its purpose.<\/p>\n

I’m talking about the Huntsville Madison County Public Library\u00a0branch\u00a0building in Madison, Alabama.\u00a0 I like libraries and I use this one frequently, but every time I’m there I think what a poor design it has.<\/p>\n

First off the entrance is a foreboding, unwelcoming sight.\u00a0 From the parking lot, the landscaping forces you\u00a0to cross a drive that curves past the front door.\u00a0 The book return drop is located opposite the front door.\u00a0 Consequently cars constantly arrive and depart (and sometimes park for several minutes) while you’re trying to get into or out of the library.<\/p>\n

\"Library<\/p>\n

If you avoid getting hit by a car, good luck using the sidewalk.\u00a0\u00a0Rough, square brick pillars\u00a0force you to step down from the curb to get around them.\u00a0 Your path is also blocked by a large bicycle rack that acts like a gate\u00a0restricting your entry.<\/p>\n

\"Entrance<\/p>\n

Inside,\u00a0the building is an open atrium.\u00a0 Although the children’s book area is in one half of the building the sounds of children screaming and running permeates the grown-up section too.\u00a0 (It used to be that libraries were quiet places, but I’ll leave that story for another day.)<\/p>\n

A large skylight\u00a0covers the building from front to back.\u00a0 A skylight is a nice airy concept, but not for a library.\u00a0 The administrative desk is bathed in sunlight making it hard for employees to see their computer screens.\u00a0 So they installed a large awning to shield their work area.\u00a0 The hot Alabama summer sun heats the whole library.<\/p>\n

\"Abundant<\/p>\n

Glare makes it hard to see.\u00a0 Of course sunlight and books don’t mix.\u00a0 Paper fades in sunlight.\u00a0 The books are\u00a0prematurely aging and wearing out even before patrons touch them.<\/p>\n

\"Sunlight<\/p>\n

The library is actually quite roomy.\u00a0 There are a few wide open expanses filled with tables.\u00a0 But the\u00a0book stacks themselves are crammed together closely.\u00a0 It is very difficult to find a particular book, let alone browse the collection, when you have to navigate such narrow aisles.\u00a0 It is particularly troublesome when you must share an aisle with another person.\u00a0 There is no room to pass without getting personal.<\/p>\n

Some aisles are less than three feet wide.\u00a0\u00a0If you wear bifocals, it’s hard to stand at the proper distance and orientation to read the call numbers.\u00a0 Larger books are stacked on their sides and\u00a0stick out into the aisle.\u00a0 Countless times I’ve been hunting a book, only to take a step back and get a sharp jab in my back from books on the opposite side of the aisle.\u00a0 You can’t help but bump and dodge your way down the aisle.\u00a0 Every time you stoop down or stand up looking for a book you’re stopped short and stabbed by another book.<\/p>\n

\"Tight<\/p>\n

This area’s library system\u00a0is a great resource.\u00a0 They say it’s one of the most heavily used library systems\u00a0in the state.\u00a0 It’s a wonder though, what were they thinking when they built the Madison branch?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a public building in my community that is so poorly designed, I just have to comment.\u00a0 It’s amazing this building was designed, approved, funded with tax dollars, constructed and accepted.\u00a0 Apparently no one raised any objections as to its usability and fitness for its purpose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-humor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.iseeancestors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}