A visit to the new library in Springfield made me notice something about how people use the space

I went to the grand opening of the Springfield Public Library last Saturday, and I spent about two hours just watching how people moved through the building. What really stood out was that almost no one was sitting at the big, fancy study desks they had set up near the windows. Instead, nearly every single person, from kids to older folks, was curled up on the floor in the aisles between the bookshelves, or perched on the little step stools. They had these beautiful wooden chairs and tables, but everyone chose the carpet. It made me wonder if the designers planned for a quiet, formal reading room, but what people actually wanted was to be close to the books in a more casual way. Has anyone else seen this in a new public building, where the official seating gets ignored for something simpler?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinn_nelson7d agoTop Commenter

Totally get what you're saying... saw the exact same thing at the museum they built downtown. They have these sleek metal benches in the new wing, but everyone just ends up sitting on the big, wide window ledges or on the floor in the corner. It's like @the_kevin said about the stairs... people just want to find their own little spot that feels right, not the one that's officially marked. All that fancy furniture ends up looking lonely while the carpet gets all the traffic. Makes you wonder why they spend so much on it.

the_kevin8d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, we saw the same thing at our community center. They put in fancy benches, but everyone just sits on the wide, carpeted stairs.

nguyen.dylan8d ago

Honestly those fancy benches probably have a purpose the stairs don't. Maybe they're placed for better lighting or to help people with bad backs. Sometimes designers know stuff about comfort we don't. Could be the benches just need more time for folks to get used to them.