New Library Buildings: Bracken Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada BY VIRGINIA PARKER, Librarian
Bracken Library Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada ABSTRACT A brief sketch is given of the past history and present functions of the Bracken Library. Architectural and decorative features of the new library are described.
ON JULY 4, 1978, the Health Sciences Library of Queen's University opened the doors of its spacious and elegant new home and changed its name to the Bracken Library, culminating hopes and dreams that endured through years of planning. The Bracken Library serves primarily the Faculty of Medicine, the School of Nursing, and the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. In addition, the library is available to all students and faculty members of Queen's University and of the local community college, St. Lawrence College, which has a nursing program leading to R.N. certification. The library serves four teaching hospitals and offers both reference and loan services to all health sciences personnel of Kingston and the rest of eastern Ontario. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Faculty of Medicine was established in 1854. However, the library seems to have come into existence when, on December 30, 1857, Dr. Fife Fowler, Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy as well as Librarian of the Faculty of Medicine, applied to the board of trustees for the handsome appropriation of $100 for medical books. In 1894 Queen's medical students were still lacking a library of any consequence. In the Queen's University Journal of December 15, 1894, there appeared this item: "During the past few weeks every Med. has been interested in a report that a medical library was to be established in the *The cost for the library alone is not available, since it is part of a building, not yet finished, which will be used by various departments.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
college. We are informed by Dr. Herald that a library will be opened after the Christmas holidays." By 1953 the library consisted of only 15,000 volumes. By 1969 the library collection had grown to only 30,000 volumes, although its clientele had expanded in 1946 with the founding of the School of Nursing, and again in 1967 with the coming of the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. When the time came to move to the new library in late June 1978, there were more than 72,000 books to be moved. These had been housed mainly in cramped quarters (8,465 square feet) in the Old Arts Building (erected in 1879), which had served as the medical library since 1966. Also, there were books to be packed and moved from two storage areas in the main university library and from the building that was serving as the temporary quarters of the Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine. Various techniques were used, including moving books on trucks out a window of the old library into a container that was held suspended by a crane and then lowered to a van. The scattered collections were reassembled into two straight arrangements on the commodious shelves of the new library-serials alphabetically by title and books in classified order. On October 14, 1978, we held a never-to-be-forgotten celebration when the library was formally dedicated. PLANNING The Bracken Library is located in an elevenstory building called Botterell Hall in honor of Dr. E. H. Botterell, Dean of Medicine during the early planning. Construction of this building, designated at the beginning as the Basic Sciences/Library Building, was originally proposed to the province of Ontario in 1962. The building was to house the basic science departments of the Faculty of Medicine, the library, and the Animal Care Facility. After many stops and starts in the cash flow and
387
VIRGINIA PARKER
follow as Phase 2 progresses. Microbiology will be the first to move. Botterell Hall is located one block from Lake Ontario. Its upper floors afford a magnificent view of the lake and also of the beautiful campus of Queen's University and of the spires and domes of the city of Kingston, whose history dates back more than three hundred years. The building is directly across the street from Kingston General Hospital, one of the teaching hospitals. The Bracken Library occupies the ground floor of Botterell Hall and one floor below ground. The original functional program for the library was
repeated revisions in the plans, construction was finally begun in 1976. By June 1978 Phase 1 of the construction was completed, and soon after, those fortunate to be included in Phase 1 took occupancy of their new quarters. These occupants consist of the Bracken Library, the Department of Pharmacology, Animal Care, a cancer research group supported by the National Cancer Institute of Canada, and a remote terminal of the Computing Centre. Also presently in use in the building are lecture rooms and a quick food service called Student Amenities. The anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, and physiology departments will
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HISTORY OF MEDICINE
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FIG 1 -Floor plan of Level 1. *Funds not yet secured for this position.
388
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
ElIi
THE BRACKEN LIBRARY
written in 1967. As it developed we had the oppor- open space of about eighty-eight hundred square tunity to revise the program three times before it feet comprises the public area; closed off from this became final in August 1974. A library of 31,500 public space are library offices and a work area net square feet was at last constructed. Within this consisting of about thirty-three hundred square area a library that is both attractive and efficient feet. The walls of the offices are topped with has been achieved. It will conveniently house seventeen inches of glass, so that the whole expanse 150,000 volumes and comfortably seat more than of coffered ceiling is visible. All floors on this level, as well as on the stack level below, are covered with 300 readers. fine carpeting in a rich rust shade, laid in eighteeninch squares so that damaged portions can easily BRACKEN DONATION As one enters the library the circulabe After waiting so many years the health sciences tionreplaced. desk is to the left; it is L-shaped and extends community of Queen's University and Kingston forty feet. Behind the desk is student reserve shelvnow enjoys a quiet, spacious, elegantly appointed The upper front surface of the desk is of brown library. Because of the necessity for stringent use ing. and the lower part is carpeted. The Arborite, of government funds, the original plan was that we reference desk is similarly designed, as is the desk would have a simple library, well planned and for the audiovisual which is on the efficiently operated, that would meet the basic floor below. The carddepartment, of white oak is near catalog needs of its users. A gift from Dr. Franklin Brack- the entrance, and the Kardex is on a table adjacent en, a noted ophthalmologist and graduate of the to the catalog. Immediately to the right of the Queen's Faculty of Medicine in 191 1, enabled us to entrance is a lounge area and an oblong reading build the fine library we now enjoy. Dr. and Mrs. table. Just beyond is the current serials section, Bracken donated more than a third of a million which runs the length of the front side of the dollars to supplement government funds, adding an library (Fig. 2). The entire front is of reflecting aesthetic quality that makes the library immensely glass, affording a lovely view. It is a view of what is satisfying for both users and staff. known as the lower campus, a gentle hill with tall trees, equally beautiful in the green of spring and LEVEL 1 summer, the variegated color of autumn, and the Entrance to the Bracken Library is from the still whiteness of winter, when brightly dressed building lobby at ground level, Level 1 (Fig. 1). A tobogganers add color to the scene. Chairs and end glass partition and glass doors separate the library tables placed along the stretch of window space from the lobby, and the impression gained by a make a pleasant and comfortable reading environperson entering is one of expansiveness. Level 1 of ment. The chairs are the sleigh-base type, some the library consists of two components: a large upholstered in brown fabric, some in rust. The
I
..
FIG. 2.-Current serials area.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
389
VIRGINIA PARKER
FIG. 3.-Reading area beyond current serials shelving.
current serial shelves have slanting display shelves and storage space beneath. End panels here and throughout the library are of white oak. There is space for 2,500 serials, twice as many titles as we now hold. The first two ranges of the serials shelving are reserved for display of issues received during the last seven days. Just beyond the current
serials shelves is a pleasant reading area with four round tables, each sixty inches in diameter with surfaces of brown Arborite (Fig. 3). Tables like these are used in various places throughout the library and will be referred to hereafter simply as large round tables. On the left of Level 1 is the reference section
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FIG. 4.-A part of the reference section.
390
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
THE BRACKEN LIBRARY
(Fig.4), where the reference desk is prominently located. Shelves in the reference section are counter height and topped with white oak. There are six large round reading tables in this area, and beyond them are six index tables in white oak. Between the reference area and the current serials area, just opposite the front door but remote from it, is an enclosed area which comprises the Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine, a separate department of the Faculty of Medicine. The walls of this department are of Sheetrock and covered inside and out with a grey carpet fabric. This, in combination with a brick wall behind the circulation desk and the carpeted floor, no doubt produces the unexpected degree of quietness in this
active part of the library. In front and to the side of the Hannah Chair is an attractive lounge area. Office Suite The suite of library offices opens onto the reference section. There are private offices for professional librarians and a secretary's office situated between the librarian's office and a conference room. Other offices are for interlibrary loan, for acquisitions and cataloging, and for the serials assistant; no office is designed for more than six people. The suite of offices includes a room for photocopying and a room for the MEDLINE terminal. A combination bindery preparation and
LEVEL BI SERIALS
Lounge
SERI ALS
Ej
22-ENt: 0 0 0 u >Stair MruChin
nes
i
SER IALS
BOOKS
BOOKS
-; g~~~~
Audiovisuals
H
Patio
Lounge -
BOOK BO S F-iJ
TII
T-
TI
FIG. 5.-Floor plan of Level B 1. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
391
VIRGINIA PARKER
recorder/player, three Kodak Ektagraphic slide projectors, two Singer Caramate tape/slide players, a Sony videocassette player used with an Electrohome color television receiver, and a Technicolor film loop projector. In addition, the rooms are presently being used as study or meeting rooms, and one of the smaller rooms is equipped with a typewriter for public use. We look forward to a time when this well-designed section of the library can be fully equipped and staffed so that audiovisual service can take its place among the other excellent services that are provided by the Bracken Library. On the west side of Level B 1, a glass partition provides an outlook onto an amphitheatre and patio, designed to be used in summer for dramatic entertainment, outdoor lunches, or perhaps even outdoor classes. In either winter or summer the LEVEL B 1 view is attractive from this library area, which has Stacks for all bound volumes are on Level B 1. come to be known as the patio lounge. This lounge Aisles are spaced thirty-five inches apart. The is furnished with two small couches and nineteen sections of the coffered ceiling are the same width easily adjustable reclining chairs; earth tones are as the aisles, so the lighting is ideal. Most of the used in the upholstery fabric. It is the favorite spot seating space in the library is on this level, includ- for many library users. There is another pleasant ing one hundred and thirteen individual carrels, lounge area on Level B 1 at the foot of the most of them located around the periphery of the staircase, where lighter furniture is used. A fabric area. These are of white oak with desk surfaces of of beige and rust stripes is used for chairs and love brown Arborite and are individually lighted. Forty seats. In addition, there are four chairs upholstered of these carrels have lockable book shelves enclosed in gold fabric. with clear plastic panels and are reserved for readers who have special long-term needs; for SPECIAL FEATURES example, those who are writing books or theses. In addition, there are large round tables, which have Some special features are worthy of note. Dr. proved to be quite popular. The chairs are of white and Mrs. Bracken selected and purchased three oak with sleigh bases and brown upholstery. lovely bronze statuettes for the library. One of them, a figure of a skater entitled Ice Bird, by Tait Audiovisuals McKenzie, is a focus of attention from the library On Level B 1 are facilities destined to be used entrance. McKenzie, a native of Ontario, was a for an audiovisual service, for which funds are thus physical education director, surgeon, and specialist far unavailable. There is a circulation desk for the in rehabilitation medicine as well as a noted sculpaudiovisual department, a storeroom equipped tor. One of the other sculptures is of Shakespeare with wooden shelving for audiovisual materials, by Frederick MacMonnies, and the third is of and a card catalog cabinet for storing cassettes. Robert Burns by Robert I. Aitken. The sculptures There are twelve carrels that were especially of Shakespeare and Burns are mounted on marble designed for using audiovisual materials and eight pedestals. In addition to the sculptures that Dr. listening and viewing rooms. Two of the latter are and Mrs. Bracken gave the library, there is another twenty by sixteen feet, one is sixteen by twelve, two bronze statuette that was presented to a former are twelve by twelve, and three are eleven by eight. dean of medicine during the very early days of All of these rooms are equipped with chalkboards, hope for a new library. The statuette, Darwin's tables, and chairs, and there are projection screens Ape, sculpted by Hugo Wolfgang Rheinhold in in three of them. Some audiovisual equipment is 1892, is of an ape sitting on a pile of books and available for users who furnish their own materials. pensively contemplating a human skull. The spine The equipment consists of an Audiotronic tape of one of the books is labeled "Darwin." Also
storage area for office supplies is a part of this office complex and opens directly onto the building's loading dock. A work counter twelve feet long, fitted with a sink and with cupboards above, is a useful feature here. Also included in the personnel accommodations are a staff lounge and kitchen and a staff washroom. There are intercom stations in all offices, in the staff lounge, at the circulation and reference desks, and in the stacks near the staircase. A staircase near the circulation desk leads to the lower level (Level B 1) of the library (Fig. 5). There is also a small elevator for staff use. Above the stairwell there is a portrait of Dr. Bracken by Karsh, and under the staircase there are two coinoperated copiers, with screens placed around them as sound barriers.
392
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
THE BRACKEN LIBRARY
enhancing the aesthetic appeal of Level 1 are floor and table lamps selected and purchased for the library by Dr. and Mrs. Bracken. A cube of onyx adorns one of the coffee tables. The potted plants are one of the loveliest of the Bracken Library's many beautiful features. There are forty-one plants in all. Fourteen of them are large plants of various kinds, some reaching almost from floor to ceiling. The plants, large and small, enliven the decor everywhere in the library, public and work areas alike.
Contractor
Queen's University, Contracts and Construction Office Interior Decorator (Lounge Areas and Librarian's Office) Margann Fitzpatrick Interiors, Kingston, Ontario Gross Square Feet 32,750 Net Square Feet 31,500 ARCHITECTURAL SUMMARY* Volume Capacity 150,000 Consortium of Architects Smith, Mill & Ross and Marshall, Merrett, Seating Stahl, Elliott, Kingston, Ontario 310 *Funds not yet secured for this position.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
Received February 26, 1979; accepted April 30, 1979.
393
Bracken Library Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada ABSTRACT A brief sketch is given of the past history and present functions of the Bracken Library. Architectural and decorative features of the new library are described.
ON JULY 4, 1978, the Health Sciences Library of Queen's University opened the doors of its spacious and elegant new home and changed its name to the Bracken Library, culminating hopes and dreams that endured through years of planning. The Bracken Library serves primarily the Faculty of Medicine, the School of Nursing, and the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. In addition, the library is available to all students and faculty members of Queen's University and of the local community college, St. Lawrence College, which has a nursing program leading to R.N. certification. The library serves four teaching hospitals and offers both reference and loan services to all health sciences personnel of Kingston and the rest of eastern Ontario. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Faculty of Medicine was established in 1854. However, the library seems to have come into existence when, on December 30, 1857, Dr. Fife Fowler, Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy as well as Librarian of the Faculty of Medicine, applied to the board of trustees for the handsome appropriation of $100 for medical books. In 1894 Queen's medical students were still lacking a library of any consequence. In the Queen's University Journal of December 15, 1894, there appeared this item: "During the past few weeks every Med. has been interested in a report that a medical library was to be established in the *The cost for the library alone is not available, since it is part of a building, not yet finished, which will be used by various departments.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
college. We are informed by Dr. Herald that a library will be opened after the Christmas holidays." By 1953 the library consisted of only 15,000 volumes. By 1969 the library collection had grown to only 30,000 volumes, although its clientele had expanded in 1946 with the founding of the School of Nursing, and again in 1967 with the coming of the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. When the time came to move to the new library in late June 1978, there were more than 72,000 books to be moved. These had been housed mainly in cramped quarters (8,465 square feet) in the Old Arts Building (erected in 1879), which had served as the medical library since 1966. Also, there were books to be packed and moved from two storage areas in the main university library and from the building that was serving as the temporary quarters of the Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine. Various techniques were used, including moving books on trucks out a window of the old library into a container that was held suspended by a crane and then lowered to a van. The scattered collections were reassembled into two straight arrangements on the commodious shelves of the new library-serials alphabetically by title and books in classified order. On October 14, 1978, we held a never-to-be-forgotten celebration when the library was formally dedicated. PLANNING The Bracken Library is located in an elevenstory building called Botterell Hall in honor of Dr. E. H. Botterell, Dean of Medicine during the early planning. Construction of this building, designated at the beginning as the Basic Sciences/Library Building, was originally proposed to the province of Ontario in 1962. The building was to house the basic science departments of the Faculty of Medicine, the library, and the Animal Care Facility. After many stops and starts in the cash flow and
387
VIRGINIA PARKER
follow as Phase 2 progresses. Microbiology will be the first to move. Botterell Hall is located one block from Lake Ontario. Its upper floors afford a magnificent view of the lake and also of the beautiful campus of Queen's University and of the spires and domes of the city of Kingston, whose history dates back more than three hundred years. The building is directly across the street from Kingston General Hospital, one of the teaching hospitals. The Bracken Library occupies the ground floor of Botterell Hall and one floor below ground. The original functional program for the library was
repeated revisions in the plans, construction was finally begun in 1976. By June 1978 Phase 1 of the construction was completed, and soon after, those fortunate to be included in Phase 1 took occupancy of their new quarters. These occupants consist of the Bracken Library, the Department of Pharmacology, Animal Care, a cancer research group supported by the National Cancer Institute of Canada, and a remote terminal of the Computing Centre. Also presently in use in the building are lecture rooms and a quick food service called Student Amenities. The anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, and physiology departments will
LEVEL I
1777
F777[
7
F
Reading Area
L
r
LN CICU R RENT U
R
i
-
SERIA SERIALS
LOU N G E
l
I
HISTORY OF MEDICINE
F
Card Catalogue
I
-Y
R eferenc Librarian
ndex Tables
Entrance
a1)
Stairs
C)
=O01= X
c -_o 0 =3
p .IU
Referrence [C) Area (,r-,)
L
F Librarian
Se[cretary
.ConferenceI Room u|l5
Serials Librarian
Copy Room
LIBRARY OFFICES Technical Tech nical
W.
Services
Serv'ices~ Librarian
Serials
Medical History *
Assistant
ti i Storc Bindery Preparation
Catalog
FIG 1 -Floor plan of Level 1. *Funds not yet secured for this position.
388
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
ElIi
THE BRACKEN LIBRARY
written in 1967. As it developed we had the oppor- open space of about eighty-eight hundred square tunity to revise the program three times before it feet comprises the public area; closed off from this became final in August 1974. A library of 31,500 public space are library offices and a work area net square feet was at last constructed. Within this consisting of about thirty-three hundred square area a library that is both attractive and efficient feet. The walls of the offices are topped with has been achieved. It will conveniently house seventeen inches of glass, so that the whole expanse 150,000 volumes and comfortably seat more than of coffered ceiling is visible. All floors on this level, as well as on the stack level below, are covered with 300 readers. fine carpeting in a rich rust shade, laid in eighteeninch squares so that damaged portions can easily BRACKEN DONATION As one enters the library the circulabe After waiting so many years the health sciences tionreplaced. desk is to the left; it is L-shaped and extends community of Queen's University and Kingston forty feet. Behind the desk is student reserve shelvnow enjoys a quiet, spacious, elegantly appointed The upper front surface of the desk is of brown library. Because of the necessity for stringent use ing. and the lower part is carpeted. The Arborite, of government funds, the original plan was that we reference desk is similarly designed, as is the desk would have a simple library, well planned and for the audiovisual which is on the efficiently operated, that would meet the basic floor below. The carddepartment, of white oak is near catalog needs of its users. A gift from Dr. Franklin Brack- the entrance, and the Kardex is on a table adjacent en, a noted ophthalmologist and graduate of the to the catalog. Immediately to the right of the Queen's Faculty of Medicine in 191 1, enabled us to entrance is a lounge area and an oblong reading build the fine library we now enjoy. Dr. and Mrs. table. Just beyond is the current serials section, Bracken donated more than a third of a million which runs the length of the front side of the dollars to supplement government funds, adding an library (Fig. 2). The entire front is of reflecting aesthetic quality that makes the library immensely glass, affording a lovely view. It is a view of what is satisfying for both users and staff. known as the lower campus, a gentle hill with tall trees, equally beautiful in the green of spring and LEVEL 1 summer, the variegated color of autumn, and the Entrance to the Bracken Library is from the still whiteness of winter, when brightly dressed building lobby at ground level, Level 1 (Fig. 1). A tobogganers add color to the scene. Chairs and end glass partition and glass doors separate the library tables placed along the stretch of window space from the lobby, and the impression gained by a make a pleasant and comfortable reading environperson entering is one of expansiveness. Level 1 of ment. The chairs are the sleigh-base type, some the library consists of two components: a large upholstered in brown fabric, some in rust. The
I
..
FIG. 2.-Current serials area.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
389
VIRGINIA PARKER
FIG. 3.-Reading area beyond current serials shelving.
current serial shelves have slanting display shelves and storage space beneath. End panels here and throughout the library are of white oak. There is space for 2,500 serials, twice as many titles as we now hold. The first two ranges of the serials shelving are reserved for display of issues received during the last seven days. Just beyond the current
serials shelves is a pleasant reading area with four round tables, each sixty inches in diameter with surfaces of brown Arborite (Fig. 3). Tables like these are used in various places throughout the library and will be referred to hereafter simply as large round tables. On the left of Level 1 is the reference section
asp ,,~~~~~~~~~. =firrw d..
'P:,r pF-I
^;
e
.
e
s
|wl___Bb~~~~~f
-1
t.
k
>'*lt>
FIG. 4.-A part of the reference section.
390
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
THE BRACKEN LIBRARY
(Fig.4), where the reference desk is prominently located. Shelves in the reference section are counter height and topped with white oak. There are six large round reading tables in this area, and beyond them are six index tables in white oak. Between the reference area and the current serials area, just opposite the front door but remote from it, is an enclosed area which comprises the Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine, a separate department of the Faculty of Medicine. The walls of this department are of Sheetrock and covered inside and out with a grey carpet fabric. This, in combination with a brick wall behind the circulation desk and the carpeted floor, no doubt produces the unexpected degree of quietness in this
active part of the library. In front and to the side of the Hannah Chair is an attractive lounge area. Office Suite The suite of library offices opens onto the reference section. There are private offices for professional librarians and a secretary's office situated between the librarian's office and a conference room. Other offices are for interlibrary loan, for acquisitions and cataloging, and for the serials assistant; no office is designed for more than six people. The suite of offices includes a room for photocopying and a room for the MEDLINE terminal. A combination bindery preparation and
LEVEL BI SERIALS
Lounge
SERI ALS
Ej
22-ENt: 0 0 0 u >Stair MruChin
nes
i
SER IALS
BOOKS
BOOKS
-; g~~~~
Audiovisuals
H
Patio
Lounge -
BOOK BO S F-iJ
TII
T-
TI
FIG. 5.-Floor plan of Level B 1. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
391
VIRGINIA PARKER
recorder/player, three Kodak Ektagraphic slide projectors, two Singer Caramate tape/slide players, a Sony videocassette player used with an Electrohome color television receiver, and a Technicolor film loop projector. In addition, the rooms are presently being used as study or meeting rooms, and one of the smaller rooms is equipped with a typewriter for public use. We look forward to a time when this well-designed section of the library can be fully equipped and staffed so that audiovisual service can take its place among the other excellent services that are provided by the Bracken Library. On the west side of Level B 1, a glass partition provides an outlook onto an amphitheatre and patio, designed to be used in summer for dramatic entertainment, outdoor lunches, or perhaps even outdoor classes. In either winter or summer the LEVEL B 1 view is attractive from this library area, which has Stacks for all bound volumes are on Level B 1. come to be known as the patio lounge. This lounge Aisles are spaced thirty-five inches apart. The is furnished with two small couches and nineteen sections of the coffered ceiling are the same width easily adjustable reclining chairs; earth tones are as the aisles, so the lighting is ideal. Most of the used in the upholstery fabric. It is the favorite spot seating space in the library is on this level, includ- for many library users. There is another pleasant ing one hundred and thirteen individual carrels, lounge area on Level B 1 at the foot of the most of them located around the periphery of the staircase, where lighter furniture is used. A fabric area. These are of white oak with desk surfaces of of beige and rust stripes is used for chairs and love brown Arborite and are individually lighted. Forty seats. In addition, there are four chairs upholstered of these carrels have lockable book shelves enclosed in gold fabric. with clear plastic panels and are reserved for readers who have special long-term needs; for SPECIAL FEATURES example, those who are writing books or theses. In addition, there are large round tables, which have Some special features are worthy of note. Dr. proved to be quite popular. The chairs are of white and Mrs. Bracken selected and purchased three oak with sleigh bases and brown upholstery. lovely bronze statuettes for the library. One of them, a figure of a skater entitled Ice Bird, by Tait Audiovisuals McKenzie, is a focus of attention from the library On Level B 1 are facilities destined to be used entrance. McKenzie, a native of Ontario, was a for an audiovisual service, for which funds are thus physical education director, surgeon, and specialist far unavailable. There is a circulation desk for the in rehabilitation medicine as well as a noted sculpaudiovisual department, a storeroom equipped tor. One of the other sculptures is of Shakespeare with wooden shelving for audiovisual materials, by Frederick MacMonnies, and the third is of and a card catalog cabinet for storing cassettes. Robert Burns by Robert I. Aitken. The sculptures There are twelve carrels that were especially of Shakespeare and Burns are mounted on marble designed for using audiovisual materials and eight pedestals. In addition to the sculptures that Dr. listening and viewing rooms. Two of the latter are and Mrs. Bracken gave the library, there is another twenty by sixteen feet, one is sixteen by twelve, two bronze statuette that was presented to a former are twelve by twelve, and three are eleven by eight. dean of medicine during the very early days of All of these rooms are equipped with chalkboards, hope for a new library. The statuette, Darwin's tables, and chairs, and there are projection screens Ape, sculpted by Hugo Wolfgang Rheinhold in in three of them. Some audiovisual equipment is 1892, is of an ape sitting on a pile of books and available for users who furnish their own materials. pensively contemplating a human skull. The spine The equipment consists of an Audiotronic tape of one of the books is labeled "Darwin." Also
storage area for office supplies is a part of this office complex and opens directly onto the building's loading dock. A work counter twelve feet long, fitted with a sink and with cupboards above, is a useful feature here. Also included in the personnel accommodations are a staff lounge and kitchen and a staff washroom. There are intercom stations in all offices, in the staff lounge, at the circulation and reference desks, and in the stacks near the staircase. A staircase near the circulation desk leads to the lower level (Level B 1) of the library (Fig. 5). There is also a small elevator for staff use. Above the stairwell there is a portrait of Dr. Bracken by Karsh, and under the staircase there are two coinoperated copiers, with screens placed around them as sound barriers.
392
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
THE BRACKEN LIBRARY
enhancing the aesthetic appeal of Level 1 are floor and table lamps selected and purchased for the library by Dr. and Mrs. Bracken. A cube of onyx adorns one of the coffee tables. The potted plants are one of the loveliest of the Bracken Library's many beautiful features. There are forty-one plants in all. Fourteen of them are large plants of various kinds, some reaching almost from floor to ceiling. The plants, large and small, enliven the decor everywhere in the library, public and work areas alike.
Contractor
Queen's University, Contracts and Construction Office Interior Decorator (Lounge Areas and Librarian's Office) Margann Fitzpatrick Interiors, Kingston, Ontario Gross Square Feet 32,750 Net Square Feet 31,500 ARCHITECTURAL SUMMARY* Volume Capacity 150,000 Consortium of Architects Smith, Mill & Ross and Marshall, Merrett, Seating Stahl, Elliott, Kingston, Ontario 310 *Funds not yet secured for this position.
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 67(4) October 1979
Received February 26, 1979; accepted April 30, 1979.
393
