Library design inspiration - Helsingør Main Library
The old shipyard in Helsingør has been converted into an amazing library filled with relaxation and reading corners and offering a view of the harbor and the beautiful old Kronborg castle, the offsetting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Helsingør Main library had specific requests regarding design. The structure of the old shipyard has been preserved and lends the library an industrial appearance. The self-service return station LibraryMate 1100 was delivered with a similarly engineered look so as to complement the atmosphere of the
library.
The old main library had close to 300,000 visitors a year, which meant hours of handling books and other materials, sending them between the different branch libraries and returning them to the shelves. With extended library opening hours, new functions, and an expected increase in the number of items borrowed, it was essential for the new main library to automate as many of the manual processes as possible. This was very important, partly in order to streamline the material handling, and partly to make it possible for patrons to return items outside library opening hours.
Lyngsoe Library Systems has supplied an outdoor self-service station, which enables patrons to return borrowed materials outside normal opening hours, as well as two self-service stations inside the front lobby, which can be used when Kulturværftet is open. The returned materials are immediately transported from the self-service stations via the sorting facility to chutes serving different purposes. From the sorting system the returned materials are sorted into book carts (Lyngsoe ErgoCarts) and CD boxes. A total of 24 chutes are automatically sorting the books with spines in proper read orientation onto the book carts. At the press of a button the bookshelf can be raised to waist height before the books are placed on the shelves. Six of the chutes are dedicated for electronic materials and fi ve of the chutes
are dedicated for book carts, typically containing materials that are to be transferred to other branch libraries.
What did you wish to gain from automating the material handling process and how do you think this may strengthen and future-proof the library?
“The sorting system was an important factor in the design of the new library. The sorting system had several purposes. First and foremost we wanted to reduce the amount of heavy, repetitive manual work, while freeing staff resources in favor of the patrons. Furthermore, the sorting facility makes it easier for patrons using the self-service functions, and fi nally, the sorting system has enabled us to make active use of the basement.”
How was the process of converting and equipping the new library — especially with regard to the choice of sorting system?
“We knew early on in the planning phase that a sorter was to be integrated
into the library. Therefore, the necessary space was already allocated in the feasibility study based on the size of an average facility. One of the challenges was the fact that the library materials would be returned by patrons on the
ground fl oor, while the sorter would be placed in the basement. Luckily, it was a very high basement and, by making an opening through a wall, it was possible to connect the sorter from the ground fl oor to the basement without having to penetrate the fl oor. Lyngsoe developed a new self-service station to fi t into this construction. A glass wall furthermore allows patrons to see the sorter in operation.”
» read the full story about automation of the new Main Library in Helsingør.