School Library Design Case Study: Redbridge Central Library

A key part of the brief for the children’s area was to make it flexible enough to accommodate the well-attended programme of events. Mobile shelving can be moved aside to create large areas for temporary seating. An interactive digital forest projection was installed – as children approach coloured lights dance across the screen and follow the child’s movements.

Opening the Book training supported library staff in the shift from being stationed behind large enquiries desks to being out on the floor assisting customers where they need it. One counter spans the transition between children’s and adults on the ground floor and there are walk-to staff points in other areas. Staff also received training in how to merchandise the shelves using the new Opening the Book acrylics to aid display.

Opening the Book brought a fresh eye to this tired building and planned a layout which brought attention back to impressive original features such as the stained glass window and original globe lighting. The colour scheme and flooring design enhance the feeling of space and light. The shelving layout achieves capacity without blocking any windows and makes the most of the popular original wooden benching built in front of the windows on the ground floor.

Another success of the project has been the space planning which looked at which areas of the library were underused and where there was pressure on capacity. The new design spreads books and PCs across three floors meaning that, for example, the first floor, which rarely had visitors, is now attracting its proper share of footfall.

Opening the Book worked with museum staff to integrate objects from their collection directly onto shelves with appropriate stock.

Our hand-held camera tours you round the reader-friendly layout at Redbridge Central Library.

Walk in from the main entrance to the fiction display wall, then enjoy the views from the atrium. You can see the shapes of the shelving from above, drop in on the teen section and then experience how the curved shelving and desking sweeps you into the space with new views at every turn. On the way you might spot the hidden museum - display cases integrated into the shelving showcase relevant objects from Ilford's past adjacent to the appropriate books. There's a ticket machine in transport, a cocoa tin in cookery .. Back at the entrance, take a different route into the children's library, with a great under-5s area and an enchanted forest for digital projection, films and special events.