Closets. Closets in a library need not be as numerous as in a dwelling house, but they are about as useful. Careful planning can get them in where they are wanted without sacrificing space which can be used for books or readers. For instance, rooms as you have to fit them into your floor plans often have one dimension a bit too long. Some times, you have a librarian’s room which seems rather to waste two or three feet farthest from the windows. Make a closet of this, or a nook for drawers and books. The next room is a thought too wide. Slice two feet off the width into a row of cupboards or wardrobes. Show your ingenuity in such refinements of planning.
And every closet is much like every library. It is capable of, and it deserves individuality. Instead of making a dozen closets alike, plan a separate use for each, and lay out its drawers, shelves, cupboards, books, wash-bowls, beforehand. This will save you steps and minutes later, and reap the satisfaction of smooth service.
Store-rooms. Store-rooms differ somewhat from closets—they are more wholesale. They require much planning in detail. Do you want bins, open shelving, or glass doors? Do you want hinged doors, or sliding? Do you want bins or drawers below, and shelves above? Do you want the same treatment all round and perhaps in the middle of the floor? Do you need high shelves, or pigeon-holes, or pegs, or hooks?
You must plan storage for stationery, material, labels.
Closets of course, can be used for storage, in addition to other uses, toilet, wraps, etc.
Lifts: Elevators
Lifts. By this phrase are designated booklifts—for single volumes or small lots, as distinguished from elevators to carry passengers and boxes. Lifts are chiefly used in stacks, and will be considered under that head. They are also needed between administration rooms on different floors, as from the unpacking room to the catalog-room, and from the desk or the stacks up to special reading rooms.
For small libraries, hand lifts can be made to run easily. In larger libraries, electric lifts save a deal of time, but these are more expensive in first cost and cost of operation and repair.
Champneys[220] says, “Line cages with leather or rubber. Attach clips for papers.”