As regards height of tables and space to a reader, see Eastman,[389] Marvin,[390] Bostwick,[391] Champneys,[392] Duff-Brown[393] and Carr.[394] They differ slightly, and each librarian would best experiment and judge for himself.
The British Museum has a kind of voting booth for each reader, with 4 feet 2 inches width of desk, high back and side screens for privacy. Cornell has something similar, but most libraries cannot afford so much space or such provisions for privacy.
Polished tops for tables (glass tops are sometimes inset) promote cleanliness, but are apt to give dazzling reflections of light.
One general caution echoed by many authorities warns against bottom cross rails between table legs. The scraping of readers’ feet against them is noisy, drops mud on the floor, and soon wears down the rails.
Many libraries have umbrella racks at the end of the tables, and here the owners can certainly have an eye on them. But if a coat room cannot be provided with an umbrella stand, cannot such a self-locking rack be placed in a lobby, as is seen in many restaurants?
Umbrellas are damp and unsightly as neighbors, and they occupy space readers might use.
“Readers’ tables should invariably have hinged flaps for writing, and slides to be drawn out to enlarge book space.
“There should be standing desks also.”—Edwards, Free Town Libraries.[395]
Perhaps there was a demand by readers for standing desks in England forty years ago when Edwards wrote, but few people want to stand now in America while reading or writing. A fixed standing ledge against any vacant stretch of wall near directories, dictionaries or the like, might be a convenience.