Light. All rooms used by the public or for clerical purposes must have as much daylight as possible. The windows should run nearly to the ceilings, and in the reading rooms should not come within five feet of the floor. They should be large and little obstructed by framework.
The book stacks also should receive as much daylight as possible; but it is not expected entirely to dispense with the use of artificial light in the book stacks.
Heat and Air. The building should be heated by steam applied in part through hot water, and at least 1,500 cubic feet of fresh air per person per hour, for all occupied rooms must be warmed, introduced and properly distributed by mechanical means, and flues must be provided of such size that a velocity of 6 feet per second will furnish the above amount.
Material. The floors in the main halls, corridors and exhibition rooms are to be of marble, tile or mosaic; in the Trustees’ and Director’s Rooms of wood or parquetry; and in the book stacks of white marble slabs. In the Reading Rooms and Administration Rooms the floors may be of brick or concrete, as they will be covered with a thick cork carpet or other noiseless material.
The building must be thoroughly fireproof.
For the purposes of this competition it is to be assumed that the building will be constructed of masonry, except the book-stacks; that the so-called skeleton construction of iron will not be employed; and that the external walls will be faced with Indiana limestone—although, as hereinafter stated, that material may not be finally adopted.
The Trustees are advised that the majority of librarians regard brick as the best material from a practical point of view, and the competitors are invited to say whether in their judgment it can be so used as to secure for this building the dignity and monumental character that is desired.
It is believed that ample opportunity will exist for architectural and decorative effect; but it is desired that the Reading Rooms at least should be plainly treated.
Tentative Plans. In instituting, in the month of May, a Preliminary Competition under substantially the same requirements, the Trustees submitted a set of diagrams showing a tentative arrangement which was suggested as a possible solution of the problem, but one for which they entertained no special prepossessions. The important features of the interior as there shown, placed the main reading rooms on the third floor, and the book-stacks immediately below them along the west front of the building. This plan, which embodied the results of considerable study, has since then been subjected to the critical examination of the leading librarians of the country, and has also been carefully reconsidered by the Committee and their professional advisers in the light of the abundant illustration afforded by the plans submitted in the Preliminary Competition.