The chief objection to wickets hinged at one side is their tendency to slam, no matter what kind of controlling springs or buffers are used. In course of time every form of pneumatic or other spring loses its power, and some effective form of noiseless turnstile or very light barrier on rising butts would perhaps be an improvement. Where lending libraries are isolated, the trouble is not so marked as in cases where they adjoin reading rooms.
134.
134. The plans already printed ([Figs. 18]-[22]) explain better than words the form of counters best adapted for lending libraries using the indicator system of issue.
The space for borrowers in front of an indicator ought not to be less than four square feet per person likely to be present at one time, in order to prevent crowding at busy times. Thus a town with 3000 borrowers would have an average daily issue of about 300 volumes, which might mean seventy-five people present at one time, counting companions, and thus 300 square feet of borrowers’ lobby would be necessary as a minimum; or a space 30 by 10 feet. It is not often, however, that one finds lobbies planned on this desirable scale. The height of a counter designed to carry an indicator should not exceed thirty inches, and the top need not be more than eighteen inches wide. The length of the counter will depend entirely upon the kind of indicator used, and whether it is classified or not, or intended for all the stock or only for fiction. The indicators most used all differ in size (see [Section 386], etc.), and this factor must be taken into account in designing the counter.
Fig. 27.—Croydon Central Library. Open Access Lending Department, showing Double Wickets ([Section 133]).
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135.
135. Sometimes a simple barrier is required in some kinds of reference libraries to separate bookcases from reading rooms. This may be either fixed or movable, and a good form can be constructed of ornamental ironwork, surmounted by a polished oak or walnut rail, about four to six inches wide, in the style of illustration ([Fig. 30]).
