| The Royal Society of Medicine
Library is the largest postgraduate biomedical library in Europe,
with a total collection of half a million volumes dating back
to the 15th century.
Stock and users ...
Over 500,000 volumes of post graduate biomedical
materials, both historical and current. The library is used
predominantly by the 18,000 members that the organisation has
worldwide. There are around 14,000 user visits a year, plus
telephone and email queries. The library is used for study as
well as reference and borrowing.
The challenge ...
The refurbishment of the Royal Society of Medicine’s library
had been in discussion since 1999 and staff at the library had
been talking to Michael Serota about the potential for the refurbished
library since that time. The project really took off in 2002,
with a detailed planning process involving the Society’s chosen
architects and consultants.
The library has a historic fabric but the Society wanted furniture
which was modern and functional yet sympathetic to the history
of the building.
The solution ...
“We met Michael Serota, to discuss our particular requirements
that we envisaged. It was immediately obvious that it was
much better talking to Michael than to a standard library
furniture supplier, or architect or builder; Michael really
understands libraries and how they work. He then produced
a design which we worked on together and refined – his design
was custom-made for us and reflected our building’s history
and our user and staff needs.”
“Michael’s suggestions included merging design elements from
existing furniture into the new furniture, to ensure continuity
of feel for the library.”
SEROTA supplied most of the specialist joinery during the 18
month project, from bookshelves, desks, and the counter to a
purpose-designed current journal display system.
The library refurbishment was completed in September 2004. |
