Customers' Challenge - JISSEN WOMAN UNIVERSITY

Consider  the limited space from a woman’s perspective

 

Founded in 1899, Jissen Women’s University (a private university in Japan) has a track record of more than 100 years in women’s education. The library on its new Shibuya campus is located in the first basement and on the second and third floors. It covers an area of about 2,500 square meters and holds 160,000 volumes, with space for up to 260,000.
 The second floor is envisioned as a space for people who want to concentrate in a quiet environment, while the third floor is intended as a place for communication and group study.

Limited space

The library was originally designed to have 3,000 square meters of space, but eventually had only 2,500. An automated storage and retrieval system was initially considered for storage, but browsable mobile electric shelving for open access was ultimately chosen since there was no great difference in storage capacity between the two.

Additionally, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred during the planning of the library, which resulted in a floor plan change that reduced the number of static shelves, increased aisle space between shelves, and secured better evacuation routes. As a result, higher shelves were installed to compensate for the loss of storage space. White wooden paneling was chosen for the shelves to make the room appear more spacious.
 

Standing at a woman’s eye level

As heavy steel stepladders would be hard for female students to use, aluminum versions were created for access to higher shelves. Sandals are also provided for students who wear high heels as such footwear would be unsafe with the eight-shelf– high mobile bookcases in the basement.

 

Summary

The number of visitors has increased substantially compared to last year. Students took some time to get used to the set-up because libraries are generally thought of as quiet places. However, active discussions are now held there.
 

Jissen Woman’s university
Address: 1-1-49 Higashi Shibuya-ku Tokyo
Opening hours: M-F 8:30-19:30 Sat. 8:30-17:00
URL:  http://www.jissen.ac.jp/library/
  

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