If you are planning a new library, incorporate a library signage plan with the plans and budget for interior design, especially to mark large areas of the collection or planned uses of space. It is not enough to work from the architectural floor plans alone. The height of the windows, the height of the bookshelves, light switches and air ducts – all impact the interior decoration and library signage. Plan with a full set of blueprints which will provide elevation pages indicating those details.

Work with the scale printed on the blueprint, i.e., 1/4 inch to a foot, to determine size of artwork and library signage. Plan using the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines for letter size to maximize visibility of your library signs. A particularly informative visibility chart can be found at www.acornsign.com

If you are working in an existing library, you have the advantage of knowing how it functions, the kinds of directional questions you get from users, and any unique architectural features or hidden areas that need particular signage.

Plan using photographs taken of your existing signage, preferably digital photos that you can enlarge and print as worksheets. Make sure that your photographs show what your patrons see as they move through your library.
 

Create your own scale using photographs. Take real life measurements in your facility, and then measure the same spaces in your photographs to determine the ratio. Using that scale you can experiment with different sizes of banners, posters, and signs to see how they will work.

If you are unable to reach all measurements (to the ceiling, for example), you can use your photographic scale to determine that measurement. Create a simple algebraic formula for ratios, cross multiply, and divide to determine the unknown.

In any case, the height of the ceiling and its construction will determine whether it is practical to hang signage overhead. If there is a security system based on motion detection, any hanging signs must not move.

Red is the photograph measurement.

Blue is the real-life measurement.

Can I spell out "BIOGRAPHY" with 16" letter tiles above the windows and below the wood trim?

Create the ratio statement: 3/8" is to 20" as ? is to 16"

Do the math:

3/8" = ?__
20"     16"

3/8 x 16 = 20 ?

48/8 = 20 ?

6 = 20 ?

6/20 = 20/20 ?

.3" = ?

To visualize 16" tiles, place 1/3" squares on photo.

How much space is below the lights, above the wood trim?

Again, create the ratio statement: 3/8" is to 20" as 13/16" is to ?

Do the math:

3/8" = 13"/16"
20"         ?

3/8 ? = 20 x 13/16

3/8 ? = 260/16

3/8 ? = 16.25

8/3 x 3/8 ? = 16.25 x 8/3

? = 130/3

 email: minx@bibliobanners.com