Civil Engineering and Architecture 10(3A): 77-85, 2022 http://www.hrpub.

org
DOI: 10.13189/cea.2022.101310

Design Plan for Children’s Library and

Edutainment Center
Basma Mustafa Al Hamed

Department of Architecture, College of Architecture and Design, Effat University, Qasr Khuzam St., Kilo. 2, Old Mecca Road.
P.O.BOX 34689, Jeddah 21478, Saudi Arabia

Received September 15, 2021; Revised March 15, 2022; Accepted April 19, 2022

Cite This Paper in the following Citation Styles

(a): [1] Basma Mustafa Al Hamed , "Design Plan for Children's Library and Edutainment Center," Civil Engineering
and Architecture, Vol. 10, No. 3A, pp. 77 - 85, 2022. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2022.101310.
(b): Basma Mustafa Al Hamed (2022). Design Plan for Children's Library and Edutainment Center. Civil Engineering
and Architecture, 10(3A), 77 - 85. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2022.101310.
Copyright©2022 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License

Abstract The children's library is a vibrant and students and encourages them to read [1]. In addition,
attractive place designed to stimulate developing ideas. It libraries play a key role in cultivating literacy skills;
provides children with educational, entertaining and especially those who need help developing reading skills,
cultural resources, including a large number of picture such as preschoolers and elementary school students [2].
books, story books, non-fiction books and multimedia The learning and education in early childhood is important
materials in multiple languages. Users can relax and read as their mind as fresh to be molded and shape their thinking.
together in the outdoor children's garden, because it is a The earlier the children access the information; they will
center of entertaining. The main purpose of the children’s become more efficient, confident and competent people [3].
library is to increase literacy, share knowledge and obtain Compared with the control group, children who have been
books, and then lend these books to the community for exposed to library preschool usually show more emergency
education and entertainment. It also allows children to literacy behaviors and pre-reading ability [2].
share the book together instead of everyone having to buy Mark Smith revealed the ten major challenges faced by
their own copy. The main areas of the proposed project public libraries, such as increased distrust of the
include the Discovery Center, the library, the government, weakened confidence in objective
administrative area, the skill area and the entertainment information, decline in civilization and citizen
area. The site evaluation criteria considered include site participation, the disappearance of the middle class, tax
capacity, accessibility, noise level, security and safety, resistance and tyranny of return on investment, and focus
visibility, location and environment, public facilities, on power decline, decline in reading, lack of diversity, lack
shape/proportion, and future development plans. Therefore, of recognition, and the struggle for library education [4].
the site of the project is located in the Al Nahda district of He believes that if the integrity, determination, and
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All in all, the project developed commitment to professional mission and values are
facilities and environments, and created opportunities to maintained, public libraries will exist and flourish in the
learn skills and spread culture. future [4].
As known, reading has many benefits, including
Keywords Library, Edutainment Center, Educational, increasing readers’ empathy, improving literacy and
Recreational, Cultural Resources performance in various subjects, enhancing
communication skills, exercising and expanding the brain,
generating inner curiosity, providing entertainment value,
and helping reduce stress [5]. Therefore, developing
children's reading hobby as early as possible will be of
1. Introduction great benefit to them in the future. Going to the public
The library provides a quiet study area for children or library as early as possible is a good way to encourage
78 Design Plan for Children’s Library and Edutainment Center

children to love books and read. Usually, the library also media stations, collaboration areas and rest areas, which
provides audio books, bilingual books, e-books and are arranged in an open manner to create a rich and
magazines for children to read. Some libraries participate cohesive user experience, integrating a quiet reading
in special events to provide children’s activities, weekend corner with an informal social space.
workshop and school holiday programs [6, 7]. This helps
children develop a hobby of reading at an early stage. In
addition, some libraries have story time, and the librarian
chooses a book to read aloud to a group of young children
[7]. Noise and conversation occurring in this part will help
children develop their thinking and discover more from the
book. In addition to borrowing books and listening to
stories, some libraries also actively involve children in
various activities such as enrolling in children’s colleges,
playing games, watching movies, and getting art awards
[8].
Children’s libraries provide the facilities for lifelong
learning and literacy skills, enabling them to participate
and contribute to the community [3]. With the
advancement of technology and information, the library Figure 1. Children’s Library Discovery center [13]
facilities have moved to another stage which is an e-library.
The existing traditional library space was transformed into This case study plans to renovate and modernize the
a Learning Center, which is an environment that attracts 275,000 square feet Queens Central Library. The master
students and focuses on e-learning [9]. As an example, plan is part of the New York City Design and Construction
Ithra library provides not only books, but also digital Excellence program initiated by Mayor Bloomberg in 2004
resources to improve the quality of Arabic digital content [13]. There are some children's books and special area for
[10]. Besides that, children can explore an array of children on the first floor. The second floor contains most
edutainment activities at public library such as interactive of the children's collections, open reading lounge, network
workshops on painting, handicrafts, farming, cooking, center and activity room.
origami and theatre [11]. The education and entertainment The building facade is composed of four different types
can combine together as an effective way for learning [12]. of glass, which are transparent, translucent, opaque, and
Therefore, this study proposed the children’s library and opaque with texture [13]. The luminous glass curtain wall
edutainment center for benefiting the children and the is a beacon to the surrounding community and is essential
society to allow discover many sciences, to stimulate to increasing the library’s visibility and restoring its status
interest, enjoyment. as a central cultural and social destination. The new project
is located at the corner, taking advantage of its exposure to
the street, by using large transparent windows to establish a
dialogue between the interior and the exterior, while also
2. Case Studies allowing plenty of natural light to enter. The walls have
The case studies facilitated in analyzing a superior been thickened to contain quiet reading corners and private
comprehension for the areas, through elucidating the basic social spaces.
zones, capacities, and program and site criteria of a similar
venture. The chosen case studies are Children’s Library 2.2. Massar Children’s Discovery Centre and Library
Discovery center, USA and Massar Children’s Discovery
Centre and Library, Syria. Both case studies are a part of Massar Children’s Discovery Centre and Library is
educational institutions and clear circulation. The case located in Damascus, Syria (Figure 2) [14]. The building
study one has a clearer layout to understand and good includes exhibition, library, education and administrative
distribution of zone. Both case studies have easy spaces. The Discovery Center draws inspiration from the
accessibility for building and have more parking. unique Damascus rose. The proposal proposes a shell
structure that allows light to enter the center between rose
petals. The design challenges the traditional horizontal
2.1. Children’s Library Discovery Center
movement of Arab cities and replaces it with the central
Children’s Library Discovery center is located in NY, vertical movement under the open sky. The project is
USA (Figure 1) [13]. It is an addition to the Queens Central divided into two parts which is built up area and Open Park.
Library buildings. The Children's Library and Discovery Inside the building, the skylight in the atrium resembles the
Center create space for interactive science exhibitions and complex inner spiral of a nautilus shell. It shows an
provide visitors with a fascinating hands-on learning interactive space, which extends into the non-linear
experience. The center has independent reading spaces, discovery space, and then spirals outward at its edge to the
 Civil Engineering and Architecture 10(3A): 77-85, 2022 79

garden in the distance. The Massar Children’s Discovery smart board, smart game, hall, and gallery. The
Center is a low-energy building using local materials, skills administration zone is made up of offices, copy center,
and resources. The curved shape of the building keeps the lounge, clinic, and prayer room. Skills zone has a computer
sun out, thereby passively reducing the energy load [14]. lab, classes, and workshops. The overall space program of
the project is tabulated in Table 2. The overall built-up area
for the project consumes of about 3140.7 m2, which can
accommodate 800 visitors.
Table 2. Overall space program

Contents Area (m2)

Built-up area 3140.7

Outdoor activity area 1256

Total land area 4396.7

Parking 500

Capacity 800

Figure 2. Massar Children’s Discovery Centre and Library [14] Besides that, several design criteria are considered for
the development. The reading area should provide a good
and comfortable lighting system that enables the reader to
3. Space Program see the letters, symbols, and graphics in the book. The
reading area should use light colors in the painting walls,
The right location to build the library should be far away
ceilings, and in floor tiles, in the color of the furniture.
from the noise, disturbance and traffic congestion, and the
building must be in a location that allowed natural lighting Good furniture choices will provide comfort for library
and ventilation [15, 16]. The appropriate size of the visitors, leading to long stays. The space of the corridors
building is determined by predicting the minimum number between the shelves must be up to 85 cm in the large
of visitors to the library, and the number at peak times, in libraries, while in the smaller libraries the distance between
addition to the calculation of the total number of books to the shelves should be 77 cm. The design shelves for books
be placed in the library [16]. In this project, the main zones with appropriate sizes, the length of the shelf must be 1
allocated for the space program are library, discovery meter, and width of about 0.5 cm.
center, entertainment zone, administration zone and skill For the emergency stairs, the proper distribution of the
zones [13, 14]. Table 1 tabulates the space program of each stairs in every 25 meters should put an emergency staircase,
zone. in addition to the existence of fireboxes used in emergency
situations such as fires. Also, choose an alarm system that
Table 1. Space assumption works quickly in a fire, and install sprinklers on the outside
Net area Percentage GFA Footprint
of the building. The borrow counters should be arranged
Zones and organized in the loan department in a suitable manner
(m2) (%) (m2) (m2)
that allows control of the loan and return, and must be
Discovery
center
1398 28.22 1678 839 about 90 cm long and 62 cm wide, where the visitor cannot
see the contents in the interior. Besides that, design a
Library 662 13.36 795 397.2 corridor behind the borrow counter, to serve the staff
Administrat working in the department.
330 6.66 366 366
ion zone Administration areas include offices for the library
Skills zone 1030 20.79 1236 618 director, assistant library director, and information
technology administrator, server room, staff break room,
Entertainm
ent zone
1534 30.97 1841 920.5 staff restrooms, staff circulation areas, and sufficient
storage for library materials. Administrative activities also
Total 4954 100 5916 3140.7 include work functions associated with general clerical
office activities, customer service, materials ordering and
The library zone consists of the reading area, processing, library operations planning and direction, and
bookshelves, lounge, audio books, and study room. The supervision of the facility and personnel. In addition, the
discovery center zone compromises of workshops, lecture halls should be equipped with either fixed tables or
laboratory experiments, spaceship 7D, smart board, and fixed seating and movable chairs. Lecture hall shall contain
video game. The entertainment zone covers of classes, about 50-150 seats.
80 Design Plan for Children’s Library and Edutainment Center

4. Site Selection and Analysis

The site of the development must be in a lively area or
educational community and easily accessible area. To
choose the right site, each criterion is assigned a value
called a weighting factor (WF), which used multiple
factors when evaluating the selected site, where 1 = not
very important, 2 = somewhat important, and 3 = Very
important. The site with the highest score is chosen for the
project.
The considered site evaluation criteria are site capacity,
accessibility, noise levels, security and safety, visibility,
location and surroundings, utilities, shape/ proportional
and future development plans. The capacity of the site must
be enough, including consideration of future expansion.
The accessibility is very important to the project. Also, Figure 3. Site 1 [17]
accessibility should be easy for the visitors to find the site.
The site must be far enough from traffic, also (trucks and
train) and noise from industrial or commercial enterprises.
The location of the site is far away from the industrial area
is to avoid bad air problems such as odor and dust. The site
should be away from social hazards neighborhood, like the
areas with high incidence of crimes. The site must facilitate
good visibility of the project. The project should be clear
for passers and not be hidden by big buildings like towers.
The site should surround by many services, which will
encourage the center. Also it is preferred to be located near
educational center. The site must be located in a mixed-use
area, so utilities are provided near the site. As far as the
future development plan of the site is concerned, it
measures the potential level of future development of the
area adjacent to the candidate site, which will have an
impact on the site. The sites with shapes almost rectangle
in form are preferable as it is usually easiest to plan. Figure 4. Site 2 [18]
This study proposed two sites to be evaluated according
Table 3. Site evaluation result
to the site criteria, and each site is rated using a scale from
1 to 3, where 1 is very important, 2 is somewhat important, Site criteria WFs Site 1 Site 2
and 3 is not very important. The area calculated in this Site capacity 3 6 12
project is 5916m2 (Gross floor Area), therefore the
build-up area is 60%. Site 1 is located at the Al Naem Accessibility 2 6 8

district, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with an area of 18436m2 Noise levels 2 4 4

(Figure 3). Site 1 is near to the Main Street which is Al Security and safety 3 6 6
Madinah Road, surrounded by three secondary streets. Site
2 is located at the Al Nahda district, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Visibility 2 10 6
with an area of 15563m2 (Figure 4). Site 2 is near to the Location and surroundings 2 6 6
Main Street which is a king Abdul Aziz Road, surrounded
Utilities 2 4 4
by three secondary streets. Table 3 tabulates the site
evaluation result, where the evaluation scale is a range Shape/ proportional 3 3 3
from 1 to 5 denoted by ‘not fulfilled’ to ‘very well Future development plans 3 3 3
fulfilled’.
Total score 48 52
 Civil Engineering and Architecture 10(3A): 77-85, 2022 81

Site evaluation results according to Table 3, the higher site is exposed to northwest wind which is cool wind and
score in the evaluation of the two sites is site 2, which is Al southeast wind which is hot dusty wind. The wind speed at
Nahda district, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Thus, Site 2 is the chosen site is between 20-25 km/h. The maximum
selected for the project. Figure 5 shows the site temperature in Jeddah in June is about 40°C and minimum
accessibility analysis, where the site is near from Main in January is about 15°C. The annual relative humidity
Street which is king Abdul Aziz Road and surrounded by ranges on the site is from 30% to 89%, while the yearly
three secondary streets. Figure 6 illustrates that the site is rainfall is less but increases in September. Figure 8
surrounded by several landmarks such as Palagio Resort, demonstrates the site experienced low noise from the
Al Sheraa Land, Red Sea Mall, Al Yusor International surrounding, but medium noise from the south. In addition,
School, Al Aiyal International School and Happy Land. there is no view surrounding the site, but the view is not
Figure 7 illustrates the site climate analysis where the important for the project.

Figure 5. Site accessibility

82 Design Plan for Children’s Library and Edutainment Center

Figure 6. Site surrounding

Figure 7. Climate analysis

Civil Engineering and Architecture 10(3A): 77-85, 2022 83

Figure 8. Noise level at the site

Figure 9. Site zoning diagram

84 Design Plan for Children’s Library and Edutainment Center

5. Zoning and Project Design [2] D. Celano, and B. N. Susan. The Role of Public Libraries in
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 Civil Engineering and Architecture 10(3A): 77-85, 2022 85

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