Library Furniture That Wowed Us

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Libraries, both school and public, continue to transform their spaces, their services, and their communities. The ways people learn, work, study, and play are changing, and libraries are adapting and expanding to meet these ever-changing needs.

The design team at Demco is always searching for ways to help libraries create spaces that meet the demands of their 21st-century users. Below you’ll find pieces that stood out to our designers as having distinct advantages for today’s library users.

RE-LOAD Untethered Mobile Power Tables

Got power? RE-LOAD does! Just about everywhere we go, the need for power is in high demand. Whether your phone battery is low or you need to charge up a device for your next class, power is a must.

RE-LOAD is unique because it does not need to be plugged in to provide power for devices. This mobile table comes with a re-chargeable USB battery. Simply recharge the battery overnight, or swap it out with a back-up battery, and the table is ready to provide power anywhere for your users. This is an essential solution for libraries that don’t have many outlets in their space, as well as for those that want to provide more power solutions but still need to retain a flexible space. You won’t be tripping over any cords in the RE-LOAD space!

Palmer Hamilton Hive Collaboration Lounge Seating and Table

Hive modular lounge seating is great for libraries that are looking for ways to offer more collaboration space for their users and want the ability to change the function of a space without making drastic changes to their existing building.

There are so many space solutions available with this modular line. These flexible pieces are not only perfect for creating a “space within a space,” but they also feature acoustical properties, so they offer privacy as well. The Hive is available with different height tiers; when taller tiers are used, the sides help block out surrounding noises and create a private space within, which is ideal for small group collaboration and meetings. The lower-tiered backs offer nice solutions for reception seating and open spaces with the S Configuration.

JSI™ Bourne Tables and Stools

Many libraries are now adding a variety of seating options, including tables and chairs of different styles and heights, to meet the varying needs of their users. The Bourne line offers standard height tables as well as counter and bar heights, which are also available with outlets and USB ports for power and a cable-management leg feature. These taller counter and bar height tables are frequently being used as collaborative work tables, in café style settings, and even in makerspaces. The taller heights can also help with providing multiple site line levels. Adding the Bourne stool finishes off the timeless aesthetic of this line.

Smith System™ Sit & Stand Students Desks with oodle™ Seating

Flexible seating and student-choice in seating is becoming more and more prevalent as the health and learning benefits become more widely known (learn more in our webinar How to Boost Student Performance With Active Learning Environments).

Smith System’s UXL Sit & Stand Student Desk is an exciting new product that allows for complete classroom flexibility. When paired with the vibrant oodle™ stools, users are encouraged to mix up their learning environments with varied working heights, group sizes, and color combinations. This product combination naturally elevates standards for any learning environment.

Because they’re easily height adjustable and mobile, the Sit & Stand Desk can facilitate learning styles from standard to flexible, depending on the need of the activity. The oodle Stools can either be used as static seats or with the rocking base to encourage movement and can be adjusted to fit any age group, as they can be stacked to the proper height.

Palette Lounge Furniture and Nook Desks

This is another great multi-purpose solution for libraries looking to add collaboration space or small-group lounge seating. This product is also filling a need in learning environments as educators look for ways to accommodate personal attention to smaller groups of students.

Combine two Palette Lounge Benches and two Palette Nook Desks to help small groups work together while focusing their attention on a presenter. Or face two of these groupings toward each other to create an intimate work zone with semi-private lounge seats surrounded by raised work surfaces for drop-in use. The Nook Desk is offered in three standard heights, 27-, 29-, and 42-inch, which makes it a great product for multiple age groups.

Tenjam DuraFLEX Tiered Seating

As the needs of library users change, the need for multi-functional spaces in libraries has risen. A storytime room in the morning might need to be a STEM station at night, and a meeting room might need to be reconfigured into a presentation hall.

For teen and children’s spaces in particular, DuraFLEX Tiered Seating offers that flexibility paired with ultra-durability.

Made from recovered coastal plastic with a flexible foam core, DuraFLEX Tiered seating is ideal for high-use areas that encourage free-form individual or group learning. Optional casters allow for endless reconfigurations to accommodate multiple group sizes. This easy-to-clean seating can be arranged in all directions for an innovative teen lounge or turned to focus attention forward for an engaging story time.

This seating is made to be stepped on, with a weight capacity of 500 pounds, so encourage users to climb on up and get ready to learn!

Additional Resources

Stephen Gower

Stephen Gower

Design Supervisor at Demco Interiors

Stephen leads Demco’s Design Services team. He is an experienced furniture, product and interior designer with a background in designing educational products and impactful educational interiors. Stephen has 20 years of design experience, including 5 years of international experience at Demco Interiors UK in England.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, in Furniture Design from Brunel University in High Wycombe, England. His awards include the 2017 EDspaces Classroom Design Winner, awarded for “unique spaces designed by leading architects and designers in the field and outfitted with the latest innovations that make learning spaces come to life.”

Angela Loewecke

Angela Loewecke

Interior Designer II at Demco Interiors
Angela has 10 years of experience in the design field and has a passion for art and education. She loves how a well-designed educational space can make opportunities accessible to all, and she excels at transforming seldom-used spaces into learning environments that fit the evolving needs of today’s students and library users. For Angela, the most rewarding part of working in library & educational design is being able to work on projects that have a significant impact on students and communities. Angela holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from the International Academy of Design and Technology.
Amber Benesch

Amber Benesch

Amber is well versed in educational products and interior design. She has a particular interest in designing youth spaces and loves incorporating new and innovative products to create engaging environments. She also finds it rewarding to design more efficient library and school interiors that help improve community engagement by encouraging and inviting interaction. Amber holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from the University of Wisconsin–Stout and also minored in Sustainable Design and Development. She continues to stay up to date with modern practices and in touch with the design community by being a member of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and attending furniture conferences and events.
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