THE PURPOSE OF LIGHTING IN READING AREAS OF A LIBRARY TO ENCOURAGE PRODUCTIVITY (CASE STUDY: THE LIBRARY OF INSTITUT TEKNOLOGI BANDUNG)

• Main Author: Wening Mumpuni, Primastiti
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Kesenian; seni rupa dan dekorasi
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/52616
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The presence of libraries in universities is essential. Indeed, the research quality of universities and equal institutions depends on the library’s condition. Lighting, on the other hand, is vital for public buildings. Every building, as well as public buildings, needs the practical functions of lighting. However, lighting also affects several other aspects of users. The lighting quality in university libraries has a substantial impact on visual health and efficiency in studying for the students. Several university libraries use lamps for their main lighting all day long. This condition suggests that the lighting in the library only focuses on the practical function, which is to let human eyes able to see things around them. That also leads to a lack of task lighting in the library. Research related to the importance of both natural and artificial lightings for libraries and other public places has been widely conducted. However, the purpose of lighting in the library that encourages users’ productivity has not been exclusively studied, especially in Indonesia. Various studies about lighting and libraries have been performed, but the research took place outside the Asia continent (Netherland, England, and South America). On the other hand, Asians have a darker eye color compared to light-color-eyed Americans and Europeans, which affects their ability to catch the light. Therefore, the research objective is to find out how and what type of lightings affect users’ productivity. The object of this research is the library of Institut Teknologi Bandung, one of the well-known universities in Indonesia. Post-graduate students were chosen to be the respondent, considering conducting research is one of the requirements to graduate. Thus, the data will be relevant to this study. The research method used was the qualitative method with a case study approach. Data were retrieved through several steps, such as on-site observation, literature research, and deep interviews. Based on observations, it was found that post-graduate students tended to choose the second and third floors to conduct their activities in the library. Other than that, the reading area implemented only one type of artificial lighting, which is ambient lighting. Natural lighting was also part of the system, especially in the morning until in the afternoon. The next step was questionnaire distribution. This step was conducted for mapping the tendency of the respondent when doing activities in the library. The questionnaire was distributed to 66 post-graduate students. According to the questionnaire analysis, the respondent described the lighting condition as ‘fine’. It also supported respondents to read, stimulated focus, encouraged to extract information effectively, and didn’t cause eye strain. However, the lighting was not ideal. According to the deep interviews towards seven interviewees, respondents agreed that the library had a conducive environment to conduct activities that require focus and motivation, especially when it came to doing homework and paper. It was also said that the library had an academic vibe that boosted their productivity. The respondent preferred to visit the library in the afternoon due to the lighting was good for both paper-based and computer-based activities, considering the reading area also used natural lighting. Meanwhile, when the natural lighting got dimmer, it was not comfortable for them to do paper-based activities anymore. Respondent also described the lighting in the reading area as gloomy, especially on the second floor. Although respondent could adapt to the existing lighting condition, improvements are expected. One of them is by adding task lighting. Respondents also stated that other factors indeed affected productivity, such as thermal, atmosphere, and furniture.