libraries
<blank" >target="_blank" >figure class="wp-block-image size-large">Libraries are for the storage and access of books and other glossary/materials/" class="glossaryLink" data-cmtooltip="5e9f441921c5d6aa5e2c245e57c83925" target="_blank" >materials. They may either be standing/" class="glossaryLink" data-cmtooltip="b9890177b1779ade11357e743529c06a" target="_blank" >freestanding buildings, or a room within a building serving another function like a residence. In Roman times the architect Vitruvius thought eastern facing libraries were best for exposure to light, and preventing books from decay due to dampness (north facing) or excessive exposure to sun (south facing). (Kremer, 2025) Photo from Metuchen Public Library east facing wall and window in Metuchen, New Jersey, 2022.
“There will also be natural propriety in using an eastern light for bedrooms and libraries” (Vitruvius, 15 BCE, Book I, Chapter 2).
“Bedrooms and libraries ought to have an eastern exposure, because their purposes require the morning light, and also because books in such libraries will not decay. In libraries with southern exposures the books are ruined by worms and dampness, because damp winds come up, which breed and nourish the worms, and destroy the books with mould, by spreading their damp breath over them” (Vitruvius, 15 BCE, Book VI, Chapter 4).