Angus Snead Macdonald

Angus Snead Macdonald was, from 1915 to 1952 the president of Snead and Company [Baumann, 18] . This company manufactured the cast iron book stacks found in libraries all over the world in the beginning of the 20th century including the Washington D.C. public library and Harvard's Widener Library. After World War I Angus Snead Macdonald would lead Snead and Company to revolutionize and standardize library book stacks.

With the success of the Public Library Movement of the mid 19th century came the rapid expansion of library construction in the United States. Angus Snead Macdonald took advantage of this expansion to revolutionize a number of library features. In 1915 Snead standardized the length of a book shelf to three feet in order to reduce cost and create interchangeable parts. The company also standardized the stack range spacing to four feet six inches. [Baumann, 128] In 1930 the company developed a standardized lighting system that reflected light evenly to all parts of the stacks. In 1950, when developing for the Midwest Inter-Library, Snead and Company developed the first compact shelving units. [Baumann, 165] These developments kept pace with Snead's ideal to provide a libraries that "stressed flexibility, economy, informational comfort, and a reliance on artificial illumination and ventilation." [Baumann, 223]

The most important influences that Angus Snead Macdonald has had on libraries were his architectural designs advocating open stacks in the 1930's, and his companies’ modular architecture in the 1950's. The Snead Companies production of public and academic libraries in the beginning of the 20th century provided the framework for open stack libraries. The companies’ focus on providing book stacks that could also be modified to accommodate card catalogues or reading spaces helped the expanding use of public libraries following World War II. The concept of modular libraries not only signaled the financial demise of Snead and Company, but also the birth of the modern library form. Comprised of nine by nine by eight foot sections or "modules", this concept, combined with the production of light-weight, adjustable shelving, revolutionized library planning. Angus Snead Macdonald and the company he headed were integral from moving the American library system from one of closed, structural stacks, to open stacks that emphasize adjustability which are still in use today.

References

Baumann, Charles. (1972): "The Influence of Angus Snead Macdonald and the Snead Bookstack on Library Architecture," New Jersey: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810803909