The Physical Office Environment in Technical Services in ARL Libraries Lihong Zhu, Head of Technical Services, Washington State University Libraries Lirong Zhu, Senior Engineer in Architecture, Beijing University of Technology Research Questions: In 2012, the authors conducted a survey on the satisfaction level of technical services librarians and staff in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions toward their physical office environment and their perception on whether physical office environment affected their job satisfaction, privacy, productivity, communication and collaboration. The survey sought to answer the following research questions about the technical services librarians and staff in ARL libraries: How do they spend their work time and conduct interactions/communication in their physical office environment? What type of office layout do they have? What is their satisfaction level towards their physical office environment? What are their attitudes towards some of the current issues in physical office environment? What are their perceptions on whether physical office environment affects their job satisfaction, privacy, productivity, communication and collaboration? How will the above findings impact the design of the physical office environment in technical services in ARL Libraries? Survey Findings: The key survey findings about technical services librarians and staff in ARL libraries and their physical office environment include: 1)They spend most of their work time in their offices and workstations. 2)They spend most of their work time working alone. 3)They use both face-to-face communication (scheduled or unscheduled) and remote communication (real-time or delayed) on a daily basis. The use of social media does not necessarily decrease their needs for face-to-face interactions. 4)Most managers work in enclosed private offices; in contrast, it is very rare for a non-managerial staff to have an enclosed private office. Most non-managerial librarians and staff work in open- plan cubicles and some of them are not satisfied with their office environment. Most librarians and staff prefer to have their own enclosed private offices, regardless if they are managers or not. 5)The current physical office environment needs improvement in terms of office layout and office comfort in order to meet the expectations of librarians and staff in technical services. 6)It is critical for library administration to encourage technical services employees to participate in the design or renovation of technical services. 7)When the survey asked respondents about the satisfaction level with the overall comfort of their physical office environment, 41.3 percent were very satisfied or satisfied, 32.6 percent were somewhat satisfied, 18.7 percent were somewhat unsatisfied and 6.7 percent were very unsatisfied. 8)Most survey respondents think that physical office environment has a significant impact on job satisfaction, privacy, productivity, communication and collaboration in technical services. 9)Most survey respondents think that the improvement of physical office environment in technical services should be an issue for the library administration to work over the next five years. Table. In your opinion, does physical office environment have an impact on the following? Physical office environment has How will the above findings impact the design of the physical office environment in technical services in ARL libraries? Physical office environment has two main aspects, office layout and office comfort. Since technical services librarians and staff have different job responsibilities and technical services in different libraries have different organizational structures and workflows, it is impossible to say which office layout design is the best for all technical services. Every office layout has its own pros and cons. The key to a successful design of office layout is to meet both the needs of technical services as a unit and the needs of technical services librarians and staff as individuals. In order to design a more satisfying office layout, we need to understand workflows, organizational charts, projection of number of employees in the future, communication network, departmental organization, ratio of private to general offices, space requirements, specialized areas, safety considerations, barrier-free construction, expansion, and equipment and furniture needs A user survey is one of the ways to gather the needs and preferences of individual employees in technical services. It is critical for the library administration to involve technical services employees in the design or renovation of technical services at every stage of the process. A good office layout should provide systematic and scientific arrangement of available spaces, fix up the right amount of space for each employees, machine and equipment, and provide the best possible office environment. It should make fullest utilization of space and each employee should have a minimum working space for efficiency. It should support the smooth and unhindered flow of work (both focused work and team work), inter-relation of departments, and both face-to-face and non-face-to-face interactions. It should increase the level of office comfort as much as possible and provide a hazard-free working environment. Since focused work is the most critical work activity and the one that occupies the largest portion of the workday, it is critical to support focused work in the office layout in technical services. In addition to focused work, survey respondents devoted a significant amount of time to face-to-face, remote and virtual communication; thus the office layout should also support various types of interactions, communication and collaboration. it is critical for technical services employees to have ready access to the technology and facilities to support all types of communication and collaboration, real or virtual. Recommendations for architects and library administrators on planning an office layout that will be more likely to meet various needs in technical services: a)For preliminary planning, conduct an in-house research or hire a consultant to study the existing office layout. Find out how the office space is used and whether it has been used efficiently. Find out whether the existing office layout meets the needs of technical services as a unit, the needs of different workflows and types of communication, and the needs of employees as individuals; b)Shadow workflows to see whether the existing office layout supports or hinders the smooth flow of work; c)Shadow communication processes to see whether existing office layout supports or hinders effective communication in all formats; d)Establish goals for the design or renovation, and set up priorities; e)Plan for the present and leave room for future growth; f)Implement modern office technology whenever possible within budget limits; g)Offer freedom as much as possible for employees to modify their work spaces according to their needs; h)After the plan is drafted, keep asking for feedback and make changes whenever possible; i)Involve employees in the process from beginning to the end so that necessary changes can be made timely. Conclusion: Traditional technical services, typically characterized by organizational silos and strict hierarchy and linear workflows in each silo, will not meet the new challenges in the 21 st century. In ARL libraries, technical services operations have explored more innovative ways to do their work by breaking down the organizational silos, streamlining workflows, promoting collaboration within technical services and with people outside technical services, improving communication, supporting team environment, improving employee morale, implementing new technology and increasing productivity. It is critical to have an efficient physical office environment in technical services to support all those changes. Since technical services librarians and staff spend most of their work time in technical services, it is critical to have a satisfying physical office environment so that they can achieve higher productivity, have more privacy and job satisfaction, and perform better in communication and collaboration. This survey did some ground work in understanding the physical office environment in technical services in ARL libraries and the survey results will be useful for both library administrators and architects when designing or renovating technical services in libraries.