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"Every time I walk into the CW Post Library, I breathe and think how welcoming a place. You guys made that happen." - J.Kane, VP for Academic Affairs, Long Island University.
Aaron Cohen Associates, LTD specializes in functional programs and measurements for future orientated library building projects. We have librarians, interior designers and education specialists that focus on knowledge management, architectural planning and learning space design. Over the years, our library planning guidelines have been used to fund large and small library projects. They define the functional needs for user seating, staff and collections. Our knowledge management specifications and digital asset management plans have improved information services for governments and corporations. The outcomes include operational efficiencies and service delivery innovations. For public libraries, we have produced population and geographic studies (G.I.S) to understand the unique location of the library, the demographics and priorities for services. We used this information to provide 20 and 50 year service studies. Our work ensures that library building investments and capital expenditures are measurable. Our clients use our work to validate the project fit, enabling funding agencies to support large building projects. To build a functional program for your library, our consultants will conduct a series of work sessions. These data gathering exercises can be delivered online (remotely) or in house (on-site). The work sessions help us gather information about the library and the community. We conduct open community forums, focus groups and visual assessments. We do cost analysis, cost estimation, operations and FF&E budgets for library building projects. We align strategic planning efforts and support five-year planning strategies. We conduct interviews with stakeholders to incorporate their voices. The result is a library design that reflects the needs of the community.
Our team can facilitate the consulting process using SKYPE, Webex, Go-To-Meeting, etc. We can perform our program and design activities via the internet providing an objective view of the library project. Our distance consulting service enables the project team to build consensus quickly. Our recommendations allow library leadership to improve services rapidly. We also take the librarians perspective so that new building projects reflect innovations in technology and service delivery. We provide an unbiased voice that can build on institutional goals and objectives. We support international library projects with technology that enables collaboration. Our library consultants can produce programs that detail all types of furniture, shelving, computer networks, cabling, power and security. We utilize 2D CAD (computer aided-design drafting), 3D AUTOCAD and computer-animated walkthroughs to share our findings. We can produce library building layouts in CAD. Our team produces specifications for compact storage, conservation and preservation lab designs. We also develop functional programs to identify and determine the number of spaces, interactive classrooms and meeting rooms required. Our team can generate layouts in AutoCAD and we can measure old paper plans. We have models for all types of learning spaces. We can determine the user needs and deliver a functional program that communicates requirements to an architect. For example, our work recommends the design for the library circulation and/or reference desk, information commons and media / theater seats. Library
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What is the perception of your library? Traditional? Old? Innovative? New? Contact Us 
We consulted for the US National Agricultural Library and FDA. We produced programs and plans for international library buildings - National Library of Greece, National Library of Bermuda and National Library of Ireland. We started working for the National Library of Singapore in the 1990's and helped transform it into one of the best library services in the world. It is a system of library buildings that include: Learning Labs and Clusters
Our design projects include the National Library of Barbados, DePaul University, Vaughn College, New England Institute of Technology, Las Vegas Clark County Library System, New York Public Library, Boston Public Library, NATO, FDA, U of
Illinois Champaign-Urbana, LIU, UCO, SELU, U of California and Stanford University. We provided long and short
architectural planning studies that helped these libraries grow and transform their services.
For Public Libraries:
For Academic and Special Libraries:
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