Investigation of the effects of daylight in a university library

Abstract

Daylight and the spatial qualities of library study areas have profound effects on user behavior and productivity. This study investigated user satisfaction and the effect of daylight on users’ psychological behavior in the study areas of the Ozay Oral Library at Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, North Cyprus, during the months of October, November, and December. The study combined qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings indicated that daylight glare and intensity, as well as window location, can have both positive and negative influences on users’ moods and physical and mental behavior. An analysis of the questionnaires showed that the moods of 46% of students were affected by daylight in the study areas. Just over half of students said the daylight had a negative effect on their moods to varying degrees (28% of them said the daylight always influenced them negatively, while the others felt the daylight often or rarely had a negative effect on their moods). The data illustrated that users’ preferences when selecting a table in the study areas were strongly related to the average daylight in those areas but not necessarily the solar gain. Study areas with high levels of indirect daylight and no direct reflection on the tables had better functionality and higher user productivity than areas that lacked these traits. The study findings show that maximizing daylight quality and building function are valuable tools for designers looking to exploit the influence of daylight on users’ psychological behavior. © 2018, Locke Science Publishing Company, Inc. Chicago, IL, USA All Rights Reserved.