Higher Learning. Aussie School Libraries Discover Open Spaces & Bean Bags

The appearance and ambience of School libraries across Australia are changing quickly with the modern times. No longer is it the norm to have stuffy old school style libraries with militant-style rule and old-smelling uncomfortable workstations. These days education is a business - which is measured by success - and schools have to compete with facilities that are both relevant and attractive to students. Libraries are now high technology facilities with Urban Cafe chic workplaces where student can enjoy a coffee, high speed internet access and furniture that yields high comfort for hours of hard work. So libraries now look more like large versions of open spaces like Borders Cafe rather than floor to ceiling bookcases like a legal archives room.

So what better way for for a student to relax in a School Library than on a blissfully comfy bean bag? University of Queensland were the first large school to fill their reading area with Ambient Lounge bean bags, resulting in a marked increase in Library attendance and great comments from the students. Word quickly spread among the Education network and now more than thirty schools have Ambient Beanbags furnishing their libraries. Most have elected to go for the Elements hard-wearing material, which is easy to clean and spill resistant. Bean bags are easily filled or topped up with bean bag filling using the patented 'Funnelweb' system and because of their light weight, the beanbags are easily moved to lawn areas etc on sunny Australian days. Mater Christi College is the latest devotee of Ambient Lounge sofas for their library, saying that the students enthusiasm for the products may have been a little over zealous, as one young woman dragged a beanbag behind the fixtures and slept through a history class, only to be given away by loud the snoring emanating from her hideaway. Looks like the humble beanbag has come a long way in recent times and perhaps this new wave of designer bean bags may be helping to create an even smarter Australia!