Carrel desk: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Type of furniture found in academic settings}}

A '''carrel desk''' is a small desk (usually) featuring high sides meant to visually isolate its user from any surroundings either partially or totally. They were a predecessor to the more recent [[cubicle desk]].

[[ImageFile:SLUB58Study carrel.jpgJPG|right|thumb|right300px|CarrelsA atset theof librarystudy ofcarrels anin universitya library.]]

[[File:Digital carrel classroom.webp|thumb|[[Digital learning|Digital]] carrel classroom 3D sketch]]

A '''carrel desk''' is a [[desk]], often found in libraries, with partitions at back and sides to provide privacy.<ref name="Joan M. Reitz">{{Cite book|title= Dictionary for library and information science|author= Joan M. Reitz|publisher= Libraries Unlimited|year= 2004|isbn= 1-56308-962-9|page= 118}}</ref>

== Description ==

Carrel desks are especially common in [[Academic library|academic libraries]].<ref>{{Cite book|title= Designing and space planning for libraries : a behavioral guide|author1= Aaron Coben|author2= Elaine Coban|publisher= R. R. Bowker Co|year= 1979}}</ref>

Sometimes the seat is integrated with the carrel desk. They may also have a shelf, built-in illumination, [[AC power|electrical outlets]], or [[Ethernet]] ports.<ref name="Joan M. Reitz"/> Unlike the [[cubicle desk]], carrel desks usually have no file drawers or other facilities.

They are designed to stand alone or to be grouped together, with or without common sides or walls.

The word ''carrel'' may also refer to a small, isolated "study room" in [[public library|public libraries]] and on university campuses;<ref name="Joan M. Reitz"/> the room may have a lockable door, to which the user is granted the key on request. Carrels typically contain a desk (not necessarily one described as above), shelving and a [[Light fixture|lamp]].<ref name="Joan M. Reitz"/>

Carrel desks are most often found in the study spaces of [[university|universities]] or [[college]] [[library|libraries]]. Most carrel desks are rectangular in shape and their amenities are often very limited. Above the main desktop area there is often a shelf for books. Sometimes the seat is integrated with the carrel desk. Unlike the [[cubicle desk]], carrel desks usually have no file drawers or other facilities.

==Origins==

Like the [[school desk]], the carrel desk is normally produced and sold in large quantities for an institutional market.

Carrels originated in [[monastery|monasteries]] to help contain the cacophony of roomfuls of [[monk]]s reading aloud, as was the early practice.<ref>Jean LeClerq, Love of Learning and the Desire for God, trans. Catherine Misrahi (New York: Fordham University Press, 1961) p. 18</ref> Carrels are first recorded in the 13th century at [[Westminster Abbey]], London, on the Garth side of the North Walk, though they probably existed from the late years of the 12th century.<ref>{{cite book| last=Pratt| first=Helen Marshall|title=Westminster Abbey: Its Architecture, History and Monuments|volume=2| publisher=Duffield and Company|___location=New York|date=1914 |page= 698|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.179293/page/n275/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=carrel |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/carrel |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=4 January 2021}}</ref>

==See also==

*[[listList of desk forms and types]].

==See alsoReferences==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Desks]]

*[[list of desk forms and types]].

[[Category:Library equipment]]

[[de:Carrel]]

{{design-stub}}

[[Category:Desks]]