An open plan office environment has both positive effects (increased employee communication and interaction, flexibility of
redesign, ability to house more employees, reduced set-up and renovation times and costs (Brennan, Chugh, & Kline, 2002)) and
negative effects (perceived crowding, less privacy and security, higher noise levels, more distractions, lack of personal control
over lighting, heating and air conditioning, and being more prone to disease spreading (Smith, 2007)). The assumption that an
open plan office environment improves communication and collaboration is not always true. “Oftentimes, the desire for higher
levels of communication translates into environments that are more open, with lower panel partitions. However, it has been
demonstrated, that this assumption does not always lead to a more productive work environment” (Knoll, 2007). The kinds of
tasks being performed require careful consideration when making decisions about office layout. Since different technical services
librarians and staff have different job responsibilities and technical services in different libraries have different organizational
structures and workflows, it is almost impossible to say which office layout design is the best for all technical services. In order to
design a 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 (Office Layout,
2001). 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 planning and designing of technical services
physical office environment at every stage of the process