Monday, April 19, 2010

Chair Fair Results


The results of our chair fair survey have been tabulated!

The overwhelming chair of choice (303 out of 457 total votes cast) was the Alero by Global. We have requested fabric samples for the seat and once we select a fabric and place our order it will about 6 weeks to new comfy seating in the computer lab.

The 6 winners of our chair fair have been selected (from a random drawing) and they won restaurant, gas card and book store gift certificates.

As for the most important feature in a chair, 284 of you listed back support, followed closely by padded seat with 258. Only 29 of you listed being made green as an important feature :(.

The selected chairs are green, though not as green as some of the others that we displayed. Here is what we know:

1. The fabric is from Momentum fabrics and made from rapidly renewable sources, as well as GreenGuard certified.

2. The chair is GreenGuard certified and made from recyled content and fully recycleable at end of life. Global does their recycled content by tonnage not chair, so we don't know the amount per chair.

3. The chairs have reduced packaging and recycleable packaging so we don't get 80 chairs wrapped in 35 pounds of Styrofoam and plastic bags.

We had a lot of feedback and questions from students that we didn't want to let pass, so here are responses to common questions. We're very appreciative and impressed that you're thinking about these issues.

1. Aren't the current chairs we have just fine? No, they really aren't. Over 40 of 74 in the lab are broken, and 10 are just plain missing.

2. Why are you spending money on chairs when the university budget is in such a state? Shouldn't we be saving the Philosophy department instead? The thing is, there are preset budget categories. The equipment budget for the library can only be used for library equipment. Even if we didn't spend it, we couldn't give it to other departments. And if we did, it wouldn't be enough to change anything -- we are talking less than 1/2 of one person's salary for one year. For us, keeping the library comfortable, usable and relevant is what we are charged to do, and why we have a teeny budget to do it. We do have some large projects we want to undertake but due to budget constraints we are currently exploring grant opportunities.

3. Are these chairs good quality? If we're spending all this money, they'd better last. Let me put your mind at ease. These chairs are selected for heavy use, and they have a 10 year warranty. The seat fabric will last even longer and is designed to resist staining, tears and punctures (but please don't try).

We will let you know when the chairs arrive so you can try them out. Thank you for your input.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The worse chair was chosen, the arms will break as soon as someone sits in it

Anonymous said...

yes it was the coolest chair

Anonymous said...

were is my prize for filling out that questionare

MTSU Librarian said...

@Anon 7:41: We are actually ordering this chair without the arms. And without some of the adjustable features, though it will still be height adjustable. These modifications will make it more sturdy.

@Anon#2 at 9:37 If you were one of the six people drawn from the nearly 500 entries, you'll be notified. Otherwise, your prize is the satisfaction of participation ;) Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I found 3 of the missing 10 chairs when I was working on the 2nd floor this morning

Anonymous said...

Why are the chairs being ordered without arms?? That seems a bit silly to me; in the demo we should of had that chair without arms not the chair with arms. Students that voted on it, may not have voted on it if it had no arm support!!

Heather Lambert said...

The chosen chair was tested without arms, exactly as it will be purchased. There was only one chair in the fair that had arms, and that was because the vendor who was getting us samples didn't have one without. It only received a couple dozen votes. Even though we had multiple signs stating if chosen it would not have arms, it was probably confusing. But rest assured, the overwhelming victor was tested sans arms.

Anonymous said...

So just the picture you are showing as the winner has arms, not the chair we picked and not the chair y'all ordered. Time for some photoshop library!