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A carrel desk is a
desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table (furniture), table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading (activity), reading, writing, or using ...
, often found in libraries, with partitions at back and sides to provide privacy.


Description

Carrel desks are especially common in
academic libraries An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...
. Sometimes the seat is integrated with the carrel desk. They may also have a shelf, built-in illumination, electrical outlets, or
Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...
ports. 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 libraries A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundamenta ...
and on university campuses; the room may have a lockable door to which the user is granted the key on request. Carrels usually contain a desk (not necessarily one described as above), shelving and a
lamp Lamp, Lamps or LAMP may refer to: Lighting * Oil lamp, using an oil-based fuel source * Kerosene lamp, using kerosene as a fuel * Electric lamp, or light bulb, a replaceable component that produces light from electricity * Light fixture, or li ...
.


Origins

Carrels originated in
monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
to help contain the cacophony of roomfuls of
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s reading aloud, as was the early practice. Carrels are first recorded in the 13th century at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
, London, on the garth side of the North Walk, though they probably existed from the late years of the 12th century.


See also

*
List of desk forms and types This is a list of different types and forms of desks. Desk forms and types *Armoire desk *Bargueño desk * Bible box * Bonheur du jour *Bureau à gradin * Bureau brisé * Bureau capucin *Bureau Mazarin *''Bureau plat'', see Writing table * Butl ...


References

Desks Library equipment {{design-stub