Redesigning the “Learning Space”
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
We’ve had some discussion here at Points of Reference about how changes in the way people engage with the library have caused librarians to rethink and resize their print reference collections. In some libraries, changes have involved much more than just moving reference books from here to there. A case in point is Georgia Tech Library, which has undertaken several ”learning space renovations” in the past few years. In 2007, Georgia Tech Library received the ACRL University Library of Excellence Award, and a 2008 ARL survey of member libraries revealed that the Georgia Tech renovation is the most frequently mentioned as influencing other projects. You can find a very detailed article about the Georgia Tech Library renovations, with photos and diagrams, here. As someone on LIBREF-L said, this is “the kind of renovation most of us can only dream of,” but it offers plenty of ideas, especially since many of the details of the later phases were based on surveys, focus groups, and other forms of input from students and faculty.
Reading about the Georgia Tech Library renovation reminded me of a conversation I recently had with my niece, who just graduated from University of Florida. Half afraid of her answer, I asked her if she had ever used the library. She said she used it all the time–not to find materials, but to find a space to study.
