Informed Strategies

Over 170 library directors, library planners, and university provosts (nearly twice the number expected) came to Las Vegas, February 15 through 17 2002, to gain an understanding of the changing role of the academic library and how it might impact their plans for renovation or construction. Amidst the clatter, beep and noise of inescapable slot machines one had to pass to reach the meeting rooms, attendees swapped experiences and explored ideas on how to design truly useful space for their campuses.

Duane Webster, Executive Director of ARL and Erik Jul, Executive Director of the OCLC Institute launched the discussion by respectively questioning the role of the academic library in a digital environment and by looking at the intersection of physical and virtual space.

Many heads nodded when someone quoted "Why do you need space when it's all free on the Web" - a common challenge to librarians by administrators unfamiliar with the activities and costs involved in providing quality information resources.

The real debate, according to Stephen Johnson, architect with Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates in Los Angeles, is "what doesn't belong in the library?" with its expanded role. He completed his presentation by noting that the library is a place to access campus resources, its people. Another architect raised the question "what does it mean to be a librarian in an academic culture without a facility?" The discussion concluded that libraries are not about space and place but about people. Why do users come to the library when they can get the materials on their desktop? Answer: the librarians.

The view of the library is shifting from being the center of the university with stacks for collections and study space to an expanded role that serves student life and faculty needs, incorporating cafes, group media viewing rooms, group discussion areas, and technology labs.

New terms are emerging to describe the integrated functions of technology, learning and information such as Knowledge Commons, Intellectual Commons and Information Commons. Vassar has created a Media Cloisters, a collaborative physical and digital gathering space http://mediacloisters.vassar.edu/.

Joan Lippincott from the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) presented information on their Collaborative Facilities Project which is hosted by Dartmouth College http://www.dartmouth.edu/~collab/. Institutions can submit documents on the planning, design, administration, staffing and funding of services within a distinct space from two separate campus units with staff members dedicated to collaborating on initiatives such as Information Commons, Information Arcades, Digital Library Centers, Centers for Instructional and Faculty Development, Centers and Classrooms for Instructional Delivery, Facilities for Multimedia Production and Delivery, and Centers for Distance Education.

As an example of an expanded facility, Stephen Johnson showed slides of the recently renovated library at the University of Otago in New Zealand. When approached to redesign the library, the architects looked at the nearby buildings and suggested linking the library to the nearby student center forming the creation of an "information marketplace" that even includes a space where students can register for classes. http://www.hhpa.com/projects/libraries/otago/index.html. On the last day of the Forum, Paul Gherman, Dean of Libraries at Vanderbilt, concluded that on his campus he would present the library as "a center for academic life."

Lest you suspect that the sunshine was the primary attraction of this location in winter, highlighting the program was a tour of the spectacular Lied Library which opened last year at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas http://www.library.unlv.edu. In contrast with old rules prohibiting food and drink in the library, the new rules permit students to have refreshments in the study areas but not in the stacks, although they are cautioned about spills near the keyboards.

Librarians trained in customer service and Microsoft Office staff the Information Commons which has 92 computers with access to software tools and library databases. The Instruction and Collaborative Learning Center has four instruction rooms and a conference room, all fully wired and capable of handling workshops to videoconferencing. Also on the ground floor is LASR - the Lied Automated Storage and Retrieval system. Designed by HK systems, a company that designs material storage and inventory handling systems for JC Penny, General Motors and the Federal Reserve, LASR allows the library to house 600,000 volumes (expandable to 1.2 million) in onsite compressed storage. Journals over five years old, government documents and microfilm are stored by size and retrieved for students within minutes of their request.

Three themes emerged from this Forum: 1) the shifting focus from space and place to people and their activities in buildings; 2) an expanded view of the library's role on campus, integrating additional learner-oriented functions, and 3) the need for collaboration -- sharing risks and decisions -- with others who have expertise in different arenas.

Although library building consultants were not represented, this meeting addressed the major issues facing academic libraries by involving administrators and directors in this discussion. The program was successful both in the content covered and the opportunity for dialog among speakers and attendees.

For more information, see: http://www.oclc.org/institute/events/lv/index.htm.