I’m very pleased to announce the availability of a report from a roundtable held in December 2018 and sponsored by the Learning Spaces Collaboratory (LSC) and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI). The report highlights trends in developing spaces for learning in libraries and how we might “interview” those spaces to determine whether they are meeting the needs of the project. The roundtable included talks from four architects and small group discussions around selected types of spaces. These included staff spaces and entry spaces, aspects of projects that sometimes receive less attention than they should. In addition, groups discussed innovation zones, quiet spaces, and consultation spaces.
My presentation focused on assessing library learning spaces. I encouraged librarians to ask questions in their assessments that target priorities of their institution, for example:
- Has the availability of new facilities and library expertise led to faculty making different types of course assignments, such as those that result in student content creation?
- Are students more competitive on the job market due to new library offerings/workshops?
- Do students spend more time on academic work when they have access to new/renovated spaces?
Diane Goldenberg-Hart of CNI authored the report with contributions from Jeanne Narum and Jennifer Luebbert of the Learning Spaces Collaboratory and myself.
The report is available at https://www.pkallsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Report-of-an-LSC-CNI-Roundtable.pdf
Joan Lippincott, CNI
