Libraries as the Intellectual Crossroads of a Campus

PIL: How do you define the phrase, library learning space? What makes a space a learning space as opposed to something else in an academic library such as a study space or a special collections reading room?

JOAN: Studying, often conceived of as reading quietly, is the traditional way to think about the use of library spaces as learning spaces. It is important for libraries to retain quiet spaces, conducive to solo, contemplative study, since those qualities are important aspects of learning. The library, in fact, may be the only place on campus where students can be guaranteed this type of study environment. What has changed in libraries in recent decades is the recognition that there are many other modes of learning than quiet study. These focus on the active, social aspects of learning and may include solving problems (in math, statistics, economics, etc.), working on a group project, creating a video, podcast, or website for a class assignment, developing data visualizations, mapping data, making a prototype for an engineering or art class, collecting, locating, and analyzing data, or conducting interviews (in person or online). Those types of activities require different types of spaces than the traditional quiet reading room furnished with large, solid tables and heavy chairs. Today’s active learning spaces usually include work spaces that facilitate collaboration through the use of flexible, easily movable furniture, adequate power supplies for devices, ubiquitous wireless access, and ways of connecting to library expertise (in person or remotely). In these spaces, libraries often offer in-place technologies such as general purpose computers, high end equipment, specialized software, and the expertise of staff. Students need and use different types of learning spaces for different activities.

As far as special collections, there is one trend to develop learning spaces associated with special collections so that classes can come into the library to experience the handling of rare and archival materials or, in some cases, participate in activities to digitize selected materials for a course project and create a website or other digital representation of the content. Many special collections departments have had classroom or seminar space for a long time, but for those that do not, it seems to be a high priority to add them when a renovation is taking place.

Information/learning commons, multi-media labs, GIS labs, reference rooms, group study spaces, seminar rooms and classrooms, makerspaces, digital scholarship centers, along with traditional reading rooms are all learning spaces in libraries. Most of the public spaces in academic libraries are learning spaces. Even library cafes are serving that function; numerous librarians have told me that their cafes are popular places for faculty/student consultations, for example.

PIL: In a keynote at Hampshire College in 2014, you described the academic library as “the living room of the campus.” How does this metaphor help to understand the role of libraries today? How does it help to anticipate what libraries may become in the next decade? 

JOAN: Actually, I used that example–a quote from an academic library’s website–to develop a theme in my presentation that revolved around my concern that if libraries, and specifically information or learning commons, were merely seen as the living room of the campus, they would have little direct relationship to the core mission of the university, namely teaching/learning and research. I believe that libraries need to intentionally strengthen the ties of their spaces and services with the academic program. I would prefer that libraries were known as the intellectual crossroads of the campus.

For me, that means highlighting and programming library spaces to have direct relationships with teaching, learning, and research. For example, when the Odegaard Library at the University of Washington was renovated, the reference services area was reconceived and ultimately programmed as a joint reference/writing center service. This is a direct connection to student needs: how many students, when they are having a problem beginning work on a paper for a class, can distinguish whether they should seek assistance from a library or a writing service? Often their needs overlap both of those specialties. Another manifestation would be offering media services production spaces where the staff work closely with faculty on shaping new types of course assignments and may also work with special collections or subject specialists to integrate primary sources into students’ projects.

Many new campus departmental buildings include informal spaces (non-classroom) that are very similar to those found in library commons today. We need to think about whether we want or need to have something unique in library informal learning spaces; ideally, I believe those special things should be the link to information and the availability of expertise and services.

On the other hand, I don’t want to diminish the importance of students having available comfortable spaces for meeting up with fellow students, taking a break, and sitting around chatting. All of these activities contribute to students feeling that they belong to the campus and that they are part of a community. On some commuter campuses, the library may play an especially important role in this regard. So, developing community is not orthogonal to supporting teaching and learning; it is supporting a different aspect of the student’s college experience. 

PIL: You have discussed the need for “deeply assessing” library learning space once a project is completed. Yet in our 2016 study of library learning space design, we discovered that few of our interviewees actually evaluated their learning spaces, that is, beyond whether the library’s gate counts increased. Can you provide an example of an assessment measure that goes beyond gate counts? Why is this measure particularly useful for librarians? 

JOAN: I agree–there is very little post-occupancy assessment of renovated or new library spaces that goes beyond use (gate and equipment use counts) or satisfaction. Many librarians believe that when they have increased use of their spaces (sometimes doubling use after renovation) this is the best signifier of success. I don’t want to discount the importance of students flocking to renovated library spaces that had formerly been shunned, but use does not give us actual data that connects to student learning. It is difficult to measure the impact of spaces on student learning. For example, when looking at studies of the flipped classroom, it is not solely the configuration of the classroom itself that results in changes in student learning; it is the conjunction of a new pedagogical style and (often) use of technologies in combination with reconfigured classroom spaces. Separating out the contribution to learning of the reconfigured space from the teaching methods, technologies, and other factors is very difficult.

I am looking forward to learning more about a study at the Taylor Family Digital Library at University of Calgary, where students were interviewed about how various attributes of space contributed to their learning. In an abstract for a poster presentation, Susan Beatty, who authored the study, wrote, “The study shows that students definitely come to the library with learning goals in mind and purposely choose specific spaces that enable them to learn effectively and achieve their goals.” We need more assessments of this type.

In many higher education institutions today, understanding factors that contribute to retention or persistence are a key focus of student success initiatives. The University of Tennessee Knoxville library has been examining the role of their Commons in relation to coursework and college life, and they have done an exceptional job of collecting data from multiple sources (student surveys, demographic data from campus offices, National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) survey data, and other inputs. (Slides from a presentation at an OCLC event are available here; see Thursday, October 22, 2015 8:30am session slides by Walker and Fleming-May, section on the Commons Study, beginning with slide 25). Their results showed that over 70% of students believe that the Commons helps them do better in class, promotes learning, and makes them feel more involved in the university (from “some” to “very much”) and that students with high grade point averages were more likely by far to have taken advantage of research assistance in the Commons than students with lower GPAs. They also found that seniors were heavy users of the library and as a result the library expanded activities, such as offering a forum for student research, to support their interests. It takes a major investment of resources (staff time and money) to implement such an extensive assessment program, but many libraries could benefit by replicating a piece of the Tennessee work.

PIL: In a 2015 American Libraries Magazine article, you wrote “one of the greatest opportunities for the future” is librarians’ growing involvement with pedagogy and curriculum across a campus. How have library learning spaces–and the work librarians are beginning to do with faculty and students—helped create opportunities like these? 
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JOAN: I’ve been focusing a lot of my attention on the topic of digital scholarship centers in recent years. These programs, which generally have physical facilities associated with them, are usually located in and administered by libraries, and they offer advanced technologies and expertise in support of new types of scholarship and research; there are a number of resources on the CNI website related to this topic. While many of the centers were developed with a focus on faculty research, the staff have discovered that students are almost always involved in these digital projects, both as members of the project team and as students developing aspects of the project and using the products of the project in their coursework. Some notable digital scholarship centers include those at Brown University, the University of Virginia, Georgia State University, and the Claremont Colleges. The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is also releasing a number of profiles of digital scholarship initiatives within their member libraries.

I am concerned that a disproportional amount of attention in academic library support of teaching and learning has been tied to introductory level information literacy instruction, often in freshmen writing classes. While some of the basic skills taught in these “one-shots” are important, they seem to take so much of instruction librarians’ time that they lose touch with the important needs of upper level undergraduate and graduate students to develop more sophisticated understandings of information, both principles and skills, related to their primary discipline. As a member of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Task Force that produced the Framework for Information Literacy, I believe that it is very important for librarians to work closely with academic departments to develop customized approaches to students’ information needs connected to their discipline, going beyond databases, to teach them about software and specialized tools, the role of data in their discipline, the authority of various voices in the scholarly conversation, and the various modes in which scholarship is documented, published, and displayed in their field. While all of these topics do not necessarily relate to physical facilities, I believe that the configuration of the library, the kinds of programmatic offerings that are featured, and the types of information on display can all assist in developing a robust learning environment.

Recently I was looking for some examples of digital projects that were authored by students or in which they had played a significant role. Some that I discovered included projects where students are involved in creating oral history sites for local communities and, or mapping information along with creating a public venue for student essays or a fly-through simulation of 17th century London. These types of projects, where libraries can partner with students and faculty, offer technologies, workshops, content, and guidance on intellectual property and other topics, are engaging both for the students and for the library staff. A number of other examples of the ways in which libraries can enhance pedagogy and curricular change are highlighted in an article I co-authored in EDUCAUSE Review.

PIL: You have traveled all over the world visiting newly created library learning spaces in academic libraries. Are there any standout features of library spaces that you find aesthetically important? Why? 

JOAN: One of the things I always look for when I visit libraries is what art they have incorporated into their spaces. Some libraries have vibrant paintings, others have noteworthy sculptures, some have art displayed in digital representations. Libraries may display art donated by benefactors, art created by students or faculty, or art that plays on library motifs such as books and card catalogs. Art is one of the factors that contribute to libraries being seen as inspirational spaces. It is surprising and disappointing to see so many libraries with unadorned walls. Older libraries that do not have funding for renovation can seem shabby and tired to students; artwork can help brighten those spaces and make them appealing. Librarians can talk with art faculty or museum staff (if the campus or local community has a museum) about long-term borrowing of art for display or they can host student art competitions or exhibits, at little or no cost.

While I’m on the topic of visually interesting art, I’d also like to suggest ways to address my concern that many library users are unaware of the kinds of high quality digital resources that may be of interest to them, whether they are freely available online or licensed by the library. Many library users are curious people, who would like to discover information resources even if they may not have a specific use for them at that moment. Many of us spend time online exploring things that pique our interest, and libraries can play a role in broadening users’ awareness of some amazing Web resources. I often wonder how academic librarians think a typical library user would become aware of such resources as the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), Europeana, or the public domain image collection from New York Public Library. We would do our communities a service if we found ways to promote such resources more actively, connecting users to information.

One mode for accomplishing this is by using large digital screens in high traffic areas to promote and display digital information resources. Data visualizations, maps, photo collections, local history images, and storytelling projects are some of the types of resources featured on those screens. These types of displays alert the community that the library is about more than books and telegraphs that there are staff in the library that can help connect them to these collections as well as assist them to contributing to or building digital collections. I always enjoy visiting libraries that do a good job promoting information resources and services via their digital displays. To accomplish a program like this entails not only a knowledge of digital resources that might be of particular interest to the user community but promotional skills and the visual and technical literacies to create vibrant displays that engage users. Both the Hunt Library at North Carolina State University and the Taylor Family Digital Library at University of Calgary, both sites of the series of Designing Libraries for the 21st Century Conferences, have outstanding digital display programs. We’ve also held sessions on this topic at CNI meetings. Libraries, through their physical spaces, can engage their user communities, drawing them in, inspiring them, assisting them in discovering information, celebrating their achievements, and highlighting research and learning.                                                           

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Joan is the Associate Executive Director of the Coalition of Networked Information (CNI) in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining CNI in 1990, she held positions at the libraries of Cornell University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, and SUNY at Brockport.

In addition, Joan has worked at the Research and Policy Analysis Division of the American Council on Education and the National Center for Postsecondary Governance and Finance at the University of Maryland.

Joan received her Ph.D. in higher education policy, planning, and administration from the University of Maryland, her M.L.S. from SUNY Geneseo, and an A.B. from Vassar College. She also completed graduate work at George Washington University and Cornell University.

Smart Talks are informal conversations with leading thinkers about the challenges of higher education, the future of libraries, and teaching and learning in the digital age. The interviews are an occasional series produced by Project Information Literacy (PIL).

PIL is an ongoing and national research study that investigates how students find and use information for courses and for use in their everyday lives and as lifelong learners.

This interview with Joan Lippincott was made possible with the generous support of a grant from the Strategic Research Fund at the University of Washington iSchool. Smart Talk interviews are open access and licensed by Creative Commons.

“Joan Lippincott: Libraries as the Intellectual Crossroads of a Campus” (email interview), by Alison Head, Project Information Literacy, Smart Talk Interview, no. 26 (7 December 2016), is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 3.0 Unported License.