CREJ - Building Dialogue - March 2015
Modern higher education libraries have faced a crucial choice in the last decade: Do they stay the traditional knowledge centers that provide information services to their students, or do they adapt to a new role as students’ needs evolve? Most libraries have chosen to change in response to student and faculty demands for an information commons space that provides not only data support, but social interaction and access to technology. Starting in 2004, our firm partnered with the University of Denver to transform its Penrose Library from a focus on paper to people by redefining this campus hub into a 21st century, tech-savvy and digitally based Academic Commons. The traditional library was very much about individual quiet study within the confines of a paper collection. The librarian was there to answer questions, and computers were still years away. This was the model that Penrose Library was built on 39 years ago. The library had to transform to support 21st century learning, dramatically underlined by electronic use (i.e., computers, tablets, smartphones, etc.) – or else face obsolescence. Its prime location in the very center of campus meant that it was perfectly situated to once more become the student hub, that defining symbol of knowledge with the flexibility to ebb and flow with the ever changing learning environment. To get there, paper needed to be exchanged for technology, square feet needed to be dedicated to people, the emphasis turned from individual to group, research from analog to digital, and space from static to dynamic. The university needed to change its views about how students were taught, and how the library fit into this new style of learning. In many classrooms, collaborative learning environments have replaced lecture-style classes, and the library had to adapt to this new academic style. Need. While this kind of dramatic restructuring of the university library isn’t unique, this particular project was unique in that a flexible, vibrant and tech-savvy 21st century learning environment had to be created from a 39-year-old antiquated building – all while maintaining existing library services and promoting new academic collaboration. Solution. The leading component of this project was the transition to digital scholarly publishing, freeing valuable people space. Almost 65 percent of the collection was moved off-site, with the remaining 35 percent resituated into high-density moveable shelving. Alongside the myriad use areas created for study and collaboration in this new-found space, the overlay of a rich technological web over the 3 acres of floor space allows extreme flexibility and constant communication for building use and information gathering. This includes online room reservations and management, digital book browsing and research, interactive way finding and digital signage, virtual classrooms, video wall displays, videoconferencing rooms, group study areas with LCDs to support information sharing, and cloud-based computers with the latest software.
As with any project, obstacles had to be overcome. The largest one was the unforeseen opposition to having the majority of the books relocated off-site and browsing turned digital. This was overcome by implementing the new browsing and book retrieval system long before the renovated academic commons was complete. Making changes incrementally ensured that the most drastic of changes were tested and refined prior to project completion, ensuring transition to the new space was met with anticipation and excitement. Benefits. This project was for the students. Surveys indicated that students most desired a library that would support their classroom learning with multiple ways to engage, research and collaborate within an enriched technological environment that provided ample opportunity to plug in and connect. Within the first year of completion, the re-imagined academic commons reached its record traffic count in one day – over 5,000 people – beating the old record by almost 15 percent. The number of people in the building at one time is also dramatically increased. Of 1,864 seats, almost half have been filled at one time and, in peak use periods, hundreds are in the building after midnight. Evaluation. A lot of pride comes from the fact that this project has become an outstanding example of a successful paradigm shift for other universities. People from all over the country continually come to tour the project researching how they might implement such a reinvention on their own campuses. Further, demand for the 32 group study rooms (previously there were only seven such rooms) is outstripping supply, with competition for these spaces leading to heavy use of the room reservation system. Conclusion. Higher education institutions are learning that they cannot depend on drawing students to their libraries in the quest for information alone. Today’s students are searching for more than data; they are searching for engagement, collaboration and social interaction in a technology-rich environment. By transforming themselves to suit students’ needs, they are capable of staying a relevant knowledge management resource now and in the future.