What Students Really Want- Library as Place at Andrews University

Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences 2014 IATUL Proceedings Jun 3rd, 12:00 AM What Students Really Want: Library as Place at Andrews University Sila Marques de Oliveira Andrews University Sila Marques de Oliveira, "What Students Really Want: Library as Place at Andrews University." Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences Paper https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/iatul/2014/posters/7 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries Please contact epubs@purdue.edu for additional information What Students Really Want: Library as Place at Andrews University Andrews University \ SILAS Closed Individual Study Areas Open Individual Study Areas B MARQUES, Ph.D \ James White Library Closed Group Study Areas Open Group Study Areas \ ABSTRACT Social Spaces Interactive Learning Spaces \ OBJECTIVE Although there is abundant information available remotely, and albeit studies reporting a decrease in academic library use, higher education students and teachers still seek the campus library to meet many of their teaching, research, and learning needs The usefulness of the spaces provided by the academic library is directly dependent on the match between those Identify what types of library spaces students at Andrews University want or value mostly to accomplish their academic requirements and social needs spaces and the learning and teaching styles students and teachers engage in today Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify what types of spaces students really want and value in order to better accomplish their academic requirements and satisfy their learning needs The data was collected using a design charrette, an ethnographic approach \ RESEARCH DESIGN & PROCEDURE The data was collected through a design charrette technique Pictures depicting different types of library spaces were shown to students: (1) Closed Individual Study Areas; (2) Open Individual Study Areas; (3) Closed Group Study Areas; (4) Open Group Study Areas; (5) Social Spaces; and (6) Interactive Learning Spaces Each of these spaces is represented by a different symbol A total of 138 students \ INTRODUCTION The debate over academic libraries’ importance and role in higher education is not new Papers presented at a conference at Harvard in 1949 questioned the future of the library in academic institutions and declared the end of the printed book (Convey, 1949; Wector, 1950) These issues still resonate 65 years later Scott Carlson’s (2001) article “The Deserted Library” predicted the death of the academic library—and prompted a passionate response, indicating that the issue was still under intense debate (Antell & Engel, 2006) William H Wisner (2001, p 68) painted a bleak scenario for academic library buildings, claiming that “we must accept that the historic mission of libraries is finished…and that the portable e-book, once perfected, will drive the last nail into our collective coffins.” Only one decade ago, Shuler (2004) stated that spending time in a library is a “trip down nostalgia lane.” Eingenbrodt (2011, p 35) states that “at the very moment when the library as a physical space came into question because of technical and social changes, librarians and scholars started to think about the future role of libraries as places.” \ THREE CHARRETTE EXAMPLES Many new and renovated buildings have seen significant increases in usage among students and faculty, and reports indicate that students are satisfied My recent visit to the Mary Edema Pew Library, built in 2011 with current students’ needs in mind, testifies to that The library has been, since its inception, packed with students from the Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan Shill and Tonner (2004) report that 80% of the 354 libraries that went through major improvements between 1995 and 2002 experienced greater facility usage in 2001–2002 This is a significant indication that students are not abandoning academic libraries when facilities are new or have been renovated This trend seems to have changed and taken an opposite direction In 2001 Carlson promoted an online discussion titled “Are College Libraries Too Empty?” An overwhelming number of participants indicated that their libraries were bustling with students and that they were using the building for collaborative learning and research (Carlson, 2001) Weise (2004, p 9) notes that the “popular image of the library has evolved from a ‘storehouse’ of information to an active participant in the educational process.” Walt Crawford (1995), Larry Dowlet (1996), William A Gosling (2000), and Michael Gorman (2003), amongst others, have also argued against the idea that the library building is living on ‘borrowed time’ as its role in universities is evolving were asked to place these symbols corresponding to the actual library spaces in a sheet of paper resembling the library according to their preferences The number of each symbol placed on the blank sheet of paper (the library) indicates the degree of importance, preference, or value they attribute to that specific type of library space A total of 1,935 symbols were used \ CONCLUSIONS According to Bilandzic and Foth (2013), “Literacy in the twenty-first century requires a different set of knowledge and skills compared to literacy in the previous century Libraries as facilitators of education and learning have been challenged to reshape their approaches to meeting the changing needs.” The core of the debate today regarding academic library as place is whether or not students prefer open social and gathering spaces over quiet individual study areas than women and undergraduates, which also goes against the general perception of librarians and educators today Academic libraries should reflect and embrace changes within the pedagogical and learning styles which emphasize collaboration, interaction, and flipped classroom by providing different types of spaces to satisfy different types of needs and expectations As students still consider the library as the place to be for serious studies, libraries should not neglect the traditional quiet individual study areas as they remodel and renovate or build new library buildings Contradicting the trend today, which asserts that students want social and group/gathering spaces to accomplish their academic activities, this study revealed that, overall, students at Andrews University prefer quiet individual study areas This preference is highlighted by students who attend the library more frequently In terms of social spaces, the results demonstrate that men and graduate students prefer it more \ RESULTS Space Preferences by Gender Overall Preferred Spaces Space Preferences by Program Level Space Preference by Students Who Participated Inside and Outside the Library Space Preference by Library Use Frequency 10% (192) 10% (195) 26% (510) Male CITED REFERENCES Female Antell, K & Engel, D (2006) Conduciveness to scholarship: The essence of academic library as place College & Research Libraries, 67(6):536-560 Bilandzic, Mark & Foth Marcus (2013) Libraries as co-working spaces: understanding user motivations and perceived barriers to social learning Library Hi Tech, (31)2, 251-273 Carlson, Scott (2001) The Deserted Library Chronicle of Higher Education, (48)16, A35 Coney, Donald (1949) The Future of Libraries in Academic Institutions Harvard Library Bulletin, 3, 327–31 Crawford, Walt & Gorman, Michael (1995) Future Libraries: Dreams, Madness & Reality Chicago: American Library Association, pp.118–19; Dowler, Larry (1996) Our Edifice at the Precipice Library Journal, 121, 118 Eigenbrodt, Olaf The multifaceted place: current approaches to university library space In: Matthews, G & Graham, W (eds) (2011) University libraries and space in the digital world Ashgate: Farmhan pp 35-50 Gorman, Michael (2003) The Enduring Library: Technology, Tradition and the Quest for Balance Chicago: American Library Association, pp.4-5 Gosling, William A (2002) To Go or Not to Go? Library as Place American Libraries, 31, 44–45 Shill, Harold B & Tonner, Shawn (2004) Does the Building Still Matter? Usage Patterns in New, Expanded, and Renovated Libraries, 1995–2002 College & Research Libraries, 65, 148 Shuler, John A (2004) Ask Not for Whom the Bells Toll Journal of Academic Librarianship, (30)78, 68 Wector, Dixon (1950) General Reading in a University Library Harvard Library Bulletin, 4, 5–15 Weise, Frieda (2004) Being There: The Library as Place Journal of the Medical Library Association, 92, Wisner, William H (2001) Librarianship Enters the Twilight Library Journal, 126, 68 Undergraduate Graduate Participated Inside the Library Participated Outside the Library High Frequency 12% 9% 9% 10% 16% 15% 22% 15% 17% 22% 24% 29% 99 (10%) 96 (10%) 114 (11%) 78 (8%) 168 (17%) 132 (14%) 138 (14%) 222 (24%) 222 (22%) 156 (17%) 258 (26%) 252 (27%) 67 (10%) 133 (11%) 85 (12%) 112 (9%) 93 (14%) 211 (17%) 120 (17%) 233 (19%) 124 (18%) 254 (20%) 198 (29%) 305 (24%) 105 (9%) 90 (10%) 75 (7%) 117 (13%) 171 (16%) 129 (15%) 216 (20%) 144 (16%) 213 (20%) 165 (19%) 18% (360) 279 (26%) 20% (378) 231 (26%) 16% (300) Low Frequency .. .What Students Really Want: Library as Place at Andrews University Andrews University SILAS Closed Individual Study Areas Open Individual Study Areas B MARQUES, Ph.D James White Library. .. There: The Library as Place Journal of the Medical Library Association, 92, Wisner, William H (2001) Librarianship Enters the Twilight Library Journal, 126, 68 Undergraduate Graduate Participated Inside... (2001) article “The Deserted Library? ?? predicted the death of the academic library? ??and prompted a passionate response, indicating that the issue was still under intense debate (Antell & Engel, 2006)