One of the primary goals of the University Libraries Strategic Plan is to create and maintain user-centered research, teaching, and learning environments. To achieve this goal we will re-invent library spaces to include information hubs and gathering places by modernizing the Pius XII Memorial Library to meet student and faculty needs. The purpose is to create destinations where research and study can flourish.
Frequently the question is asked, “In the age of the Internet, why do we need to have physical libraries at all?” We know that the Internet does not provide us access to all the information that we need. Most information of any quality and substance is accessible only through the library with which you are affiliated. For example, students and faculty of SLU have 24/7 access to hundreds of databses, e-journals, and e-books through http://slulink.slu.edu SLULink is your “virtual library” — an important component of the information searching that you do and complimentary to the physical library building itself.
The library as place is also an important piece of academic success. Through his research, Yale University Librarian Emeritus Scott Bennett has discovered that successful learning occurs when you spend time outside of the classroom working on course-related activities (e.g., projects, papers, labs., etc.) and discussing course-related subjects. Today’s physical library must be designed to encourage and support this learning which, in turn, frequently leads to improved academic achievement.
What should a university library include within its walls? Many academic libraries have created library learning spaces based on the model of an “information commons” or “learning commons.” As Bennett states, the purpose of reinventing library space needs to rise from analyzing student learning behaviors. Although such spaces can take a variety of forms, some similarities of successful contemporary university libraries are: natural lighting, uncluttered views of nature, clean, comfortable, and safe spaces, easy access to technologies to locate information and create new knowledge, close location to faculty librarians for research consultations, near other academic support services, such as writing centers, a cafe to replenish and re-fuel for long hours of study, and flexible spaces for quiet/solo study and group study rooms. When you walk into a library that fully captures these elements, services that are available to you are transparent — meaning that they are easily accessible — and you have different types of research and study spaces to select from to do your work.
Both the Medical Center Library and the Pius XII Memorial Library are in the process of developing plans to re-invent our learning spaces. We encourage your feedback as we work to create the best of all learning environments for academic success.
