| The Learning Commons
Model: Determining Best Practices for Design, Implementation, and Service |
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Information Commons and Learning Commons Site Visits
Overview Appalachian State University, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern North Carolina, is a public institution and part of the University of North Carolina System. Organizationally, they have four colleges and one School of Music offering over 170 degree programs to an undergraduate population of 13,447 and a graduate population of 1607. They have 710 full-time faculty members. The Library has 37 faculty librarians and 47 library staff. Planning for the new Belk Library began in the mid 1990s when it was apparent that the library had overgrown its space. In 2000, a $3.1 billion bond referendum, including $47.6 million for a new Central Library at Appalachian State was passed by the voters of North Carolina. After an extensive planning phase, work on the new library began in 2003 and was completed by May 2005. The new library, with 215,000 square feet (165,000 assignable) in five floors, was designed to be a user-center facility. Aptly named "Library and Information Commons," facets of the Information Commons can be found throughout the entire structure. Library floor plans are located at http://www.library.appstate.edu/about/floorplans/index.html Description of Services and Facilities The entry space of the library opens up into a light-filled atrium that includes a 24-hour Cyber Cafe and the "Wired Scholar" Coffee Shop. The cafe offers several computer work areas and comfortable seating for students to socialize, meet for group projects, or study individually. Just down the hall from the Cyber Cafe, there is a 125-seat lecture hall which is often used for guest speakers and other intellectual and cultural events.
Passing through the lovely atrium area one finds the Main Entrance to the Library and Information Commons. Upon entering the Library on the first floor, a spacious, two-tiered Reference & Information Desk is straight ahead. This service desk has an outer and an inner circle. Each circle is divided into four sections with room to walk in between each section. It has higher and lower levels and all counter services are granite. The Circulation and Public Access Services Desk is to one's right and the Information Commons stretches out along the entire left side of the floor. The computer workstations in the Information Commons are in what they call "amoeba"-- larger clusters and "dna" - smaller more individual clusters. There are over 200 public computers available in the Belk Library. The Circulation Public Services Access Area includes a separate desk for laptop checkout. They currently have 50 laptops available for loan.
Behind the Reference Desk is the Reference Collection on lower height shelving and behind the stacks is the lovely Borkowski Reading Room. Named Group Study Rooms are located on either end of the Reading Room. In total there are 20 group study rooms in the building - 4 on the 1st floor, 3 on the 2nd floor, and 13 on the 3rd floor. The first floor is also home to the Assistive Technology Lab which is located near the public services desks and offices for Instructional Technology staff.
The Lower Level of the Library is home to the Instructional Materials Center which supports the curriculum of the College of Education. The concept of the Information Commons flows on to this level with collaborative work spaces, two library instruction classrooms, computer clusters, and comfortable seating. There is a Service Desk to help users with the microfilm and periodical collections. The Bound Periodical Collection, the Microfilm Collection and the Writing Center are also located on the lower level.
The wiring, furniture, and presentation podiums in the Library Classrooms, both on the lower levels and the third floor were particularly well designed. All are on elevated floors, housing wiring for data and electricity below the floor. The podiums, from Spectrum, give ample space for the presenter to keep their materials and have Classroom Control software. The tables in the smaller lower level classroom are on wheels and easily moved into a variety of formations. This classroom was designed to be used with laptops or for demonstration purposes only. The larger classroom on the lower level has two projectors and screens that project onto the side wall making it easier for students to see in this large space.
The second and third floors are home to most of the library's circulating collections and have spacious areas and more computer workstations. Librarian offices are located on the perimeter of these floors, making them readily accessible to students needing help while working in these areas.
The Digital Media Studio is also located on third floor of the Library. This is the only digital media production lab on campus. The studio is available for users interested in creating multimedia content and has scanners, camcorders, digital cameras, a Nikon Slide scanner, two decks for digital conversion, and Mac pro computers available. They also provide portable hard drives so that users can move between machines more easily. Inexpensive ear buds are sold at the circulation desk.
The Fourth Floor houses the Library's extensive and impressive Special Collections. Collections include The W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, The Stock Car Racing Collection, and The University Archives. A separate reading room houses the Rhinehart Rare Books and Special Collections that include books on British history from the 16th through the 19th centuries.
Governance and Strategic Fit Planning for the Library and Information Commons was extensive, involving focus groups and a visits to newer academic buildings throughout the country. An Internal Building Group was formed to ensure that the spaces, services, and resources of the new library were strategically aligned with the University's mission and goals and met the information needs of the 21st century. The Library and Information Technology departments are not merged since both units are very large. However, they do have a good working relationship. The instruction arm of IT, Learning Technology Services, is housed on the third floor of the Library. The Library has its own Systems Department that consists of both technologists and instructional technology staff. Collaboration and Partnerships In addition to their partnership with Learning Technology Services, the Library is also home to the Writing Center which is located on the lower level. Staffing and Training Some attempts at cross-training have been made but they have found that it is difficult to do because of staff size. There has not been a need for technology support training. They employ many students from the Computer Sciences program and have found these students to be well suited for front line work. Impact on Collections They have cut their reference collection in half and feel that it could be cut in half again. Many reference titles are now shelved with the circulating collection, though these reference titles do not circulate. They have also weeded their main circulating collection and heavily weeded in the government documents area. Some periodical runs have been moved upstairs as well. Reference & Instruction Services Reference Desk duty is shared by librarians and library staff members. Anyone who has an interest, is invited to take a shift at the Reference & Information Desk. They have found that by utilizing more library staff, rather than just reference librarians, at the reference desk they have freed up time for reference librarians to do more research consultations and develop web and instructional materials for both e-learning and library classroom instruction. Librarians have regularly scheduled office hours and are on call should they be needed for a reference question. Some librarians offices are on the first floor, while others are located on the other floors of the library. They strive to provide a variety of faceted services so that the professional expertise of the reference librarian is more appropriately utilized. A strong departmental library liaison program is also essential to the reference services provided. They teach approximately 400 library instruction classes per year. Although the majority of the classes are taught by about ten librarians, up to sixteen librarians have responsibility for teaching. Their information literacy program is tied to the First Year Seminar and the First Year Writing Program. These initiatives each have a library component. A library tutorial is available for use with these programs as well. Students enrolled in the doctorate program in Education have a personal librarian assigned to them. Assessment They have completed LibQual which has helped them decide on future assessment activities. There is currently a University initiative to assess learning outcomes, but it is still in its planning phase. The Library is revising its Strategic Plan to plan for assessment. Lessons Learned
Observations Informing Best Practices
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