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The Learning Commons
The Library Morphs
4/1/2008
"For more than a century, planning for library space was driven by the need to put shelves under books, and to provide space for services. One of those things is probably history, as we move more and more information resources into ubiquitous virtual space...the other is going to become history as we get around to moving many library resources into that virtual space." -Yale University Librarian Emeritus Scott Bennett
To encourage student collaboration, Ohio State University's revamped Thompson Library will feature flexible furnishings, a robust wireless infrastructure, and lots of places to plug in a laptop.
As campus renovation projects go, The Ohio State University's plan to turn its main library into "a library for the 21st century" is stunningly ambitious. The decade-long, $109 million transformation of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library-now less than two years from completion-will provide students and faculty with a striking combination of tradition and technology. The overhaul calls for a complete replacement of all mechanical and electrical systems, full renovation of all interior spaces, and additional construction to the library. It also provides for the addition of flexible, technologyfriendly spaces for student collaboration: what have come to be known as learning commons.
"The idea of a learning commons-we call it an 'information' commons- is pretty mainstream now," notes Joseph Branin, Ohio State's director of libraries. "But if you had suggested such a thing four or five years ago, people would have said, 'You want to do what with my space?' Today, you're in trouble if you don't have one."
Refining the Model
In a move that may surprise those outside the library sciences, Ohio State is reducing the number of books it keeps on-site from 2 million to 1.25 million, to make room for new learning commons spaces. The director of libraries believes that his university was one of the first to consider shrinking the amount of stack space. He considers the reduction a practical recognition of the growing amount of quality resources available online, and the impracticality of shelving an endless influx of books.
The original learning commons model involved combining library services, computer help desks, and group study spaces within the library. The University of Southern California, for example, generated big buzz in 2000 by turning its undergraduate library into a 24-hour student computer center. A few years later, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst converted the lower level of its W.E.B. Du Bois Library to accommodate library, technology, and other campus services "in an environment that fosters informal, collaborative work and social interaction."
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