Editorial

Les Watson (leswatson.net, UK)

New Library World

ISSN: 0307-4803

Article publication date: 11 January 2016

210

Citation

Watson, L. (2016), "Editorial", New Library World, Vol. 117 No. 1/2. https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-11-2015-0085

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: New Library World, Volume 117, Issue 1/2

Because an increasing proportion of the information we hold in our collections is being digitized or is born digital, it is no surprise that those that provide the funds for it often question the need for library space. But space continues to be needed to house the physical resources that we have that cannot easily be turned from atoms to bits without losing some degree of value. More importantly, space continues to be needed to provide for that other resource that cannot easily be turned to bits – the people that use our libraries. The selection of papers in this special section of “Perspectives on Library Space” provides some insights into the variety of spaces, discovering how spaces are used and how space contributes strategically to library development. In her case study of new library spaces at Indiana University, Diane Dallis describes renovation of both the Learning and Scholar’s Commons. This work provides useful practical detail of space development and highlights the important link between space and service – the amount and type of space there is can enable, or disable, the services provided. Thinking holistically about the space and services provided in our libraries is essential and is a theme within more than one of the papers here.

Sabina Brandt and Gudrun Bachmann in their paper on the campus of tomorrow have approached working out where we are and where we might go with spaces by taking a detailed look at what “space for education” currently looks like across a whole university campus. In determining what space might look like in the future, and how fit for purpose it is today, this paper identifies some “fields of tension” for example between the student demand for anytime anywhere learning and the need for a “home base” that’s in one place, that need to be carefully considered in any space development. The campus-wide ITSI project included the role of the library in the provision of current space for education and considered this space within the context of the campus as a whole. Among the range of environments identified, study areas for individuals and groups dominate in most academic libraries, but it is the “spaces-in-between” and “rooms for testing new settings or scenarios” that together offer the opportunity of real change for the academic library enabling it to make a greater contribution to the overall learning and teaching vision of the institution and to meet student needs more effectively. But, more importantly, it is the suggestion in this paper that the expertise commonly held in academic libraries in the design of learning spaces could be used more widely in university-wide planning that signals a greater role for the library in the development of the learning landscape of the whole institution.

Recent library space developments inevitably include the provision of the now ubiquitous “social learning space”. In their paper, Matt Cunningham and Graham Walton identify the variety of informal learning spaces that are commonly found on university campuses and describe research that explores the use of and preferences for the spaces provided across the campus. The research findings confirm the need for variety of space, including the all important quiet and silent spaces, the expectation of good levels of ICT provision and that libraries are often the place of choice for students to get work done. Such work is essential to underpin a sound knowledge base for the library and university to plan its space strategically.

And the strategic importance of space in our libraries is made clear in Joyce Sternheim’s paper describing the development of the Chocolate Factory in Gouda. The premise of this paper is that change is not a choice – even aiming to stay the same requires change in response to the rapidly changing environment in which libraries exist. The response to financial and other pressures in the City of Gouda in Holland was to concentrate library resources in one central place at the heart of the City. An old Chocolate Factory was redeveloped to form an exciting library, workplace, café and community. Focused on the library as a place of learning, the Chocolate Factory is indeed a new and exciting space, but the development is also holistic and strategic, involving learning for staff as well as users, a new library “operating system”, “applications” and “hardware” that includes a culture of participation and engagement constructed around the message of “Kom kennis maken” – come create knowledge.

These papers illustrate that if we are to make our libraries fit for the twenty-first century, we need to be creative and innovative – but also take the time to find out what works. The common perspective that these papers share is that our library members are at the heart of these efforts to improve our library spaces.

Les Watson - leswatson.net, UK

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