Welcoming, flexible, and state-of-the-art: Approaches to continuous facilities improvement

Abstract

As digital access to all sources of information continues to expand at an accelerating rate, libraries around the world are working to transform themselves in response to their changing role in the communities they serve and support. Academic libraries face particular challenges as a generation of students enters university having embraced online, mobile, anytime, anywhere access to information. At the center of an academic community that increasingly values intellectual collaboration among faculty and students, and learning in and out of the classroom, the 21st century academic library must continually recreate itself as a place that fosters curiosity, engagement, collaboration, and lifelong learning. Typical 20th-century capital investment cycles in academic libraries in the United States were characterized by large-scale once-a-generation investments in facilities expansion and enhancement. In the first decade of the 21st century the drive to transform is greater than ever before, but there is less capital funding available, increasing the pressure on institutions to reduce the capital investment cycle time in order to remain responsive to rapid changes in technology, pedagogy, scholarship, and user expectations. The end of any project is the start of evaluation and planning for the next cycle of change and investment. This paper will explore and discuss library efforts at two major academic institutions in the United States, one receiving public funds and one private, to develop innovative ways to evaluate library spaces, functions, services, operations and maintenance. The speakers will highlight projects intended to operationalize capital investment, shorten cycle times and provide incremental interventions, within a general framework of planning big and implementing small. Data encompass exit counts, occupancy rates, and peer comparisons; data sources include surveys, focus groups, and simulations. Particular projects and initiatives will address user needs, program innovation, and facilities enhancement, with the aim of continually refreshing and renewing library spaces that enhance learning, inspire scholarship, and foster community.