Assessing Library Space for Learning

With the surge in electronic access to the librarys resources, there has been an ongoing discussion about the need for a physical library building. On a college or university campus, the library is a destination for its users. Students, faculty and staff go to the library for various reasons. Their usage makes the academic library a valuable learning space on campus. However, not much is known about how the library space contributes to user learning. InAssessing Library Space for Learning, chapters discuss library usage at academic institutions and how that usage is an integral part of the student learning experience.

Included are the perspectives of an architect who is tasked with designing library spaces with learning in mind, a psychologist whose professional research focuses on the concept of place, and a dynamic group of academic librarians who are dedicated to making the library conducive to the needs of their learners. This book is a combination of theory, practical and research based chapters with an overall focus on the intersection of library space and learning. The authors demonstrate the importance of the library space in our users lives. In addition, the authors discuss the importance of determining ways to learn how library space contributes to user learning. Readers will gain an understanding of the library space as a valuable learning space and the steps librarians need to take to assess learning in the academic library.

Susan E. Montgomery is an Associate Professor/Public Services Librarian at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. She received her MS in Library and Information Studies from Florida State University and holds a BA from Knox College and an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico.

Part 1 Library Space assessment Background
Chapter 1 Space Assessment: An Interdisciplinary Look at Past and Present Studies, Karen R. Diller
Chapter 2 Library Space and Learning Theory, Susan E. Montgomery
Chapter 3 A Place to Think, Feel, and Act: Psychological Approaches to Understanding Library Spaces, Paul B. Harris and Stephanie N. Schweighardt
Chapter 4 The Evolving Role of the Architect in Library Design, Tom Sens and Sarah Parisi Dowlin
Part 2 Applying Library Space Assessment
Chapter 5 Academic Libraries and Accreditation: A Theory-Based Framework for Assessing Modern Library Spaces, James Zimmerman
Chapter 6 Designed to Meet Our Institutional Mission: A case study from Grand Valley State University Libraries, Kristin Meyer and Erin Silva Fisher
Chapter 7 Satisfying the Electric Youth: Maximizing Student Success Through Space, Resources, Services AND Outlets, Mary Beth Lock, Meghan Webb and John Champlin
Chapter 8 Creating a Learning Culture for Student-Athletes, Jason Dodd and Dale Lackeyram
Chapter 9 Research-Creation: Library Space and Resources for Fine Arts Students,
Shailoo Bedi, Christine Walde, Tad Suzuki, and Bill Blair
Chapter 10 Are They Different? An Investigation of Space and Learning in a STEM Branch Library, Ian McCullough and Jo Ann Calzonetti
Chapter 11 First-Generation Undergraduate Students and Library Spaces: A Case Study,
Karen A. Neurohr and Lucy E. Bailey
Chapter 12 Library Space Redesign: Stimulus and Response
University of California, Santa Cruz, Gregory Careaga
Part 3 Library Space and Routine Assessment
Chapter 13 Watch this Space! Viewing Assessment as a Continuous Process,
Camille Andrews, Tobi Hines, and Sara E. Wright
Chapter 14 Future of Academic Library Space Assessment, Danuta A. Nitecki