NCompass Live: From Collections to Commons: How we turned stacks to student spaces at UNL
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UNL turned stacks into student spaces by moving over 450,000 items from one floor to create an Adele Hall Learning Commons. This involved planning the relocation of 15 collections across 6 locations over 3 months, including moving government documents, science materials, and visual arts collections offsite. Careful planning and flexibility were needed as the initial plan did not work. The project demonstrated how libraries can repurpose space by moving collections to better serve student needs.
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NCompass Live: From Collections to Commons: How we turned stacks to student spaces at UNL
- 1. From Collections to Commons: How UNL turned stacks into student spaces
- 2. Presenters: Regina Flowers, Adele Coryell Hall Learning Commons Manager Deb Pearson, Head, Libraries Facilities Planning Michael Straatmann, User Services and Collections Manager
- 4. Creating Space and Moving Collections
- 5. Introduction Who am I? Circulation Manager for UNL Libraries Responsible for Physical Condition, Layout and Movement of Circulating Print Collections Collections and Stacks Management since 1998. 5+ moves in excess of 500k items (and a bunch of smaller ones)
- 6. Space and Collections “For most academic libraries, our mission is not to collect the whole of human knowledge. We have limited space, limited resources. We are not a warehouse for books–a warehouse is a storage facility. Books are for using–not for sitting on a shelf for years on end.” - Joe Hardenbrook https://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/why-we-weed-book- deselection-in-academic-libraries/
- 7. Space and Collections Planning To build the commons, all we needed to do was empty one floor of books. We have a storage unit, right? How hard can it be?
- 8. Space and Collections Problems Except that one floor has almost 32,000 sq ft. and over 450,000 items…. (almost 2 books for every person in Lincoln) And we don’t buy any new shelving…. And the time frame is under 3 months…. And the collections focus on the Social Sciences and Humanities.... (the most widely used print collection)
- 9. Space and Collections Solutions What if…. We make a separate area for Visual Arts in the Link? We move Government Docs off-site, making more room in Love South? We move Science print materials off-site, making some room in Love South? We eliminate print copies of materials in JSTOR and other stable electronic sources?
- 10. Space and Collections How about all of the above? Solutions 83,000 Lineal Feet of Materials - (almost 1.4 million items) 6 locations 15 distinct collections Shelving moves in advance of collections, as emptied
- 11. Space and Collections Planning Individual Collection Moves in the Center and are in order Shelving moves are indicated by the red arrows Collection moves by the green
- 12. Space and Collections Move Summaries Visual Arts Move 23k items to the Link and 25k to Love North Basement
- 13. Space and Collections Move Summaries Science Collections 350k items to LDRF and Docs Facility from Love South
- 14. Space and Collections Move Summaries Government Documents US Depository, Nebraska Documents, United Nations Documents & OAS Documents
- 15. Space and Collections Move Summaries Love North – First Floor Love North 456,000 inches of material Love South 483,000 inches of space 12,153 shelves 2.3” per shelf
- 16. Space and Collections Move Summaries
- 17. Space and Collections Summary What did we learn? Planning, planning and more planning Be prepared when the first plan doesn’t work Be flexible Don’t be afraid to find help Library community, professional movers, etc. Think about what is left over – not just about books
- 25. “We need to find the new things we can do that will add value and be appreciated by our users and the institutions of which we are a part.” Lewis, David W. Reimagining the Academic Library. 2016, p. vii.
- 27. Managing the Adele Hall Learning Commons
- 32. Usage Numbers • More than 1 million people through the gates • Answered more than 9,000 questions, completed more than 16,000 circulation transactions and more than 6,500 technology equipment checkouts • 45,615 study room reservations • Dunkin Donuts sold 215,687 beverages and 122,993 donuts
- 35. May 2014 September 2014 January 2016
- 36. “I love having more space to study and work with others. With such a large student body, having lots of study space helps students’ study habits and improves academics greatly! – Thank you!”
Editor's Notes
- Nancy’s introductory remarks
- And, Mike left me with 28,000 square feet of asbestos-laden tile. This had to all be abated as a pre-construction project. The other thing we hadn’t counted on was that our building was the first on campus that fell under new government regulations to test and remove or encapsulate PCBs, an carcinogen used in window caulking in 1970-era buildings. UNL and Sampson construction were able to factor the time and expense into the project and keep everything on budget and on time.
- Other major changes to the space included adding floor to ceiling high efficiency windows, upgrading the HVAC system and restrooms, replacing sections of the ceiling with wood veneer clouds, adding electrical, custodial and telecommunications closets. We also made a conscious decision to have more wireless strength than other buildings on campus as we knew that students usually had several devices with them and wanted to be able to use them all effectively, both in the commons and out on the plaza. The other big challenge for the space was…..
- Adding the infrastructure for a Dunkin’ Donuts. Students had indicated the top two things they wanted were a 24/7 facility and a coffee/pastry shop. Adding the plumbing and prep room presented unique challenges. However, as Regina will tell us later, both DD and our students have been very pleased with the results.
- The other area that occupies approximately 7000 square feet (25%) of the commons is the Digital Learning Center. It offers a nearly 200 station Exam Commons, currently the largest in the Big 10. Several smaller testing centers were closed as a result. The Exam Center another popular place in the commons, due to longer hours and more stations, keeping students from having to wait in line during busy times.
- We had been selecting small groupings of furniture as needed over the years, but selecting enough furniture to fill 21,000 square feet and seat over 300 students was a new challenge. We knew that students wanted “serious” furniture, as they consider their college experience their job and they wanted furniture and the environment to reflect that transition from high school to college work. They also wanted a variety of types of seating…some lounge, some desks or work tables, some collaborative and mobile, with lots of electrical outlets. Briefly, we learned that asking for the assistance of our procurement officer and furniture vendors is a must (do not order furniture out of catalogs!), the more double-rubs the better, light colored fabrics look nice, but are hard to maintain and be aware that many seats will go unused because students who don’t know each other won’t sit with each other. Plan your seating accordingly. We separated the commons into three sections while selecting furniture. The area on the right is on the perimeter of our quiet study room and is usually an extension of that space. The upper left is part of our more collaborative quadrant and the lower left illustrates two of our study rooms. Three of the walls in each room are a writeable surface, they are very soundproof, so discussions stay in the rooms and to not “jump” from room to room and each contains a 60” screen that can be used wirelessly by Macs and PCs for collaborative work.
- The upper right hand picture is of our quiet study room. It has traditional library tables, chairs and lamps with comfortable, but not movable tables and chairs around the perimeter. The lower right includes our two-sided fireplace. This is a popular spot year round. The picture on the left is in the NE quadrant. It contains more mobile furniture and is where a lot of the programming Regina will be talking about takes place.