UC Davis: University Library of 21st Century Visioning Process Moves Forward With Workshops and Online Survey

From UC (University of California) Davis:

The visioning process for the UC Davis Library of the 21st century is moving full-steam ahead this fall with workshops later this month and an online survey that build on research conducted spring quarter. The earlier research assessed how our library buildings are used today and identified opportunities for improvement. The upcoming workshops will look ahead — introducing new ideas, brainstorming solutions and inviting the community’s response to possibilities for the future.
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“The UC Davis Library has always been a world-class library in the print era, and we are committed to ensuring we remain a world-class library in the 21st century,” University Librarian MacKenzie Smith said. “But doing so will require creative rethinking of what our library can be.”
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The visioning process began during spring quarter with a series of focus groups, interviews and other outreach focused on gauging people’s reactions to existing work and study spaces in libraries and other campus locations, including the Memorial Union, Student Community Center, Silo, Quad and arboretum.
Here’s some of what people liked:

• Convenient location
• Access to food and coffee
• Connection between indoor and outdoor environments
• Natural light
• Variety of seating options for both individual and group work
• “Crossroads” location, where you can see a diverse cross-section of the campus community
• Amenities that support productivity, from electrical outlets to meeting rooms with whiteboards

The outreach also produced these findings about the Shields, Carlson Health Sciences, and Physical Sciences and Engineering library buildings:

• The number of visitors has increased over the past five years, consistent with overall enrollment growth.
• Certain spaces within our library buildings, such as grad student “cages” and faculty carrels, are rarely used.
• Students appreciate the variety of work spaces available, but are looking for greater diversity in seating and ambient noise. In particular, completely silent spaces are hard to find.
• Library users said they’d like to see more electrical outlets, better lighting, more comfortable furniture and air temperatures, and meeting spaces with display technology — to create more productive work spaces.

Learn More About the Visioning Process in the Complete Announcement
See Also:  UC Davis University Library Begins Visioning Process of University Library Space Planning Project (May 3, 2016)

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Interviews, Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Productivity