Arizona State University Library Writing the Next Chapter in the ‘Future Of Print’; Experimentation Period Underway with “10 Compelling Ideas”

From the ASU Library:

When Hayden Library, Arizona State University’s largest library, re-opens in 2020, its open-stack print collections will have a whole new look.

The future display, curation and delivery of books at ASU, and how those books interact with the heavily digital-dwelling community in which they are present, is the focus of the Future of Print initiative, an exploration into the behaviors, needs and expectations of 21st-century academic library users.

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Shari Laster, head of Open Stack Collections, is now leading the Future of Print into its next phase: experimentation. Here, she discusses these experiments and how they aim to inspire new thinking around the design of inclusive, high-quality and user-focused print collections for research and learning.

An interview (4 questions and answers) with Shari Laster is also part of the ASU Library post. Here’s one of them.

Question: This fall, the library is experimenting with a series of collection experiments. Can you tell us more about them?

Answer: ASU Library has a lot of ideas about how people and books get connected together. We came up with a list we are calling “10 Compelling Ideas” and we’re trying out some of these ideas in different library locations and in other spots on campus. This fall, we have several mini-projects, or experiments, in motion.

Surprise Me! is a collection of poetry and drama at Fletcher Library on the West campus. The books in this collection are being shelved spine-backward in order to invite students to explore an unexpected collection. Another project, Vamos Argentina! Books, Tango and Meteors, is an exciting series of talks and events that will draw attention to the collection of Argentine literature currently housed at Noble Library on the Tempe campus. At the Downtown Phoenix campus, we are featuring Health Humanities Horizons, a collection curated in collaboration with faculty whose research and teaching intersects with the CLAS certificate program in interdisciplinary health humanities.

Read the Complete Interview with ASU’s Shari Laster.

Learn More

ASU Awarded Mellon Grant to Develop Inclusive Library Print Collections (January 3, 2018)

A New White Paper From Arizona St. University Libraries: “The Future of the Academic Library Print Collection: A Space for Engagement” (November 6, 2017)