University libraries turn a page in meeting modern student needs
New digital centers, cardio desks among enticing innovations
College students no longer need to hit the gym to pedal an elliptical or exercise bike. At Texas A&M and Rice universities, students can get their cardio at the campus libraries.
The colleges spent about $3,100 combined on desk bikes and under-desk pedals this year, part of a growing effort to keep libraries relevant to a generation of students for whom information never has been bound to a dusty book.
The adjustments are part of a dramatic reshaping of the very definition of a library for students and other visitors.
“Libraries typically used to be the gatekeepers to knowledge — in the olden days, the stacks were closed,” said Susan Goodwin, associate dean for user services at A&M. “Now, I see us as a gateway. We are facilitators to bring (students) to other experts.”
Campuses across the state are pouring money into renovating libraries, adding study rooms, café-like booths and, yes, exercise machines so students can multi-task while studying.
Librarians have shuttled books off-site as circulation has dropped, opening up floor space for clubs to gather or for makerspace centers to build electronics or use a 3D printer.
A need for libraries to innovate, of course, is not exclusive to college campuses. Municipal and county libraries across Texas and the country have swapped bookshelves for computers, added cafes and provide a slate of community events in a bid to make them more attractive for today’s consumers.
But universities have an added urgency to keep up: faster turnover in user demographics as each successive class enrolls and graduates.
“Every year, there’s a new group of students coming in,” said Debra Kolah, head of user experience at Rice University’s Fondren Library. “You have to learn what these new students need to be successful.”
Along with the under-desk ellipticals, Rice has added standing desks and a room for nursing
“Every year, there’s a new group of students coming in. You have to learn what these new students need to be successful.” Debra Kolah, head of user experience at Rice University’s Fondren Library
mothers this year. Students low on cellphone juice can check out a charger from the library, and if it rains unexpectedly, umbrellas are available for loan.
Changing, too, are the functions of the library staff. The University of Texas at Austin hired a data management specialist to work with campus researchers. A&M’s librarians no longer expect to answer questions that can be Googled. Now, they teach visitors how to navigate online databases or answer deep, subjectspecific research questions.
So far, college libraries’ efforts to stay relevant appear to be effective. Sixty-four percent of students surveyed in 2015 by EBSCO Information Services, a library consulting company, said they used library resources for research.
Checking out books, however, no longer is a draw. Research libraries’ circulation dropped 58 percent from 1991 to 2015, while the total number of students enrolled rose 40 percent, according to the Association of Research Libraries.
UT-Austin’s libraries saw circulation, excluding e-books, drop from 1.9 million in 2007 to about 242,500 in 2017 through early December. At the University of Houston, circulation — excluding course reserves, renewals and e-books — dropped from 129,403 in the 2006-07 academic year to 76,978 in 2016-17.
Luis Rodriguez, a 21-year-old UH junior, goes to the library to study.
It’s often packed, he said, adding that he “can see the justification” for campuses’ spending on libraries.
But he perceives the library’s books as “old” and “outdated” and says he’d prefer to search for scientific articles online. Offering open houses
The first step to encouraging library use is getting new students in the door, staff acknowledge.
Marketing campaigns, open houses, even integrating the library into the campus tour aim to teach students about resources they could find on-site. Campuses across the state have social media accounts for their libraries, posting photos and event listings.
UH’s library Twitter account earlier this month shared photos of dogs brought in for a pre-finals relaxation event.
About 3,000 students come to a Texas A&M library open house for food and beverages each fall, Goodwin said.
“It’s anxiety-provoking to come into a building our size for the first time and ask a question,” she said, adding that many A&M students come from small Texas towns.
During orientation, new UT-Austin students meet a first-year experience librarian, who explains what the library has to offer.
“I always encourage them to make a librarian their best friend forever,” said Lorraine Haricombe, vice provost and UT libraries director. “It’s a resource that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.” Getting with the program
Some students don’t receive the message.
Reagan Hahn, a 21-year-old junior at Rice who works as a library ”ambassador,” said many of her peers are “pretty unfamiliar” with what the library offers.
Hahn, who studies kinesiology, said students use Fondren for group homework projects or as a meeting place.
The library needs to stay in tune with what students want to remain relevant, she said.
Rice’s efforts to renovate Fondren, perhaps typify the lengths to which universities will go to keep the facility in touch with student needs.
In 2005, Rice redesigned Fondren’s west entrance, conceptualizing a “main street” through the center of the first floor to accommodate a high volume of student traffic.
Overhead is an art installation — glass blue, yellow and red boats form Lino Tagliapietra’s “Endeavor,” created in 2008.
Kolah later started leading user experience efforts at Fondren. Her office now surveys Rice’s students and holds focus groups, asking how the library could better serve their needs.
A digital media center, complete with podcast stations and a graphics lab, nestled into the library’s basement in 2014, the same year @fondrenlibrary sent its first tweet.
The reading room was renovated in December 2015. Administrators added cubicles with cushioned chairs and bar tables, scattered around the room.
Smaller changes came throughout. Students can scribble on new glass tables on the quiet sixth floor with dry-erase markers available for reserve from the library.
Elsewhere in the building, what once was a computer lab now is a conference room.
“If you are making sure you’re creating spaces that are relevant to the next generation, you will continue to be utilized,” Kolah said. There still is work to do, she added.
The Asian reference alcove, for example, still holds stacks of books and journals.
“In the near future, will this change? Yes,” she said, adding that one possible use could be a space for graduate student collaboration. “It doesn’t mean the books are not important. (But) space is one of the most valuable commodities. What could this be to make our students more successful?” Starting fresh with new site
Texas Southern University is starting from scratch with $43 million in construction on a new library to replace its existing one. Janice Peyton, executive director of TSU’s library, says it will be a “tech-rich” environment.
Tenants of the facility will be TSU’s distance and online education divisions and tutoring. Administrative offices and a board room also will be in the new space, which is expected to be completed in summer 2019, she said.
“Traditionally libraries have been more one-fits-all,” Peyton said. “Now, I think we’re getting more into understanding that learners learn in a variety of styles at different times. That’s what they’re asking for.”
Books will occupy parts of two of five stories in the new library. Staff members have weeded out 40,000 books as they prepare to move, Peyton said, looking at how frequently and recently they have been taken out.
TSU placed these books in a staging area for passers-by to take on campus. Peyton said she is looking into remote storage but called that “expensive.”
“It’s a very emotional topic,” Peyton said. “We are in a period right now where books and e-resources will coexist.”