Learning Commons, 10/10/2014 Meeting Minutes: Phase 2 Planning

Library Learning Commons
10/10/2014 Hill Urbina

Present: Kristen Luschen, Daniel Kojo Schrade, Karina Rosenstein, Jennifer Gunter King, Alana Kumbier, Asha Kinney (notes), Bob Crowley, Marjorie Hutter, Anne Downes, Carl Weber
Absent: Laura Wenk, Jeff Wallen, Carla Costa, Thom Long, Byron McCrae

Proposal for the Library Learning Commons was submitted in January, prioritized in March, and is now listed as a project on the Strategic Plan. This meeting was to think about next six months and regroup.

In May, Jonathan met with Mellon Foundation and we were awarded an Officer’s grant to continue our planning process. Here are the key activities the grant will be used for:

• Visit other liberal arts libraries and spaces
  • Need to decide who, where, when
    • Occidental College
    • https://www.oxy.edu/information-resources/academic-commons-vision
      • Their Academic Commons umbrellas numerous academic services- advising, career services, etc
      • Their Academic Commons was funded by Mellon
    • UCLA Powell Undergraduate library https://www.library.ucla.edu/powell
    • Colorado College Colket Center for Academic Excellence https://www.coloradocollege.edu/colketcenter/
      • Numerous student facing services all in library building https://www.coloradocollege.edu/colketcenter/
    • Many places we could visit locally, less time commitment!
      • Harvard Library Innovation Lab http://librarylab.law.harvard.edu/
      • UMass Amherst Learning Commons & Academic Advising Link http://ualc.umass.edu/advising/academicadvisinglink/
      • Broaden and include other service models – Hospitals or Public Libraries
  • Important to know where others have failed and succeeded
• Explore how integrating services can have transformative effect on institution. We need to decide on service model before we go back to Mellon Foundation for larger grant, and also before we talk to an architect.
  • We can hire Brightspot to come back, Jennifer is in talks with them about when and how.
• This grant supported sending a group from Hampshire’s Learning Commons Steering Committee to the University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library for the CNI Designing Libraries for the 21st Century conference.
  • We will report out on this at future meetings.
• This grant provide some support for bringing in an architect and perhaps technology and media consultant for preliminary designs.

Daniel wonders how project might actually address drawbacks of larger Digital Humanities trends- how do you address the loss of the book for example? Jennifer says emphasis is still on using physical resources in a physical space. Hampshire’s founding documents state that we would “avoid the cultural pathology of print” and wanted the library to be a multi modal space.

Hampshire will go back to Mellon in the future to explore programmatic changes to the library primarily focused around humanities related areas. Staffing & training will be a focus.

Strategic Planning Process Updates: Sharing of preliminary strategic planning document with initial projects listed. These projects are being scoped out in greater detail, they have been approved, costing will be provided to board 11/10 and then capital campaigning will commence. A6 is LLC project, and A8 project is about building up academic support services. Many of the projects listed in the “A” section all tie together.

Robert Crown Center:  Strategic Priority C4 is renovating the RCC into a holistic heath center and tying it in to the LLC.  These two projects will come together in a larger conceptually combined project which is the “Knowledge and Wellness Commons”.

The LLC is farther along we may lead the way and/or prototype concepts that the RCC project could take under advisement. Theme at Designing Library conference was to start small, and fail small and prototype as much as possible. Here in the library we have been prototyping some services ie; the PARC mentors which was a test of having academic support services here, and the Writing Center has held help sessions in the library.

Some LLC-related prototypes are going to move forward in the Airport Lounge with Carla Costa in the lead and she will work with various student groups (HSU, Rehamping) and departments. Kick off meeting October 23rd. In that space we may be able to open up the offices in the back of that space to create quiet and interactive group study space.

Larger campus space decisions will impact the Learning Commons. Committee will look forward to learning more about the prospect of the Multisport Center project creating space for Duplications and Campus Police . 

Committee Composition:

Last year we were charged as an Ad-Hoc steering committee. Going forward we will need an LLC Oversight Committee to make sure project keeps its focus on academic core. The committee composition will adjust to broaden student representation and ensure curricular involvement across the schools.

Moving forward: immediate goals from planning grant are to expose ourselves to what’s happening at other institutions, and to being process of developing our service and space plans. Which to do first? Jennifer thinks it is probably wise to meet with BrightSpot and get our service model outlined, THEN go visit other institutions when we can really talk with them about their project and how it relate to ours. Most agree!

Next Steps:

• Committee will be modestly recomposed for this next phase of planning to adjust for committee members other commitments and a desire for more student representation and cross-curicular representation
• Jennifer will schedule monthly meetings and will post the meeting schedule on the LLC blog.
• Next meeting we will hear about APL prototyping projects.
• Jennifer is going to talk to Brightspot about plan of work with them.
• Committee members will plan some local field trips as noted above.