Library Space Transformed
Learning spaces. The academic library is reinventing itself as a learning space for 21st century students and faculty. A generation of students now enters higher education having embraced online, mobile, anytime, anywhere access to information. At the center of an academic community that increasingly values intellectual collaboration among faculty and students, and learning in and out of the classroom, the 21st century academic library continually recreates itself as a place that fosters curiosity, engagement, collaboration, and lifelong learning.
Community engagement. The library user community can be a rich source of planning information. It is important to ask library users what they want from the library, and whether or not they are getting it, with the aim of continually refreshing and renewing library spaces to enhance learning, inspire scholarship, and foster community.
User experience. There is inspiration and value to be found in the best practices and innovations of the commercial, retail and even entertainment sectors. We have all been customers, and can rethink our approach to designing services and facilities based on a deeper and more nuanced understanding of that shared customer experience.
Education and lifelong learning. Inspiring and supporting individual, group and community experiences that produce lifelong memories, and inform thought and behavior long after those experiences are over, is as good a working definition of the enterprise of higher education as one might hope to find. The 21st century academic library will continue to be a central component of that enterprise.
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
- Thirty-five years of experience in academic and research libraries
- Project manager for many library construction and renovation projects
- Library juror for architecture and interior design awards
- Published author and consultant; regular presenter at conferences, workshops and institutes
SERVICES FOR ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES
- Visioning and programming for new construction, additions, renovation and remodeling
- Planning staff and user community engagement including meetings, workshops, and surveys
- Developing technology-enabled group and collaborative learning spaces
- Planning for collections including compact shelving and high density offsite facilities
- Reviewing and evaluating building program documents, design drawings, and specifications