University Libraries and Space in the Digital World

Librarians have been reinventing themselves and their buildings for the last 20 years. Digital resources and services have moved many of the so‐called core activities into offices, homes and more recently into pockets and purses onto machines formerly known as mobile phones. In universities, the library buildings form a very significant and visible part of the institution's real estate and low occupancy rates are no longer acceptable and are seen as not being cost‐effective.

This very useful and timely volume is a collection of essays by some of those who have been leading the change, both by repurposing existing premises and with new builds. The individual essays are well edited so that they read coherently and as a single whole. The main chapters are neatly bracketed by an historical review of library buildings beginning with the library of clay tablets at Nineveh (c. 630BCE) and by an essay looking into the future written by the editors, Matthews and Walton.

While the authors do describe their buildings to some extent (there are no photographs), the emphasis in the main is focused on the processes and the management techniques used to achieve a successful outcome. As the preface puts it: “[…] university libraries find they are promoting and encouraging user behaviour and actions that ten years ago library staff invested much time and effort in deterring.” So there are a lot of hearts and minds to be won among the range of stakeholders and most of the authors tell of their experiences in communicating the reasons behind the proposed radical changes.

The phrases “student experience” and “putting the student first” are repeated throughout the volume, reflecting the changes at institutional level and the increasing numbers in higher education. Equally, the move to self‐service for as many activities as possible and the recognition of different individual learning styles with the increasing emphasis on learning in social groups are also key drivers for the changes.

Sheila Cannell describes how the 1960s Edinburgh University Library building has had “the builders in” for ten years while each area in turn was transformed. Chris Banks emphasises the need to widen the range of stakeholders to include those outside the university to justify and give ownership for a new building in Aberdeen. Leo Appleton describes how a “super‐converged” operation has been implemented in Liverpool John Moores University, bringing together many student services to share the space of a redeveloped single building. In Liverpool and the other universities he refers to, the drivers have been the student experience and the need to utilise all available space. This chapter also usefully highlights the different service offerings of the pre‐converged units and how they must be addressed post‐convergence so as to provide a unified service to the student.

A useful chapter by Jon Purcell reminds us that planning for staff space is important for success but often neglected. An interesting case study from Finland reports on observations of student behaviour: while there is a good spread into group activities and computer usage, there is still a majority quietly studying on their own, Monday to Thursday. The contributors to the book all continue to recognise this and the need to maintain “traditional” library space along with the new. A chapter by Peter Jameson reviews the “reimaging” of the library as the “learning space” by the university, providing a wide range of environments – some of which work and some that have been abandoned soon after their introduction.

Other essays review the influence of technology on space, the continuing need to store and make available print, the place of the research student and how buildings should address sustainability and “Green” issues.

The individual chapters have comprehensive bibliographies and taken as a whole, the volume provides a comprehensive survey of the topic right up to current practice by a group of exceptionally experienced professionals. A good read!