SPEC Kit 342: Next-Gen Learning Spaces · 15
an area of experimentation and libraries use a variety
of established assessment strategies.
The Future of Library Learning Spaces
Most responding libraries (60, or 84%) have plans to
make significant changes to at least one of their learn-
ing spaces in the near future, including adding class-
rooms, labs, collaborative study spaces, and maker-
spaces, along with removing collections. Other, more
rarified expansions include digital studios, visualiza-
tion labs, and other support for particular student
learning and productivity strategies specific to disci-
plines or curriculum changes. There were few men-
tions of print collections other than removing them
from the library even the repurposing of a Special
Collections reference room involving historical presses
would focus on demonstrations and lectures.
Information technology, interdisciplinary collab-
orative learning, community, and support for new
pedagogical strategies were common responses
when survey respondents were asked to envision
the role of Next-Gen learning spaces in the future of
research libraries.
Conclusion
The Next-Gen learning space is a resource and fo-
rum for the whole campus, providing the space and
tools for instruction, scholarly communication, and
pedagogical experimentation by students, faculty,
and staff. Libraries continue to experiment in these
spaces, inspired by their own observations of library
use and by the aspirations of library partners, as new
jobs are created to respond to pedagogical changes
and emerging multidisciplinary curriculum needs,
new spaces are created to accommodate new tools and
work styles, and libraries strive to “model the behavior
of the scholar in the digital age.”
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