Teaching Through Space Design:
The Symbolic Power of Academic Libraries in the 21st Century
Kelly Miller
April 12, 2016
Members of a photography club at the University of Miami advertising
their club’s activities at an annual “Involvement Fair” on the Foote Green
outside Richter Library.

WARM-UP ACTIVITY

Library as “BrainSpa”
“Splatter,” a student organization at the University of Miami, donated chalkboard boxes
to help furnish a prototype “BrainSpa” at Richter Library, where students can engage in
creative activities that provide inspiration and stress relief.

Learning is personal and social
Kelly Miller reflected on her experience playing youth soccer in the early
‘80s and what it taught her about learning. Audience participants also
were given an opportunity to reflect on their own learning experiences.

“We propose that educational
environments are most powerful when
they offer students these fundamental
conditions: a feeling of inclusion and a
sense of security, engaging mechanisms for
involvement, and the experience of
community.”
C. Carney Strange and James H. Banning, Designing for
Learning: Creating Campus Environments for Student Success,
2nd ed. (2015).

LECTURE (WITH PICTURES AND STORIES)

Your questions:
• How can library space design enhance
scholarship?
• How can the library’s “curriculum” – that is,
our instructional goals – be incorporated
into the library’s physical spaces?

Learning Together
The University of Miami’s new president, Dr. Julio Frenk, learns how to “throw the U”
from students. In our new culture of learning, experts and novices often exchange roles.

“Only when we care about
experimentation, play, and questions
more than efficiency, outcomes, and
answers do we have a space that is
truly open to the imagination.”
Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown,
A New Culture of Learning (2011)

THREE FRAMES
(Framework for Information Literacy for
Higher Education)
• Research as Inquiry
• Scholarship as Conversation
• Information Creation as a Process

STORY 1

Mr. Jefferson’s University & the Library
In the early 19th-century, Thomas Jefferson designed a university as an “academical
village,” in which faculty and students inhabited and studied together in the same
environment. Jefferson positioned a library – not a church – at the head of this
“academical village.”

Learning is lifelong and hybrid
Students at the University of Virginia have the opportunity to engage directly with
original sources in both physical and digital forms in the context of the library. In the
image on the right, students view a digitized version of a Dunlap Broadside, the first
reproduction of the Declaration of Independence, in the Albert and Shirley Small
Special Collections Library at UVA.

STORY 2

Powell Library @ UCLA
Named after the second university librarian, Powell Library at UCLA is
the university’s original library and is located at the heart of the campus.
It serves primarily undergraduate students, but is open to all in the
university community.

“General Education”
UCLA undergraduate students have the opportunity to fulfill their general education
requirements by completing a series of three courses that makes up a “Freshman
Cluster.” The UCLA Library developed a program that embeds librarians in the teaching
teams of the Clusters to advance research skills.

A key goal of UCLA undergraduate education is to engage students in the research
activities of the university. The Freshman Clusters provide an entry point into the
research community’s interdisciplinary activities on challenging questions.

Research as Inquiry
Mapping research questions gives students the chance to imagine different approaches
to a static “topic.” This type of exercise supports one of the key threshold concepts in the
new Framework for Information Literacy: Research as Inquiry, literally, the asking of
questions, in order to pursue answers.

In 2012, the UCLA Library created the Inquiry Labs in Powell
Library to support a peer-to-peer, consultation-based approach
to research skills support with strong linkages to the Writing
Center. This new learning environment provided a fresh
approach to the traditional reference desk model and has
served to increase use of library research services.

Welcome
Reconsidering the way that students are welcomed into Powell Library was critical to
achieving the vision of the Inquiry Labs. Instead of being greeted by a security guard,
visitors are now welcomed by student employees.

Peer-to-peer with expert assistance nearby
The Inquiry Labs offer research consultations provided by peers, who have been trained
by librarians and graduate students in the Information School. The expert trainers remain
present in the consultation area, so that peer consultants have back-up support when
needed.

Writing Center vs. Reference Desk
At UCLA Library, we learned that the Writing Center was much more successful than the
Library’s traditional Reference Desk. Why? We concluded that the Writing Center was
more successful because it robustly advertises its services, allows users to schedule an
appointment, and provides space for consultations that is conducive to conversation.
Slide Credit: Doug Worsham

Learning from the Writing Center, we designed a
research consultation space that includes round
tables, chairs, and access to laptops and monitors.

Round tables + Scheduled & Drop-in appointments =
More conversations about research and writing

Scholarship as Conversation
Another threshold concept in the Framework for Information Literacy is “Scholarship as
Conversation.” The Inquiry Labs model this concept with the design of the physical space:
a space conducive for conversation that occurs over an extended period of time, with
access to trained peers and experts, and technology that encourages collaboration.

New Consultation Service Model
In the first pilot phase of the Inquiry Labs’ launch,
the number and length of research consultations
jumped tremendously.
Slide Credit: Doug Worsham

We also learned that students were willing to use the service again
and were interested in recommending the service to a friend.

In 2016, students
trained to be peer
research consultants
are now embedded in
the General Education
Freshman Cluster
classes at UCLA.

STORY 3

University of Miami Libraries
Learning Commons

“General Education” through “Cognates”
Students at the University of Miami fulfill their general education credits through
“cognates,” a group of three related courses.

Fostering “self-directed” learning
Students are encouraged to search for appropriate cognates by entering key words that
reflect their personal interests and passions.

An opportunity to innovate
UMiami’s Dean of Undergraduate Education, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,
and Dean of Libraries saw an opportunity to replace outdated resources and shelving on
the first floor of the University’s main library and replace it with a ”Learning Commons.”
The Commons enables coordination of academic services to support self-directed
learning promoted in General Education and more broadly in the curriculum.

project process
* = key milestone
The University of Miami engaged brightspot consultants to develop a multi-staged
participatory planning process for the Learning Commons.

Visioning Studio
The outdated shelving was removed from the library and a “Visioning Studio” for the
future Learning Commons was created. On this new “platform,” brightspot led
workshops with students, faculty and others to envision the new Learning Commons.

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4
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Self-guided
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resources
/tutorials
A
ttend
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Enrollin
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orkshop
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onsultindividually
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WHAT DO THEY NEED TO SUCCEED?
ACCORDING TO STUDENTS THEMSELVES
The user survey and intercept interviews show that
Communication skills
Time management, study, and reading skills
Software skills
Research skills
Subject knowledge
To succeed in their courses
Leadership skills
Graphic design skills
ACCORDING TO FACULTY
Communication skills
Critical reading and thinking skills
Research skills
Digital literacy
Independence and perseverance
Collaboration skills
Creative thinking
morementionsfewermentions
HOW DO STUDENTS LIKE TO LEARN?HOW DO STUDENTS LIKE TO LEARN?
Learning a new skill
note: a lower rating
is better
Preferences for consultations
Peer expert
17%
Grad / faculty /
staff expert
45%
No preference
38%
Brightspot found that students and faculty agreed on many of the needs of students,
including the need to improve communication, digital and creativity skills.

Communicate research in new ways
A University of Miami graduate student in music performance presents her research on a 2
century musician and performs examples of her work as part of the presentation. This eve
took place in the Weeks Music Library at the University of Miami.

Create, collaborate, play
Students in the Interactive Media program at Miami demonstrate game they have
designed as part of a course taught at the School of Communication. This event took
place in the Visioning Studio of the future Learning Commons.

Experiment and build
Students working in the Visioning
Studio on an assignment for an
Engineering class.

Work across disciplines
Students at the University of Miami
often choose to study multiple
disciplines at a time. In this instance, a
student of digital photography is also
a student of marine biology.

Address pressing questions
Students in the School of Communication work with students at the School of Marine
and Atmospheric Sciences to address pressing questions relating to climate change and
visualize the results of research in new ways.

Embracing diversity
Students in the School of Architecture
are given a unique first assignment:
research and depict their hometown
city. Here is one example reflecting the
diverse origins of University of Miami
students.

The University of Miami’s
Learning Commons aims to
support the entire learning
and research lifecycle: from
discovery and exploration to
conducting research
individually and
collaboratively, and from
writing and presenting to
sharing and publishing.

Library Research Scholars Program
A signature program of the new Learning Commons is the Library Research Scholars
Program, which gives top students the opportunity to conduct a project of their own
design guided by library faculty mentors.

Information Creation as a Process
As part of the program, students describe their own visions of the research process. The
results reveal the students’ deep understanding of another threshold concept in the new
Framework for Information Literacy: information creation is a process that takes time,
resources, and involves interaction with people.

2015-2016 Library Research Scholars
Seven undergraduate students participated in the Library Research Scholars
program this year. Their projects ranged from the curation of physical and online
exhibits to the creation on online research guides and library programs for
students.

Library Research Scholars & Librarian Mentors
Each of the students are paired with a library faculty member, who provides
mentorship throughout the year. This program offers new opportunities for
librarians to form meaningful relationships with undergraduate students.

“My Experience as a Library Research Scholar”
At the end of the year, the students present their work at a special event attended by
deans, faculty, librarians, family, and friends of the students.

WRAP-UP
Each of the space-types envisioned for our new Learning Commons – and
expressed in the brightspot plan – embodies one or more of the concepts
identified in the Framework for Information Literacy. Here are three of the
space-types and the concepts they support.

Research as inquiry

Scholarship as a conversation

Information creation as a process

Learning is personal, learning is social.
At the beginning of the fall orientation for the Library Research Scholar Program, one
of the Library Research Scholars described the research process in this way. One of
the poignant aspects of this drawing to me is the loneliness or isolation it expresses –
at 5:00 a.m., the student is working by himself as he writes a paper. The Library
Research Scholar Program taught him that he is not alone in the process, but instead
has a network of support made up of experts including librarians and peers.

Inspiration for this talk was drawing from these books, in particular.

Thank you! Questions? @bibezhik
Inspiration for the talk also came from my dog, Pivot, and an anonymous student, who
drew this message on the chalk board boxes in our Visioning Studio for our future
Learning Commons. Please tweet questions or comments to me @bibezhik