Library as Place: What Performing Arts Students Value Most Joe Clark Kent State University Music Library Association’s 83 rd Annual Meeting Atlanta, GA Feb. 28, 2014

Comprehensive Study of Spaces & Services Why: shrinking resources forthcoming minor renovations To better serve student needs Questions: Why do students come to the library? What services/resources do they most value? What spaces are most important to students? Three-pronged approach: Observational data collected from the last year Survey Focus Groups

Background Kent State is a public research university located in NE Ohio, with 28,000+ students The Performing Arts Library (formerly the Music Library) is a branch library. 2 nd busiest of the 13 university libraries In addition to students from the Schools of Music and Theatre and Dance, many speech pathology and nutrition students use the facilities

Library Layout Five major areas, providing a variety of spaces Two computer labs not run by the library A lobby area that doubles as a circulation area A reading room, with non-circulating collections, technology, and a variety of patron areas Two group rooms Collection room, with compact shelving, four study carrels, and open study space

Circulation Area – Entering Library

Circulation Area – Booth View

Circulation Area – Desk View

PC Lab

Mac Lab

More Mac Lab

Reading Room

More Reading Room

Reading Room cont…

The Reading Room’s BIG Tables

Soft Seating in the Reading Room

Group Rooms

Collection Room – Open Space

Collection Room – Study Carrels

Collection Room - Collections

Observational Data Every hour on the half hour students sweep the library, noting where patrons are within the library Limitations: not noting what patrons are doing, just where they are going. Today’s data are from the entirety of the fall 2013 semester Over 11,000 “counts” last semester

Where They Go:

Computer Usage – Where They Go

PC Lab Takes the Gold Medal

Reading Room - Silver Medal

Mac Lab gets the Bronze

Takeaways Students were as likely to be at the booth in the circulation room as in either group study room (Circulation room=477, both group rooms=444) Ninety-one percent of students went to an “open” space; group rooms accounted for 4% while carrels comprised 5% of student usage Study carrels get more use than group rooms One-third is for computer lab use

Circulation Area

Survey Two-pager on one sheet IRB approved Completion time approximately 7 minutes Incentivized with five $50 amazon giftcards Administered over a two-week period 105 valid surveys On to the results…

Survey Demographics

Survey Results: Mac vs PC

Survey – Personal Computing

Preferred Library Space

“Library space & technology is more important than library services & collections”

“Expert help with library resources is important for my success as a student”

“A strong library collection is important to my success as a student”

“I come to and use the library alone”

“I come to and use the library with others”

Study Spaces in Rank Order

Technology in Rank Order

Services in Rank Order

Importance of Quiet Study Space

Importance of Group Study Enclosed

Importance of Group Study Space in an Open Area

Importance of Soft Furniture

Importance of Large Tables

Importance of Computer Availability

Importance of Scanning, Printing, and Copying

Importance of Staff Help

Importance of Student Help

Importance of Library Events

What Do They Do in the library?

For All Majors, in Rank Order:

Conclusions Very important items include: Quiet study space Open space (over rooms or study carrels) Strong library collection Expert help from librarians Access Most students have laptops, and we should support them (chargers and wireless printing), but computers and printers are still KING Most come to the library along

Spaces Variety of spaces is important, but strong preferences exist for a quiet environment with avaibility of large tables and soft furniture Group rooms and study carrels are important pieces of our library’s space puzzle, but clearly are not preferred by most students

Next Steps Two focus groups with performing arts students Continue to analyze the data by age, class standings, gender, and other variables Conduct a survey/focus group study of branch libraries and their importance to students; compare and contrast results with this (and previous) studies

Thank you! Questions/Discussion?