1. The Future of the Library As Place – or No Place
Joseph J. Branin
Director of Libraries
The Ohio State University
SOCHE Conference
Dayton, Ohio
January 31, 2007

3. The William Oxley Thompson Memorial (Main) Library

4. Site Plan: Center of Campus

5. Original Building, 1910-1913: Allen & Collins Architects, Boston

6. Original Building, 1913

7. First Addition, Stack Tower and Two Wings, 1948-1952: Howard Dwight Smith, University Architect

8. Second Addition, 1975-1977: Lorenz, Williams, Lively, & Likens Architects

9. The Original Reading Room

10. The Current Reading Room

11. The Grand Reference Hall, 2009 (rendering)

12. Eastern Façade
Second Floor Plan

13. View from the East

14. View from the Southwest

15. New Western Elevation

16. Cross Section of the Renovation Design

17. New Atrium Spaces

18. New Atrium Spaces

19. New Western Reading Room (rendering)

20. Campus Reading Room: Reclaimed space on the top floor of the stacks tower

21. Why Invest in a Library as Place Today?
For important traditional reasons
Central, historical building on campus in need of updating
Print remains and important and often preferred medium for reading and “making sense” of information
The Myth of the Paperless Office by Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper (MIT Press, 2002)
The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid (Harvard Business School Press, 2000)

22. Why Invest in a Library as Place today?
For important new reasons
As centers for training and use in new media and information technology
As community places for cultural programming and literacy education
As social learning space
Individual study and research
Group work
In person interaction of students, faculty, librarians, and information resources

23. Ohio State Colby College

24. Wellesley College

25. Information Commons, Indiana University Libraries

26. Cornell University Library

27. Digital Union

28. ReadAloud

29. Undergraduate Research

30. Open Reserve Textbooks

31. Libraries Key in Shaping Students' College Choice
A new study by the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers reveals that more than half the students surveyed ranked the condition of a university's libraries near the top of their list of reasons for choosing a college
Only lower than facilities related to specific majors
Higher than classrooms, dorms, rec centers, student unions, cafeterias
Facilities Manager March/April 2006

32. Extremely or Very Important Facilities in the Selection Decision Process
Facilities Manager
March/April 2006

33. Thompson Library Renovation: Timetable and Cost
9 Year Project
2000 to 2002 Feasibility Study (URS/SBRA)
2003 to 2006 Design (Acock/Gund)
2006 to 2009 One Phase Construction (Turner/Smoot)
Temporary quarters at 600 Ackerman Rd. and Sullivant Hall
$108 Million Cost ($78 in State appropriations and $30 in private fund raising)
$73M in construction
$35M in furnishings, fixtures, civic improvements, landscaping, design fees

34. Breaking the Bounds of Place: Digital Information Services
Document delivery: information to the office or desktop
Networked reference tools, journals, and books-- the OhioLINK connection
Discovery through Internet search engines, web sites, local catalogs
Campus enterprise-wide digital information support services (a tool kit for library assistance in research and learning)

35. Breaking the Bounds of Place: Digital Information Services (cont.)
Campus enterprise-wide digital information support services
Knowledge Bank digital repository service
OSU:pro expertise system
Copyright management
Course management system and e-reserves
Media Manager
Database construction and data curation

36. A Great University – A Great Library