1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Circulation Area – Entering Library

6. Circulation Area – Booth View

7. Circulation Area – Desk View

8. PC Lab

10. Mac Lab

11. More Mac Lab

12. Reading Room

13. More Reading Room

15. Reading Room cont…

16. The Reading Room’s BIG Tables

17. Soft Seating in the Reading Room

18. Group Rooms

20. Collection Room – Open Space

21. Collection Room – Study Carrels

22. Collection Room - Collections

23. 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

24. Where They Go:

25. Computer Usage – Where They Go

26. PC Lab Takes the Gold Medal

27. Reading Room - Silver Medal

28. Mac Lab gets the Bronze

29. 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

30. Circulation Area

31. 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…

32. Survey Demographics

36. Survey Results: Mac vs PC

37. Survey – Personal Computing

38. Preferred Library Space

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

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

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

42. “I come to and use the library alone”

43. “I come to and use the library with others”

44. Study Spaces in Rank Order

45. Technology in Rank Order

46. Services in Rank Order

47. Importance of Quiet Study Space

48. Importance of Group Study Enclosed

49. Importance of Group Study Space in an Open Area

50. Importance of Soft Furniture

51. Importance of Large Tables

52. Importance of Computer Availability

53. Importance of Scanning, Printing, and Copying

54. Importance of Staff Help

55. Importance of Student Help

56. Importance of Library Events

57. What Do They Do in the library?

58. For All Majors, in Rank Order:

59. 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

60. 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

61. 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

62. Thank you! Questions/Discussion? jclark88@kent.edu