1. Virginia Tech University Libraries Discovery Teams Spring 2012 Team Members Beth Alley Ladd Brown Dennis Herron Margaret Merrill Marie Williams Team Theme/Topic Facing the Future: Group Study

2. KEY OBSERVATIONS RELATED TO YOUR THEME (5-6 major trends) Power Wireless Food Variety of Study Space Convenience of Location

3. SURPRISING OBSERVATIONS / COMMENTS (3-5 unexpected things that you encountered) The floor is cool (temp) Library is too loud Freshmen First Timers (late in the semester)

4. “WHY THIS SPACE?” (3-5 qualities that students preferred) Power Wireless Food & Water

5. “WHY OTHER SPACES?” (3-5 qualities that students preferred other locations) Comfortable seating Less noisy Better wireless

6. “WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS SPACE?” (or with tools) (activities, process, how are they using the space/tools) Laptops Whiteboards Group study space Large tables Quiet study space

7. THINGS TO FOLLOW-UP ON (3-5 things that need more research) Mixed reports on the wireless Increase the Study Café hours Improve the water fountains

8. ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SHARE Even though we were sensitive to this, we interrupted almost every group that we approached: the groups were extremely focused; very serious about their work. Often-crowded Newman is used for group projects, but wherever there are tables, chairs, one or more outlets, and sometimes food, students will congregate there. Some things we can do better than other group study locations are: be open later (which we are with 24x5) create more group space / flexible group space be a safe environment get the word out about all of that!

9. PHOTOS