This paper identifies approaches, challenges, and best practices related to planning and designing today's academic library learning spaces. As part of the Project Information Literacy (PIL) Practitioner Series, qualitative data is presented from 49 interviews conducted with a sample of academic librarians, architects, and library consultants.…

This report is based on a series of presentations at the second CLIR Seminar on "Participatory Design of Academic Libraries," held at the University of Rochester's River Campus June 5-7, 2013. Participatory design is a relatively recent approach to understanding library user behavior. It is based on techniques used in anthropological and…

Despite the recent turmoil in the U.S. economy, most libraries that were tracked by "Library Journal" won their referenda at a rate just slightly lower than 2007. Nearly three-quarters of operating referenda passed. Building referenda under $10 million passed at a whopping 85%, with those over $10 million batting slightly better than…

Many academic libraries have embraced the concept of the information commons or the learning commons. These library spaces consist of collections of tools, services and programs intended to enhance the student learning experience. According to Scott Bennett (2008), an information commons supports learning, while the learning commons…

Twenty-one scholarly papers and fourteen abstracts comprise the content of the ninth annual "Brick and Click Libraries Symposium," held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The peer-reviewed proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future…