This descriptive qualitative study explores undergraduate students' experiences of physical academic libraries to identify possible connections between physical academic library environments and students' affective experiences. Drawing on a combination of theoretical perspectives focused on how humans understand, navigate, and respond to space and place within Library and Information Science (LIS) and related disciplines, this phenomenologically oriented qualitative study builds on a critical analysis of the ways in which concepts related to how undergraduate students' affective experiences, and library anxiety in particular, have been understood within the field of library and information science (LIS). Utilizing a survey, one-on-one interviews, and a new cognitive mapping method developed for this project, this study interrogates how understanding within the field of LIS aligns with the reality of today's student library users' affective experiences, understandings, and expectations of academic libraries. This study is the first step in assembling a new framework for conceptualizing academic libraries in a way that takes affective experience into account and better aligns with the reality of students' experiences in physical academic libraries. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]