If they build it, they will come: A student-designed library

Abstract

In the fall of 2007, the author, who works as a reference coordinator at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, was working on a proposal for a January-term course entitled "Library as Place." He wanted students to have a sense of the cultural, historical, and social roles played by libraries and to think about how space and place shape those roles. He also wanted the students to consider the library's role as a "third place" after home and work and the library as a learning commons. The students brought creativity and imagination to the project, questioned accepted practice and tradition, were able to see the library with fresh eyes, and saw only possibility and potential without being bogged down by budget constraints. Adapted from the source document.