Learning Commons Update
David T.S. Leighton
Associate University Librarian [Westchester]
In February 2005, the Senior Library Management Team met with the President and Provost to present a comprehensive overview of the Pace Library's 21st century projects and initiatives as we continue to build the digital library. The session included a presentation and ensuing discussion on the Learning Commons, an innovative paradigm for integrative service delivery, which is becoming an increasingly prominent feature of modern academic libraries. The Commons offers an amalgam of tightly coordinated academic support services, technology-enhanced teaching and learning spaces, and advanced multi-media production capabilities to create a compelling one stop destination and immediate referral for students and faculty.
Both the President and Provost embraced the Learning Commons concept due to its clear alignment with the main precepts of the University's Strategic Plan and the vital impact that its development and implementation on the Westchester and NYC campuses would have on student persistence and retention. In his State of the University Address delivered on March 14, 2005, the President identified the Library's proposal for the Learning Commons as a capital funding priority.
In April 2005, a Core Management Team was formed to develop a shared vision for creating, implementing, staffing, and operating a physical and virtual Learning Commons in both the Westchester and New York City libraries. The group consists of the primary stakeholder departments, namely: the Pace Library, Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology, Dyson Writing Center, Center for Academic Excellence, and the Division of Information Technology. The group has engaged in lively deliberations, achieved a consensus on a mission-vision statement, and reviewed the contents of a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) which will be used to recruit an experienced architect.
On September 1, an approved RFP document was sent out to a list of architectural firms, considered viable candidates for this important assignment. Members of the Core Management Team will participate in the interviewing and selection process and work closely with the architect in developing concept models and design specifications, cost projections, construction priorities and prospective timeframes. The University has adopted an aggressive program timetable for this multi-year project with site construction tentatively scheduled to begin in Westchester during Spring of 2006. It is anticipated that the Mortola Library building renovations will be substantially completed by late summer 2006. During 2006 efforts will focus on planning and developing a similar facility in the Birnbaum Library on the NYC campus, with implementation again staggered on a multi-year timetable.
Steve Feyl, Head of Research & Information Services/Westchester is spearheading the LC initiative in Westchester and his counterpart at the Birnbaum Library in NYC will be Eileen Gatti, Reference Librarian. This Fall the Pace Library will schedule information sessions and engage in other outreach efforts to explain the Learning Commons concept and rationale and engender an open dialogue and exchange of ideas on how the Learning Commons could manifest itself as an integral part of the educational experience. Please watch for future dates for "Commons Information Sessions." You may also complete one of the surveys available in the library to give us your ideas on what you see as part of a Learning Commons.
Please keep an eye out for Learning Commons Information tables in the Kessel Campus Center throughout the Fall Semester.
Members of the Pace Community are also encouraged to visit the new Learning Commons Web blog, developed by Steve Feyl and Carlos Serrano, which contains an ongoing chronology of the Learning Commons' project, future updates, the minutes of the Core Management Team Meetings, planning documents, and other related materials.
The web address is as follows:
[ LINK:: http://libtech.typepad.com/commons/ ]