ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 100 / C&RL News ■ February 2003 N EW REALITIES, NEW RELATIO NSHIPS Transforming the delivery of service The joint-use library and information commons by Charles Kratz T he new realities that are facing academic libraries today are challenging the profes­ sion to rethink service roles and define n models of service delivery. This reevaluation of roles provides opportunities for cultivating new relationships on our campuses and in our communities. In these times of libraries being marginalized in the digital age, it becomes most critical to maintain the importance and rel­ evance of academic libraries as places of intel­ lectual life and centers o f activity. Two service models, “joint-use libraries” and “information commons” offer academic libraries unique, at­ tractive service delivery options to help librar­ ies rethink the library as a place for different types of learning and collaboration. J o in t - u s e lib r a r ie s A joint-use library can be defined as “a library in which two or more distinct library services providers … serve their client groups in the same building, based on an agreement that specifies the relationship between the provid­ ers.”1 While the field has not readily embraced this form o f client-focused cooperation, the idea continues to grow internationally. Prior to the 1990s, the history of joint-use libraries focused on school/public library cooperation. More recently, new development has taken place About the author Charles Kratz is library dean at the University o f Scranton and director o f information resources customer service and training, e-mail: kratzc1@scranton.edu ew in the academic/public library arena in Austra­ lia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Sweden, and the United States.2 The Hamosand Library in Sweden is an ex­ ample o f a university/public library project. This joint-use development opened in Febru­ ary 2000 with two separate directors, while another Swedish academic and public library, the Almedal Library, opened in Gotland in 2001 with one director but with two employers. The Nova Southeastern University and Broward County joint-use library in Florida was com­ pleted in 2001, and the San Jose State Univer­ sity and the City o f San Jo se project is sched­ uled to open in 2003. A major advantage of the U.S. projects has been the development of i n f o r mation literacy across the community from youth to seniors.3 Other advantages of joint-use projects in­ clude the creation o f a bridge betw een the general public needs and academic needs, the greater collaboration and sharing of resources, the more efficient use o f funding, the exten­ sion o f operating hours, the convenience to users by providing services in one location, more access to staff, and more opportunities for the development of information literacy and life­ long learning. Trends suggest steady growth and interest worldwide. An adequate record of expe­ rience now exists to provide for a greater success mailto:kratzc1@scranton.edu C&RL News ■ February 2003 / 101 rate. However, these projects often do not save on operational, resource, and construction costs.4 In fo rm a tio n co m m ons Shepley, Bulfi nch, Richardson, and Abbott Ar­ chitect Carole Wedge suggests, “There’s a long­ ing for spaces in which to come together and be inspired… something you don’t get from a laptop in Starbucks.”5 The information commons, an innovative concept, is finding its place in many college and university libraries. Also referred to as a virtual commons, information courtyard, tech­ nology courtyard, or information environment, this model usually represents “an exclusively online environment in which the widest pos­ sible variety of digital services can be assessed via a single graphical user interface (GUI) and potentially searched in parallel via a single search engine from any networked worksta­ tion. … and also … a new type of physical facility specifically designed to organize workspace and service delivery around the in­ tegrated digital environment… The Infor­ mation Commons creates an environment where old boundaries are blurred and many constituent activities flow across the old unit divisions.”6 Links to other campus users and units help fight the marginalization of libraries, provide for greater collaboration on our campuses, and furnish space to accommodate different types of learning. The physical arrangement of the information commons and the collaborative units contained therein vary from organization to organization. In some cases they take the form of departments or floors in libraries, while in others they are entire buildings. Most models include an information desk to provide for one-stop shopping and the first point of contact for the units collaborating in the in­ formation commons as well as a state-of-the- art technology and a variety of study spaces for individual/group projects and study. Successful models can be found at Bucknell University, Colorado State University, Emory University, George Mason University, Univer­ sity of Michigan, University of Missouri-Kan sas City, University of North Carolina-Char- lotte, and University of Southern California. The University of Scranton Weinberg Me­ morial Library is looking at a slight variation to the information commons concept by in­ cluding the library’s reference services, the university’s computing help desk, and a new Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE). The latter will offer faculty support of several kinds: writing and teaching collo­ quia, a library of materials about teaching and learning, and individual consultation on class­ room issues and instructional design. The cen­ ter also will offer students several services aimed at enabling them to make the most of their education. Other libraries have built a physical link to their student centers. For ex­ ample, Michigan Technical University has fo­ cused on more collaborative spaces and space for food and cybercafes.7 Joint-use libraries and information com­ mons projects require the desire to rethink ser­ vice delivery models and to create new syner­ gies and relationships; administrative interest and support; collaborative leaders with vision and professional commitment; willingness to meet user needs and expectations; funding for resources, staff, and space needs; a flexibility in the physical space to accommodate chang­ ing user needs; and an empowerment of staff and commitment for ongoing staff training. In planning the library in this age of new realities and relationships, Don Riggs, vice president for information services and univer­ sity librarian at Nova Southeastern University, said it best, “We are only limited by our imagi­ nations.”8 Notes 1. Alan Bundy, “Joint-use Libraries—The Ultimate Form of Cooperation,” http:// www.library.unisa.edu.au/papers/jointuse. htm, 1. 2. Ibid., 5. 3. Ibid., 6. 4. Ibid., 7, 13. 5. Jeff Morris, “The College Library in the New Age,” University Business 5 (October 2002): 27. 6. Donald Beagle, “Conceptualizing an In­ formation Commons, " Jou rn a l o f A cad em ic Librarianship (March 1999), 1,2. (Wilsonweb). 7. Morris, “The College Library in the New Age,” 27. 8. John Lubans Jr., “A Portrait of Collabo­ rative Leadership: Donald E. Riggs and Nova Southeastern University’s Joint-Use Library,” Library Administration & M anagem ent 16 (Fall 2002): 178. ■ http://www.library.unisa.edu.au/papers/jointuse