Building Toward Student Success: Reed Library
An Academic Commons in Daniel Reed Library
Provided by Brightspot
“A long terraced library, both spatially and programmatically, constitutes the heart of the school.” --Pei Cobb Freed Partners, "The Academic Center at SUNY Fredonia," 1968.
Constructed in 1969, the Daniel A. Reed Library is the centerpiece of the I.M. Pei & Partners Facilities Master Plan for the State University of New York at Fredonia. Comprising 42,500 square feet, the library is visible from almost every other academic building in the area. Facing Mason Hall and the academic quadrangle to the west, the front entrance to Reed Library, with its monumental concrete stairs, extensive glazing, and monolithic convex roof, provides a striking iconic image for the college. Inside the library, the spacious reading room creates one of the most impressive interior rooms on campus. In 1991, the Carnahan Jackson Learning Center was constructed as an addition to the Reed Library, expanding stack capacity for Reed and creating specialized program spaces.
Despite its iconic modern design, the current configuration of Reed Library is no longer suitable for the needs of twenty-first century users. Like all libraries, Reed Library is experiencing unprecedented change in the information landscape. A report on Redefining the Academic Library (EAB, 2011) describes “a confluence of shifts in technology, changing user demands, and increasing budget pressures” that are forcing academic libraries to “either adapt or risk obsolescence.”
For almost a decade, the campus has been engaged in discussions about how to reimagine Reed as a twenty-first century space. In 2010, Gibian Design Group prepared an interior space planning report for a learning commons in Reed Library that would “provide appropriate seamless physical adjacencies that will enable and encourage students (the community patrons, staff and faculty) to use the learning tools available at the Reed Library to increase their learning outcomes.” The 2011 campus Facilities Master Plan, states:
While much of Reed Library was appropriately designed for its programmatic function, trends in undergraduate library usage and the rise of electronically stored information have made several of the building’s premises obsolete. Large areas of book stacks are no longer required (or used) and demand for computer work stations has greatly increased. Furthermore, academic libraries now often serve as campus social centers, usually with significant areas of comfortable seating and amenities such as study spaces and cafés. Given these trends, Reed Library is not making the best use of its space, and is in need of reprogramming and upgrades to its interior. Opportunities exist to reduce the number of stacks, take advantage of its flexible open plan for workstation and seating accommodations, and capitalize on the power of its grand space as well as its central location.
The primary goal of this project is to create a highly collaborative and integrated learning environment to support the academic success of students. The project is a key component of Fredonia’s recruitment and retention goals in its strategic enrollment management plan. One of the institution’s retention strategies is to “reimagine campus spaces to encourage and support engagement among faculty, staff, and students,” which includes renovating specific “campus space in support of student success.” The Reed Library Academic Commons project involves the physical renovation of the library to support student success through the creation of flexible learning spaces. The proposed project will transform the university both physically and philosophically into a learner-centered campus focused on student success. The Academic Commons will allow the library to rezone its floor plan to establish quiet study and active, noisy zones as well as redistribute front-of-house and back-of-house services. Redistributing and rezoning the library will make services more accessible and easily navigable for students, faculty, and staff.
The concept of an academic commons has been developed primarily in the last ten to fifteen years from an information commons, which integrated the library and computer labs, to “a flexible environment built to accommodate multiple learning activities” (Educause, “The Modern Learning Commons”). At Fredonia, the Academic Commons will be the hub for intellectual exchange and support for student academic success. It will be a reimagining and renovation of the existing library, as well as the collocation of several existing services on campus, to provide students, faculty and staff with ready access and support for their academic endeavors. The Reed Library Academic Commons will integrate the functions of library and research support with student support services. It will be a place for students, faculty and staff to gather in flexible learning spaces to meet, study, conduct research, and discuss ideas. While the Learning Commons will be an ideal space for face-to-face learning outside the classroom, it will also be able to accommodate virtual meetings through technology. The learning spaces will be flexible, designed to accommodate small group discussions, impromptu help sessions, and faculty “office” hours. It will have extended hours so that students who want to study into the evening have access to a safe, well-lighted, “wired” space. Like the coffeehouse of the 18th century European city, it will be a lively place for faculty, students and staff to discuss ideas over a cup of coffee.
The Reed Library Academic Commons will strategically deploy technology to facilitate intellectual inquiry and learning by individuals and groups. Support for technology will be available throughout the Academic Commons by dedicated and cross-trained staff. Unlike the computer labs of the 1990s, the Academic Commons will have computer workstations throughout, designed to facilitate both individual and collaborative inquiry. While fixed technology such as computer workstations will be an essential element of the “real” Academic Commons, mobile computing will create a “virtual” Academic Commons, extending the services of the library and learning assistance to students beyond campus and connecting students with faculty, staff and other resources via social networking.