The Learning Commons: Seven Simple Steps
Use these seven steps to transform your library into a learning commons.
Use these seven steps to transform your library into a learning commons.
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Step Two: The Mindset ShiftWhy do we need a library now if I have a mobile device with better, more current information than is available in my school library? The information on my device is interactive. I can read books, do research, type a paper, communicate with experts, chat with friends… all of the things a traditional library provided for me-- but I can do all of these things on my phone now! from Starbucks or my classroom or my bedroom. I love posing that idea to school librarians. How have you changed what you're doing to address this? If you've moved to a learning commons you are thinking about your space more as a lab than as a place to take care of books and computers. Students are now creators of information and new knowledge and less consumers of it.
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Step Three: Connect Users with InformationThe Dewey Decimal System is a wonderful classification system, but a very flawed access system - especially for our youngest users. Library users report having trouble finding the information they need because call numbers are confusing, the topics they were looking for are not shelved together adequately, and they feel intimidated by a classification system the don’t understand. We all need to keep in mind that today’s learners are looking for information on-demand and forcing students to look up topics in an OPAC, figure out the code for the location of the book, and go locate the title within the complicated system. We all agree that the DDC is not a life skill that students need in order to succeed in life. We should all be making our best efforts to help our students access the information they need in a simple way.
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Step Four: Consider Library Space as a Resource
It is crucial that we begin to think of our space AS a resource not just a space FOR resources. In order to do that in a way that is best for our users, we can create a variety of collaborative and solitary spaces. Providing resources within our spaces, like whiteboards, mobile furniture, puzzles, green screens, and silent reading areas will make our spaces more necessary for all of our different types of users. |
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Step Five: Promote Innovation
Providing students with spaces and resources in which they can create instead of consume is the first step to promoting innovation in the learning commons. Making sure students have access to devices like digital cameras, voice recorders, digital video cameras and the other tools students need to create their own content is crucial. Once students have access to spaces and resources the next step is to create some simple programs and trust students to work independently. |
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Step Six: Use Student Expertise
Creating an army of student experts will benefit everyone in the school. We do this by leveraging the skills that today’s students have to increase services in the learning commons. Find students who are experts in video production, troubleshooting printers, and creating virtual spaces and put them to work in your school by setting up a Genius Bar or Help Desk staffed by students. By doing this we empower our students and solve technology challenges. |
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Step Seven: Provide a Virtual Learning Commons
Creating a great virtual learning commons is vital to the success of any school. The big rules of virtual learning commons design is to focus on users. The info is for them, and if they can’t find what they need in a couple of clicks and independently, they will go somewhere else….FAST! To find out how students use a library website, spend some time watching students accessing the databases, searching for a book in the catalog, or locating resources for a research project. It is also crucial that the virtual space become more participatory for students so they will want to come back. |
