30 | SPECIAL REPORT | CAMPUS SERVICES


forgiven for thinking that they've accidentally entered the offices of an internet start-up, with scores of people siting around and chating while using laptops, tablets and smartphones. Whereas IT suites were once the main threat to library books, both services are now being altered by the mobile age, with architects seeking to create blank canvases of space where people can sit and charge a device, have a coffee, print out their work and read a book all within the same space. The most recent report from Jisc,


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published in 2009, showed that 64.6% of students and lecturers were using e-books, with over half of those interviewed stating that they got their e-books from a library resource. A similar report on the use of research methods stated that 40% of academics use the internet as their first port of call for conducting research. Print resources are becoming less of a priority, while cloud computing and online courses such as FutureLearn are continuing to create an increasingly paperless network of information. Meanwhile, cumbersome pieces of hardware such as photocopiers and servers are disappearing, allowing universities to offset their large carbon footprint while remaining at the forefront of education technology. Architect and Cambridge


"GREAT ARCHITECTURE IS FUNCTIONAL BUT ALSO MAKES PLACES THAT PEOPLE WANT TO BE IN"


lecturer James W. P. Campbell has looked closely at how the spread of information and its corresponding medium affects the design of the university library. In his recent study The Library: A World History, Campbell and photographer Will Pryce comprehensively catalogue the evolution of the library, from the monastic rooms of Trinity Hall at Cambridge to the modernist learning spaces of Utrecht University Library. “Computers have provided a challenge for recent designers,” Campbell said in a private interview. “Some modern libraries are still providing desktops but it seems increasingly likely that students will be expected to use their own


nyone who enters a modern university library looking for a book would be


devices and that these will have beter batery lives and network wirelessly, meaning that older libraries, far from needing radical adaptation, actually turn out to be the more user friendly, providing mixtures of open and more private reading environments.” Much of the final section of


Campbell and Pryce's book is devoted to studying 'The Future of Libraries in the Electronic Age', looking at the way that the dictum of 'form follows function' has played out against technological innovation. “The biggest problem with IT is anticipating future developments,” Campbell said in conversation with University Business. “Anything installed today is likely to be obsolete within five years.” As such, he believes that an architect has to balance functional considerations with a less time- sensitive understanding of aesthetics. “It is a mistake to think you can design a purely functional building. Great architecture is functional and economic but also makes places that people want to be in.” When it comes to planning


new library buildings and refurbishments, some universities are drawing on research from within their own ranks on how to improve the spaces for work and study. A graduate report published in 2005 by New York University looked at ways in which the University could “improve its physical spaces and services to best address the current needs of scholars.” Five years later, architect Joel Sanders implemented the research in refurbishing the university's Elmer Holmes Bobst Library. Along with adding a number of study areas and wireless spaces, the new design of the library's atrium also serves a more morbid purpose: after three suicides in the last decade, the architect created perforated aluminium screens along every floor, preventing students from being able to jump over the 150ft drop to their deaths. In other words, Sanders' design has to accommodate for every use of the library space, whether educational or otherwise. The University of Manchester,


meanwhile, has listened to its students with Eureka!, a Dragons Den-style competition which allows students to pitch ideas for improvements to the university’s library services. Last year's winner Jade Brodie won £1,000 in vouchers and will see her idea for individual log-ins at study desks implemented in the near future. The University has proven to be very forward- thinking when it comes to creating learning spaces; their £24m Alan Gilbert Learning Commons offers a smorgasbord of digital features, from high definition screens with laptop connection points to group study rooms offering inbuilt computers for video conferencing. While Manchester's building


is strictly an all-digital zone, the University of Aberdeen chose to integrate its existing library resources into the high technology spaces at its new Sir Duncan Rice Library during its completion in 2012. The library features a mix of resources, from rare books and manuscripts to flexible learning areas with plasma screens, laptop connection points and moveable furniture. The ground floor houses a café and exhibition space, and the majority of floors feature Co- Labs – IT-ready desk spaces which include a PC and plasma screen with headphone ports. Laurence Bebbington, the University's director of library services, believes


Utrecht image (overleaf): photo by Will Price, taken from Library - A World History


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