The Grand Captain ReverendAshley Johnson, Lori Ross, Cory Upson

The first libraries appeared five thousand years ago in Southwest Asia’s ‘Fertile Crescent,’ the agricultural region reaching from Mesopotamia’s Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the valley of the Nile in Africa. Known as the ‘cradle of civilization,’ the Fertile Crescent was the birthplace of writing, sometime before 3000 BCE.

(Murray, 2009, p. 7)

“The scribe was highly regarded for superior, almost magical, reading and writing skills. His words were a link to the ancestors, to the future, even to the gods themselves” (Murray,p. 14). It is clear that the information that humans record is seen as valuable and worth saving. It was not long after the creation of writing that it was understood by these early civilizations that these writings should be collected and stored. Thus, the library was born.

Is the library more than a place that store information?

Who has access to the information?

“Only in recent human history has there been widespread agreement that people have inherent rights deserving of universal respect. The idea that every person should be educated is an even more recent and radical one. And the idea that society should provide its members with the means to continue their education independently was more radical still.” (Lerner, 2009, p. 125)

The term “social library” here is mainly used as a general term for a library that is a social place where information access is open and communal space is comfortable and encouraging of collaboration.

“The phenomenon known as the ‘social library’ flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries with its period of greatest popularity occurring from about 1725 to 1875. Most thoroughly developed in Northern Europe and North America, social libraries had earlier antecedents and were largely succeeded by the free public library movement, in their many forms they played a major role in the transition from elite private libraries to popular public libraries.” (Davis, 1994, p. 582)

The historical social library, however is important to this definition.

With greater access to more people the library becomes a social place

To describe the library and to emphasize it particularly as a social space is to suggest that the library is inherently different in community value than other social spaces, like a bar or a mall. It is different because of what is at the heart of the mission of a library; the library is a place where a community can grow together and share in learning collaborations that benefit the quality of life of all those participating in community. The history of the library and its development into a social place attests to this notion.

The point is that the social library is more than just a type of library. The history and evolution of the library is one that has moved towards greater accessibility for greater amounts of people. The social library is a way of thinking about who should have access information and how those individuals use that information in their communities.

Specialists:◦ Librarians◦ Professional Staff◦ Peer Helpers

In order to:◦ Develop◦ Locate◦ Retrieve◦ Organize◦ Utilize

Comfortable seating Interactive work spaces Wireless access Collaboration spaces Easy access to help Friendly atmosphere Food and Drink Friendly Printers, Scanners, Computers and other

equipment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5We7d2NxhmQ

With the changes that happen so rapidly, a librarian has to change with them

Be flexible Work with new technology Be up-to-date with new media

Lippincott (2010) defines “millennials” as students that: …are joined by a set of common practices, including the

amount of time they spend using digital technologies, their tendency to multitask, their tendency to express themselves and relate to one another in ways mediated by digital technologies, and their patterns of using the technologies to access and use information and create new knowledge and art forms. (p. 28)

Estimated as being born between 1982 and 1991 Represents a large portion of who academic libraries are

serving today

Lippincott (2006) reminds us that “today’s students mix academic and social activities,” and that this is not because of lack of concentration, but that these students “grew up in a world with media in many formats at their fingertips 24 hours a day” (p. 7.5).

There is a great need to create functional spaces where the “millennial” student can excel Can be facilitated by providing the technology they

need, they are used to, and feel comfortable with Should promote collaboration between classmates

which creates positive trends throughout and beyond their education

Lippincott (2006) discusses the need of the Information Commons:

Given their inherent connection to technology, information commons will need to continually change as hardware, software, and networking configurations evolve. Also, as more faculty incorporate technology into the curriculum, and particularly as they encourage student use of technology in their academic work, the use of information commons will increase and change. (pp. 7.8-7.9)

Promotes healthy development in education to both student and teachers

Encourages multi-media usage in both studying and in classroom instruction

Develop a vision related to learning. Conduct a needs assessment. Develop goals. Design an assessment plan. Determine appropriate partners. Define and gain resources. Determine the location. Define what you want users to be able to do. Define services to offer. Determine staff needs.

and then… Develop the floor plan. Plan the technology (network,

hardware, software). Choose furniture. (p. 7.16)

What is the purpose of the information commons? What faculty and student needs will be addressed? What programs will we put into place that will emphasize a

link to learning? Which campus units will be involved, and how will they

work together? What kinds of hardware, software, and seating

configurations are needed? What kinds of staff are needed? How will we promote the link of the information commons

to learning? How will we measure success? (p. 7.16)

Loertscher and Koechlin (2012a) look at the continuance of the social library in an encouraging way:

The future of learning is so exciting. Technology for learning and new approaches to knowledge building and creation are reforming education as we have known it. There has never been a time when leadership and expertise … has been needed more. (p. 51)

By incorporating the “Learning Commons,” “Information Commons,” or “Social Library” in today’s academic environment, it enables students to pursue academic achievement without limiting them to one standard way of study

Loertscher and Koechlin (2012b) also make plain that “it become evident that traditional concepts of school librarian ship as developed over the last 50 year must transform to stay relevant” and that “the future is now” (p. 51).

• Forming

• Storming

• Norming

• Performing