Here are some highlights about a library that decided to work on its Service Priorities and get rid of some of its sacred cows!

“With students shunning its 28 stories and opting to conduct research by mouse click, the library is on an outreach offensive, shelving once-forbidding rules and replacing an old circulation counter with a coffee bar, where hot drinks and soda are for sale and an assortment of pastries are on display behind the counter. Chicken wing deliveries are allowed, along with other previously banned activities, like cell phone chatter.”

“In the place of old furniture, there are now lime green arm chairs and bistro tables. ”

“In its old form, the Du Bois Library, like many of its contemporaries, had strict rules of conduct that forbade food and drink, and talk was typically frowned upon. But now, conversations are largely unrestricted, except in designated quiet areas on upper floors, and students can take food from the café to a bustling new study area on the garden level, dubbed “The Learning Commons,” where reference books and rows of library tables have been cleared out in favor of carrels and computer stations. The library now has wireless Internet access.”

“The changes appear to be having an impact. With 149,859 people walking into the library last month, use is up 27 percent over October 2005. More students are taking out books as well. Circulation as of June 30, the end of the most recent fiscal year, was up 84 percent to 435,524 from the same time the year before.”

Other libraries that make these types of changes have similar results. If you want to read the whole article you can go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/25/coffees_on_dusty_books_are_out_at_umass_library/
Coffee’s on, dusty books are out at UMass library [The Boston Globe]

Mindy