Library Renovation Attracting Students
Westmont students have embraced the new Voskuyl Library after the redesign of its interior space last summer. During the first six weeks of the semester, the number of students using the facility increased 330 percent. “It’s busy all the time in here,” says Debra Quast, director of library and information services. “It’s good to see the students using every different kind of learning space we planned for them. I think it inspires students to learn.”
Students are making more requests for books and journals through Inter-Library Loan, checking out more books from the collection, and consulting more online resources. Spending more time in the library has helped them see it as a viable place to do research. Off-campus students are driving to Westmont in the evening just to study in the library.
Writers Corner, the reference librarian and the new information technology help desk are now located together in the learning commons. “Students have a one-stop shop where they can get assistance in finding resources, using technology and writing effectively,” Quast says. “The traffic to these desks has increased dramatically.”
Students appreciate relaxed rules about food and drink in the library; they can buy coffee, tea and cocoa there and bring in their own food. Eventually, Quast hopes to create a glassed-in coffee shop at the southeast corner of the main level.
The new white-board walls in the group study rooms are popular, and most are covered with writing. The students are enjoying the new, comfortable furniture where they can plug in their laptop. They are also able to move the tables and chairs around, creating their own configurations to collaborate together.
Students, faculty and staff have been warming up to the two, new rooms equipped with collaborative tables, laptop connections and multiple plasma displays. “They were slow to catch on, but once people began seeing how they could utilize the technology, they have been using those rooms more and more,” Quast says. Judy Larson, R. Anthony Askew professor of art and director of the Westmont Museum, and her small class began using the room to display their presentations. “But when they got in the intimate space, she found it was much more conducive to conversation and sharing ideas,” Quast says.
The library has also become more of a cultural setting, introducing the popular Friday Afternoon Music (FAM) with student musicians.