ILA ACRL 2012 - Session 1 - Honoring the Leisure Nook

Saving Space: Honoring the Leisure Nook was presented by Kathryn J. Morgan, Julia Dickinson, Stella Herzig, & Joyce Haack, all from St. Ambrose University.

 

This session discussed both the research and practical pieces supporting having a leisure collection within an academic library.  Here is just a little bit of the research they mentioned (I'm more of a practical bits of wisdom & ideas for implementation kind of a person, but still value the literature review they shared). This is something we've assumed for some time: recreational reading promotes better reading comprehension of academic texts, higher order reasoning skills, and civic participation, all of which are desirable attributes from college educated adults (Rathe, 2006, p. 82).  In addition, students gain access to the library in a non-intimidating way, transferring their familiarity of their school or public library's leisure collection and attaching that (in a small way) to the college/university collection.  

The nature of spaces within the library was also an important part of the presentation.  One must consider access, visibility, and, just like in business, how using high-traffic spaces & strategies that capitalize on the "impulse buy," or in this case the impulse check-out, can really serve your population well. In addition to the placement of the collection, the librarians also had to consider the other spaces in the library.  Many students may seek a space that is safe from everyday distraction, one that is disconnected from technology, but still promotes a sense of community.  At one point I tweeted "social vs communal space--students like to see others as they study alone (misery loves company?)." And that's right.  It's nice to know where you can go to find a brief distraction from your studies, but at the same time having that study place you can call your own is where the real work happens for students.  By adding the leisure reading nook, the library helps to nurture the whole student, not just the academic side, making the library the student's Third Place (or at least moving it up in the rankings).  St. Ambrose marketed the leisure collection using a blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and by using traditional email alerts to those who are subscribed.  

As for the logistics of the program, the library began by leasing books from a vendor, but switched to purchasing materials after realizing their popularity.  They are able to purchase between 40-50 new materials per year, and get donations through their partnership with the public library.  The public library participates in a "rapid read" program wherein they purchase many copies of newly released popular materials.  Once the demand begins to drop, they weed the duplicates from the collection and send them to St. Ambrose to be used in their leisure collection.  The collection is weeded yearly and they generally try to keep only new and fresh materials (under 5 years old).  They sell their discards at the campus book sale.  What especially caught my interest was the Summer Reading Program they developed for all interested staff, faculty, and summer student workers.  They had a kick-off party with root beer floats, and one end-of-the-program prize winner received a Kindle.  

I was curious as to how this program had impacted developments with academic departments, increased instruction, or improved foot traffic in the library.  While they had anecdotal evidence, they had a technical malfunction and lost many of the statistics that would help them assess that impact.  Another interesting topic that arose in the time for questions was the idea of a bridge collection, that features popular reading as a bridge to lead students to academic reading.  There is also the Alex Awards list that features titles written for adults, but would have appeal to young adults, which may help with title selection and help with that transition from high school to college.  

I particularly enjoyed this session and am looking forward to beginning a leisure collection here at Grand View! I've been wanting to do some programming around YA books, and perhaps beginning this collection will build further interest in a shared group reading experience with our students.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention earlier, but saw that I tweeted about, is that the library & college/university as a whole can present the library resources, leisure nook, and summer reading program as an employee benefit at new employee orientation, which may help attract and retain invested faculty/staff.