The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Higher Education Doctoral Projects School of Education Spring 5-2-2019 STUDENT AND STAFF PERCEPTIONS OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY USAGE: COMPARING REALITY TO INTERPRETATION OF SPACE USAGE Sarah R. Mangrum Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.edu/highereddoctoralprojects Part of the Higher Education Commons STUDENT AND STAFF PERCEPTIONS OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY USAGE: COMPARING REALITY TO INTERPRETATION OF SPACE USAGE by Sarah R. Mangrum A Doctoral Project Submitted to, the College of Education and Human Sciences and the School of Education at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education May 2019 This Doctoral Project was approved by: __________________________________________________ Dr. Holly Foster Advisor __________________________________________________ Dr.
Sandra Nichols Director COPYRIGHT BY Sarah R. Mangrum 2019 Published by the School of Education ii ABSTRACT The role of the academic library, student library usage, and faculty perceptions of student learning have been separate ongoing discussions in higher education for many years. The purpose of this study was to bring those conversations together and illustrate how students at The University of Southern Mississippi are currently using Cook Library, their preferences for library space usage, and the faculty/staff perceptions of student usage. This study was conducted to address the problem of how to effectively bring the expectations of students and library faculty/staff together so that library spaces and environments can be updated or created to fit the needs of the campus community.
This study used a cross-sectional survey design to illustrate the usage of students and perceptions of faculty/staff at The University of Southern Mississippi. Data results show that library faculty/staff perceptions of student usage did not always align with the actual student usage data, especially concerning traditional library services and resources, such as the importance of the availability of library assistance, access to books, and access to computers/printing. The researcher concluded the study by making data driven recommendations to library administration concerning building layout, atmosphere, and library services. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to give special thanks to Dr.
Holly Foster for her guidance and encouragement throughout this journey. The road to the end was long, but you were always right there beside me. Thank you for being one of my biggest cheerleaders and harshest critics. I am a better researcher and writer because of you.
The time and dedication that you give to each one of your students means the world. You are a boss and I’m privileged to have worked with you! I would also like to thank Zita Tiamuh for her help with all things quantitative. Your patience and knowledge of statistics saved me when I was drowning in data. You went above and beyond to help and this project would have no results without you! iv DEDICATION Thank you to my family for genuinely supporting me throughout this process.
To my husband, Jamie, for holding things together at home during the many night classes and weekends of writing. From day one you’ve been my biggest supporter. I am so grateful for your continued support throughout not only my collegiate career, but life in general. To my parents, thank you for everything.
There are not enough words to thank you for putting up with me for all these years. To my mama, a special thank you for always knowing when I needed a few extra words of encouragement. To my little sister and best friend, you were the one that had to listen to it all! Thank you for being there through everything and always being down for brunch when I needed to procrastinate just a little longer. Thank you to my “cohort”; Courtney, Cristin, Donavan, Ryan, and Zack.
Each one of you are a special surprise bonus that I didn’t know I needed in my life. Thank you for all the late night meals, study sessions, and the best GroupMe chat ever. The past three years have been full of ups and downs. We held onto each other through the toughest of the tough and I can’t wait to cheer each of you on as we all finish this journey.
This accomplishment is not just mine. I dedicate it to each one of you because without you this would have never been possible. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT. v LIST OF TABLES.
vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. viii CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION. 1 CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW. 8 CHAPTER III - METHODOLOGY.
20 CHAPTER IV – FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. 25 APPENDIX A – Cook Library Space Usage Survey. 48 APPENDIX B – IRB Approval Letter. 73 APPENDIX C – Student Recruitment Announcement.
74 APPENDIX D – Faculty/Staff Recruitment Letter. 77 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Race/Ethnic diversity by classification. Ranking of student library usage by classification.
Ranking of space enhancements by classification. Frequencies of faculty/staff perceptions of student library usage. Library usage cross tabulation…………………………………………. Library usage cross tabulation………………………………………….
Cook Library enhancements cross tabulation. 41 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Gender demographics grouped by classificatiton. 27 Participant’s campus affiliation by university college or service area.
Undergraduate student usage by percentage. Graduate student usage by percentage. Perceptions of overall climate by undergraduate and graduate students. Criteria for choosing spaces cross tabulation.
Faculty/staff perceptions of student preferences for enhancements. 39 viii CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION Academic libraries have been providing library and information services to campus communities for many years. Librarians, library collections, and resources aid students and faculty in their research. Academic libraries also provide the tools that students need to be successful in their coursework, such as access to computers, printing, and scanning.
Academic libraries today are evolving from the idea of a traditional library atmosphere to a place where student socialization is an important part of the library landscape. This student led change in atmosphere has been happening slowly over the past 10-15 years. The Millennial generation is made up of individuals born between 1982 and 2004 (Strauss & Howe, 1991). This generation has led the shift from traditional academic library spaces to the information commons models that are often seen today.
There are several characteristics of the Millennial generation that have affected the way that they view and use academic libraries, such as wanting more personalization, a variety of choices, and instant access to services at all hours (Sweeney, 2005). As students adapt to new technologies, their learning styles also adapt. These changes are directly related to the type of learning atmospheres that help Millennial students thrive. There are many challenges that come with this shift including challenging the culture and expectations of librarians and other faculty/staff across the campuses.
Student populations have been quick to adapt library spaces to their personal needs while faculty/staff often take longer to adapt to change (Sweeney, 2005). While students are adept at adapting outdated library spaces to their needs, many librarians and library staff often have other perceptions of acceptable space usage and 1 atmosphere. Traditional library furniture, such as large tables and chairs, are not the flexible, adaptable furniture that students want and need in their study spaces. Social group spaces where conversation is encouraged often contradicts the perceptions of how librarians envision group library usage.
Also, in social spaces the acceptable level of noise is another aspect where the views of library users and library staff are not congruent. Analyzing perceptions between the main library user groups and the faculty/staff in the library can help to bridge the expectational culture of each group. If these expectations are not examined, then it is possible that academic library spaces not be conducive to student success. This could result in further division between the needs of the library users and the faculty/staff who are tasked with fulfilling the user needs.
Background Joseph Cook Library at The University of Southern Mississippi is a mid-large size academic library, serving over 600,000 patrons each year. Cook Library provides access to print and electronic collections, technology such as public computers and enhanced group study rooms, individual and group study spaces, an open learning commons, access to auxiliary services such as the Speaking and Writing Centers, and designated spaces for group socialization. Over the last 10 years, the library has embraced technology and electronic collections in order to reduce the footprint of their print collections and provide more choices in spaces available for student use. These changes have been restricted by funding, and librarians and staff often have to exercise creativity in trying to meet student expectations without any additional monies.
2 To meet the demands of student technology needs, Cook Library began partnering with iTech in 2009 to provide all of the public computing in the library. This enhanced the number of available desktop computers to over 300 and provided four technology enhanced group study rooms, each equipped with a computer and large wall-mounted monitor for group projects. The partnership allowed Cook Library to create a Learning Commons which provides a one-stop shop for students to access technology, receive library help, and access multiuse study space. While the partnership has allowed for continued provisions for public computing needs, the inability to upgrade furniture and other spaces in the library has been a hindrance to meeting the needs of the users.
This is illustrated through comments concerning outdated facilities and the need for more comfortable furniture on yearly library user satisfaction surveys. Between 2010 and 2016, there were fewer changes to the physical space and atmosphere in Cook Library, as compared to the creation of the Learning Commons the year before. However there had been an increase in changes to what services were offered and how those services were delivered. Communication between the library and users shifted from paper-based to electronic notices and online library account systems.
With an increase in multiuse study spaces, zones were created to help provide a variety of atmospheres from which students could choose. This movement started with repurposing the top floor as a silent study floor and providing quiet study space in another area of the second floor. These zones were created based on feedback received through conducting user satisfaction surveys, observations, informal interviews, and anecdotally from student employees and staff. In 2017, zoned spaces were expanded through increased signage across the library that deliberately named the atmosphere of each of the areas.
These 3 spaces were initially created by users and by formally identifying them, library staff sought to help increase visibility and guide users in their decision making about which area of the library would suit their needs. Library administration decided that the first two floors of the building would be formally branded as social floors, since the majority of socialization was naturally taking place in the open, multiuse, space that was already available on those floors. The third through fifth floors contain the majority of the collections, group study rooms, and individual study carrels. The third floor was named as a conversational floor for more intimate small group study sessions, and the fourth floor was named as a whisper floor to provide space for individual or partner study with fewer spaces for group study.
With the fifth floor having already been repurposed as a silent study floor, the natural atmosphere progression became the higher the floor number the quieter the atmosphere. Increased signage was added to each floor in the building, accompanied by infographics used to identify what services and collections were available and define the atmosphere of each area. While the zoned atmosphere areas offered choices for users, library staff often found themselves continuing to battle with noise problems in the quiet/silent areas. Many of the atmospheric issues are the result of the differences between what librarians and library staff perceive to be acceptable behaviors and what students perceive to be acceptable.
This continued conundrum became the basis for this action research project.