Learning Commons: Addressing the Needs of Commuter Regional Campuses

The Learning Commons concept in academia is now fairly mainstream and in the evaluation phase at many institutions. This model is gradually making its way into non-residential campuses and proved to be a challenge for five regional libraries of a state university who sought to establish user-centered environments on a shoe-string budget and tight quarters. These Learning Commons initiatives addressed the needs of urban, suburban, and rural based libraries whose student populations ranged from under 300 to nearly 2,000. While there was no single model to address student needs at all campuses, there were commonalities in users’ expectations that guided the process and allowed the libraries to seamlessly integrate new services in support of student learning. This case study describes the tools used to gauge the needs of the University of Connecticut’s regional campus users to enable the libraries to launch learning commons that reflected the unique needs of non-residential users