February 28, 2019
The High School to College SIG met on Thursday, February 28, 2019, from 1pm-4pm. The attendees had a discussion on noise in the library, led by Lara Sibley of SUNY Orange. The group's next meeting will be blended with the Information Literacy SIG.
Notes
Generational Learning Differences
Are librarians “trend chasing?”
- There are so many group projects, and all the students complain about them. No one wants to be the person carrying the group.
- One library purged books because the admins claimed everyone was learning differently, but that’s not what they see in practice. So many students still want things in print.
- YouTube videos can work really well for some teaching skills, like DIY or crafting.
- There’s a range of needs, and different assignments that are more group-oriented. They’re expected to learn corroboratively so libraries need space for that.
- Some teachers assign TED talks and other videos and there’s a need to watch them in the library, same with recorded lectures.
- MakerSpaces are good if they’re filling a need, but students aren’t always drawn there without an assignment. Also, space is at a premium, people want to use study rooms as conference rooms.
Snacks:
- Eating in the library seems to go hand-in-hand with being loud.
- STAC highly recommends not allowing food during “wing week,” but don’t have a specific policy about that.
There’s a positive hum of work, and the good noise of a library vs. silence. (Susan Orlean had a good phrase about this in her book.)
- Using white noise around the library helps to mask noise
- Audio/visual production space could be a place to keep professional headphones – or a sensory sensitive area for people who need it.
How are we welcoming, quiet, and not squashing collaboration?
