MY FIRST trip to Clemons this semester was a little like living a bad dream. Half dazed at half past eight, I dragged my feet to the temporary back entrance only to discover that it was no longer in use. Fluster turned to bewilderment when I stumbled past the brown doors of the newly restored front entrance and eyed two fish tanks with my droopy eyelids (had I sleepwalked into a pet shop?). And the new group stations, with one snazzy LCD screen for every six sleek seats, were something out of science fiction.
Returning University students probably had a less dramatized but equally shell-shocked reaction to the Clemons revolution. The once endless rows of desktop computers were now thinned to the brink of extinction. New fish tanks were flanked by futuristic, mobile group work stations. And observant patrons might even have spotted the 200 new power outlets or the ultra-fast computer stations which log in within 15 seconds (a record by University standards). Any returning upperclassman could not help but feel old, backward or mortified. And any sharp Opinion columnist might have scribbled a mental note in his head about another ill-advised, shocking administrative change made without proper and adequate student consultation.
But however much old hats might grimace at the newly-fashioned Clemons, it is a student-rooted and future-driven transformation that embraces the spirit of technological innovation. And when it comes to assessing policy changes, tangible boons ought to outweigh incoherent boos.
Finger-pointing students anxious to scapegoat the administration ought to look a little closer to home. The Clemons transformation was in fact a product of three student focus groups of 12-15 each, from various years and majors, that met last year. The top concerns, in order of priority, were: more power, greater flexibility for group stations, new, enclosed cubes, a more pleasant environment and printing.
The library responded to these demands comprehensively by installing more power outlets, throwing in trendy chairs and LCD screens, placing a new fish tank for pleasure and useful software for laptop printing. Intriguingly, Clemons Library Outreach Coordinator Matt Ball also told me that the fish tanks were the most conservative option mentioned during the focus groups to “enhance the library environment” – the more colorful options being a petting zoo and a waterfall. In short, this appears to be a case of grassroots reform rather than force-fed change.
The changes are also rooted in futuristic trends at the University and the broader technological world. According to Ball, ITC surveys conducted last year concluded that almost all first-years carried their laptops on grounds, while most of the desktop usage in libraries was only for non-research surfing and e-mail. Why have desktops when everyone carries their laptops nowadays and uses desktops for non-academic purposes?
The various reforms are also part of a mobile computing initiative launched in consultation with President Casteen to ensure that the library system is keeping abreast with contemporary technological developments. In the laptop world, the top concerns are power and mobility, not rigid desktops and bulky wooden tables.
But while it is refreshing to see an innovative streak in an institution too often drowned in its own traditions, the manner in which the well-meaning changes were formulated and then introduced was opaque and unrepresentative. The focus groups were formed from a sign-up sheet at the library last year when most students probably had not heard of the process at all. This is important since focus groups are only as effective as their representativeness, which in turn is a function of publicity and transparency. Had more painstaking efforts been invested in advertising, one might think (or hope) that there would have been some reasoned voices to counter zany initiatives like petting-zoos or fish tanks. And this attention to publicity need not be backbreaking task either — advertising the survey on the Library website or a simple editorial by external relations in The Cavalier Daily would have been sufficient.
It is equally perturbing that the library staff thought it would rather put students through shock-therapy than advertise a comprehensive list of changes to allow patrons to learn about and gradually adapt to reform. I had to schedule a meeting with Ball just to learn about all the changes made, and more than half of them were ones I had neither heard about nor seen. Opaqueness also raises eyebrows and doubts among students regarding the wisdom of the initiatives. For instance, Karl Philippoff, a third-year environmental science major, is convinced that “the new group stations are meant for Commerce students”, a perception echoed by several other Clemons users I interviewed. These concerns could have been addressed with a simple link on the library Web site entitled “new library changes”.
Fish tanks aside, returning students probably should have had less of a problem with the inevitable and futuristic transformation of Clemons library that truly had their interests at heart. But then again, such a cool, level-headed response presumes that students participated and were well-informed of the scope, pace and extent of the reforms. But even for a forward-thinking library of a top-notch public university, this was too much too ask.
Prashanth Parameswaran’s column appears Wednesday in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at p.parameswaran@cavalierdaily.com
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