It’s time, mostly. The secret third thing.
I think a lot about the library as a space for play, because whenever I wonder what exactly what we’re for, I come back to thoughts about third places, which I think, for adults even more than children have to be for play. In the past, I’ve been frustrated by liminality during times when I’ve been focused on progress, but that’s not what liminality is for.
I don’t know if the academic library can always be a true third place, because for most of these students, we essentially are their workplace. But I think there are still degrees to which we can cultivate safety: for experimentation, for difference, for freedom from regular expectations.
Though the trend I see in academic libraries is that we don’t want to.
We don’t take student cards at the doors here like some academic libraries, but our study rooms are very clearly for study only and the list of rules about them has always been longer than I’m comfortable with. The resistance against coffee shops and relaxing furniture always simmers in the background. The academic library is a place to study, of course, but particularly with the diminishment of print collections and the distribution of research help away from building reference desks, there needs to be something to mark the library as place other than a giant study house. We should the place on campus where you don’t get graded, where you can think about things and try things out without judgement and with structures to encourage you.
I spent the morning coding interview data from Makerspace users, which I think is one place in the library that does this very well. Students go in, specifically to experiment, often with no particularly academic purpose, and they feel welcome, they feel encouraged, and then they feel inspired. The staff are seen as helpful and present, and the community and space encourage creation and accept failure. It would be hard to replicate that atmosphere for the entire library, simply because the Makerspace is relatively compact and the library building is very large, but when our mission is “Inspiring knowledge creation” I sometimes wonder, how exactly we are doing that, beyond the regular provision of study carrels, and books and journals. What could make our library spaces more welcoming? More inspiring?
But of course, it’s not just the space, it’s not just the price of admission. When I ask the students about barriers, there’s a number of things, but the one that makes me sad is time. I don’t know if it’s just the third places that have disappeared, it’s the time to engage with them. Basically, the time to think about concerns other than home, other than work. When do we do that? The library can create the space, but who creates the time?