Last summer, University Librarian Steve Mandeville-Gamble asked Ann Frenkel, Associate University Librarian (AUL) for Research and Instructional Services, to pull together a team of librarians and staff to rethink how space is used in the UCR Library. They were given a budget for purchasing new furniture to enhance research and study interactions. The team analyzed how students use the physical library, studying where students carve out spaces for particular functions.

The team found that students engage in various types of activities, including individual study, group study, individual project work, project collaboration, social interaction and more. They discovered that open areas with tables are conducive to group collaboration, and that students who want to work quietly alone seek out nooks and corners between stacks. Students particularly enjoy the ability to create their own work environment. In the past few months the team has selected furniture to enable these experiences, using bright, bold pieces for open group spaces, creating collaboration stations with shared screens for project work, and installing pieces such as the “egg” chairs and bean bags for individual study. Most of the furniture is moveable and students are using the new mobile white boards as dividers, enclosures, or presentation walls.

We hope you enjoy the 100 new working spaces in Orbach Science Library. Enhancements will continue to be made in both library buildings, so keep an eye out! The Facilities Department is making special effort to maintain a clean, organized, and inviting environment. AUL Ann Frenkel welcomes feedback on the renovations.