News Fromfalvey
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A Publication of Falvey Memorial Library, Villanova University Fall 2012 News from Falvey The Learning Commons in Falvey: the Vision, the Impact, the Realization edicated on Feb. 17, the Learning Commons in Falvey features a dramatic repurposing of the Library’s Dsecond floor, now offering services and facilities in ways that contemporary users prefer. The new space includes Learning Support Services, the Research Center, the Math Learning Resource Center and the Writing Center. This special issue of News From Falvey describes and explores that endeavor. Falvey Memorial Library • Villanova University • 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085 from Director’s Watch News Falvey is published twice yearly for friends of Falvey Re-inventing Library Space Memorial Library, Villanova University. for the 21st Century Joe Lucia, University Librarian By Joe Lucia Judith Olsen, Editor Laura Hutelmyer, Photography Coordinator n a day-to-day basis, we tend to see the spaces we Joanne Quinn, Design Specialist Olive and work in as static and identified with specific functions and activities. But a time-lapse view of any given interior space would reveal subtle and sometimes radical Editorial Board: Alice Bampton, Luisa Cywinski, transformations over time. Gerald Dierkes, Mary Heyman, During the past 10 to 15 Laura Hutelmyer, Joanne Quinn and Alexandra Edwards years, the transformation of many traditional academic library spaces has been espe- Photographers: Alice Bampton, Laura Hutelmyer, cially dramatic and exemplifies a Luisa Cywinski and Joanne Quinn broad re-imagination of the na- Graphics: Joanne Quinn ture and purpose of libraries in a digital world. Foremost has been Falvey Memorial Library a shift in emphasis away from Villanova University print warehousing and toward 800 Lancaster Avenue the creation of environments Villanova, PA 19085-1696 that are designed to support a complex new mix of activities, For more information about Falvey, weighted toward the habits and desires of post-millennial learners. Joe Lucia refer to our website at library.villanova.edu University Librarian The first wave of “digital age” re-configuration of library Please contact Judith Olsen (judith.olsen@villanova. environments, begun in the 1990s, involved freeing up broad edu) or Mary Heyman ([email protected]) swaths of floor space to integrate computing technology into with your comments or if you would public service environments, as exemplified by dozens or even like to be added to our mailing list. hundreds of desktop computers clustered together in open work areas, with librarian and technical assistance available nearby. Falvey Quick Reference From off campus, dial 610-519 before the extension. Evolving technology is only one factor shaping the recent changes. A contemporary pedagogical emphasis on socially- engaged learning, team projects, and formal and informal Information Desk 4270 Library Hours 4292 Circulation 4271 To our readers: Research Assistance 4273 News From Falvey features events, exhibits, services, news, trends, innova- Business InfoCenter 4374 tions, resources and other activities at Falvey Memorial Library. We hope you enjoy the publication, and we welcome your comments and suggestions. Course Reserves 4278 Read more Falvey news at Digital Library 5271/5185 Director’s Office 4291 blog.library.villanova.edu/news Instruction 5207 Judith Olsen, Editor Interlibrary Loan 4274/6007 Outreach 3871/3872/6371 Periodicals & Media 4270 Slide Library 6997 Villanova University is located in the suburbs near Philadelphia. Since 1842, the University’s Augustinian Catho- Special Collections 5271/5182 lic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, University Archives 4133 graduate and law students in the University’s five colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing and the Villanova University School of Law. 2 Villanova University study groups has resulted in the creation of café spaces in many libraries – facilities that encourage long work sessions supported by the availability of snacks and beverages and that foster the integration of academic and social life that is a characteristic of current student behavior. In 2004, we re-configured much of Falvey’s first floor to function in this manner, enlarging the The Historical Holy Grounds Café and incorporating small table seat- ing throughout the renovated space by shrinking and “Voice of the relocating the bulk of the print reference and current periodical collections while pushing traditional service Student Body” desks and staff offices to the margins. Now Online One lesson of the 2004 project is that the “new academic library” must be consciously conceived as a By David Burke & Luisa Cywinski student-oriented learning environment, which ulti- mately means more than just creating inviting and effective spaces for group work. Our most recent renovations in Falvey – and our A major digitization project, recently completed, makes long-term plan for reprogramming and reenergizing the available online all issues of the campus newspaper, The entire building – are designed to fulfill Falvey’s mis- Villanovan, published between 1893 and 1995. Prior sion as a University commons by providing physical to this, The Villanovan was available only through print and intellectual resources that serve all segments of our issues or microfilm. Internet Archive, a foundation that academic community in distinctive but complementary offers an online library of public domain documents, ways. The redesign of the Falvey second floor, complet- performed the digitization. ed in January 2012, established a Learning Commons The event to celebrate this accomplishment, held on in which students have contiguous access to research Feb. 23, was dedicated to the memory of longtime Vil- librarians, the Writing Center, the Math Learning lanovan faculty adviser, June Lytel-Murphy. Resources Center and Learning Support Services. These The program began with remarks by University Librar- distinct service units were previously spread around ian Joe Lucia and University President the Rev. Peter M. campus and housed in undistinguished facilities. Their Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 A&S, who characterized the new accommodations are sleek, elegant, architectur- project as a history of “the voice of the student body.” ally coherent and visually connected with each other Special Collections and Digital Library Coordinator Mi- through the use of modular glass walls and common chael Foight, Library Technology Development Specialist lighting and furnishing details. Demian Katz and Research Support Librarian Susan Ot- These centers are now housed in a building at the tignon each addressed various aspects of the project. center of campus that maintains an iconic function in According to Kendra Davis, a co-editor-in-chief of the academic life. While they remain separate operations, newspaper, current issues of The Villanovan have been positioned together they form a coherent environ- available online for seven years, and that version has over ment. Their collocation yields a high-impact learning 9,000 subscribers. center that opens up new avenues for cooperation The event concluded with a panel discussion of former among librarians and variously skilled academic sup- editors of The Villanovan: Marianne Lavelle ’80 A&S, port professionals while also providing a single point of Larry Goanos ’84 A&S and Jim DeLorenzo ’84 A&S. connection for students who desire particular types of Lavelle spoke of how special she felt to be “a small assistance or support. part of something so big.” Goanos described his first More is on the horizon, both in the near term and reporting assignment on The Villanovan—interview- looking further out. For well over a generation, the ing Howie Long, now an NFL Hall of Fame player and Library’s grandest public space, the Old Falvey Read- media commentator, after a football game. DeLorenzo, ing Room, has moldered as storage space for micro- who covered the dropping of and later renewal of the form and media collections. We plan to reanimate University’s football program, spoke of his talks with that space and connect it in dramatic fashion, via an former University President, the Rev. John M. Driscoll, internal atrium, to the adjoining spaces in the Library. OSA, PhD. This latter project, when realized, will create an excit- Falvey librarians and staff members Stephen Spatz, ing new public space that will embody the academic Gina McFadden Duffy, Joanne Quinn, David Burke and ideals of the University and serve as a site of inspira- Foight helped facilitate the event. tion, study and engagement for students and faculty. It The digital full text of The Villanovan is searchable could become both a favorite retreat and a showcase of through the library catalog and also through the Digital the Villanova University Library re-imagined for 21st Library’s Villanovana section. century learning. 3 Falvey Memorial Library Bente Løj Polites Retires By Susan Markley; also contributing: Judith Olsen and Michael Foight t the end of June, Bente LØj Polites, Special Collec- Ations librarian and subject liaison team leader for Philosophy, Theology and Humanities, retired after 25 years of service to the University community. Under her co-leadership, Polites also helped implement many