Students are flocking to the new study space on the second floor of the Scott Library - a bright, congenial and comfortable place for research and study.

The study and research area, which comprises approximately 7500 square feet of space, was created by reconfiguring existing staff space, moving microtext to the first floor and redesigning the space for current periodicals collections.

Features

In this space, the focus is on students. The room houses a variety of seating arrangements and spaces which allows for group and collaborative study, quiet study and individual research. The colour scheme, use of materials and layout all contribute to make the room a warm and inviting work and research space.

The space is designed to give students maximum freedom to use their books and computers anywhere they find comfortable. AirYork, the service allowing wireless laptop access to the campus network, extends throughout the room, and all of the larger tables have built-in network drops for connecting laptops.

Stand-up counters with stationary workstations flank support pillars in the centre of the room. A sit-down counter with numerous electrical outlets and network drops runs along a portion of the south wall. This counter allows students to spread their notes out alongside the books or laptops they are working with, and search the Internet by using a hard or wireless network connection.

Rows of tables, providing seating for about 120 students, are designed for small group or individual study, and some are outfitted with reading lamps to give a more traditional reading room aspect to parts of the space. One corner of the space houses the current periodicals and does double-duty as a quiet reading area, in a relaxed space on the dais just behind the periodicals.

Easy chairs and small side tables occupy a number of the open spaces, line the west wall and fill the north alcoves. But these groupings can change at any time since all of the chairs and smaller tables can be moved by students, allowing for informal groupings of various sizes in different locations.

Conversation and ambient noise is minimized an electronic sound-masking system as well as by the installation of special acoustic ceiling tiles and attractive glass and wood dividers to separate some of the working areas.

In their own words

Students like using the new room. We asked some of them to tell us what they thought of the study space, and their responses were remarkably similar. They like the comfort, spacious working areas, the accessibility of laptop connections, and above all - that it's quiet. All the students we asked said they would recommend the space to their peers.

Individual students, when asked "what do you like best about this study space?", responded very positively. Two undergraduate students liked the good lighting, and another told us that it was cozy and appealing, like a home and library at the same time, and that seeing other people studying gave them motive to study longer.

So why not visit the new Scott library study space yourself and find out first hand what it has to offer your students?

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