Library Launches Reorganization Dubbed

Library Launches Reorganization Called “The New Auraria Library” Academic libraries are changing and evolving to meet the needs of students and faculty. At the Auraria Library, we’re announcing changes and additions to library services that will maintain the Library’s standing as one of the top academic libraries in Colorado. We’re calling our reorganization The New Auraria Library. Many have noticed that we’ve been reorganizing the space in the Library over the fall semester as we have begun to create the Library’s new Learning Commons. Collaborating with the campus community, we’re reenvisioning the Library’s services and spaces, resulting in a user-centered environment that focuses on the needs of the students, faculty, and staff. We recently remodeled our library instruction classrooms, and we are now adding the new Learning Commons1, a first-floor space designed around collaborative and technology-rich spaces for group work and class projects. The second floor will remain the place for quiet study and the place to access most of the Library’s books. We’re also reorganizing the Library’s service desks. For example, a new multi-service point, the ASK US desk, will be the place to ask questions and initiate the research process, to check out materials including videos and CDs, and to pick up interlibrary loan, Reserves, holds, and Prospector books. Our traditional in-depth research consultation service will be enhanced with a new Research Help desk on the first floor. Staff at the new Tech Help desk will assist with computer, printing, scanner, software applications, and other technology questions. The New Auraria Library matches changes and enhancements occurring in academic libraries in Colorado and nationwide. We invite you to visit the Library and let us know what you think. Steiner, Heidi, and Robert Holley. 2009. "The Past, Present, and Possibilities of Commons in the Academic Library". The Reference Librarian. 50 (4): 309-332. 1

(This article is available through the Library’s web site or directly on campus at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a915636281)