SettingThe University of South Carolina School of Medicine Library is a small medical library in a community-based medical school with an approximate class size of 85 students. The entire Library is available to students and faculty twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and includes seating for 187 users, ten public workstations, and a wireless network.

Background

The Library’s 2007-2008 Strategic Plan included a goal to provide a Library atmosphere for students, faculty, and staff that is inviting, comfortable, and functional and encourages community and collaboration. The objective was to redesign first floor space to create an information commons - a communal space with a coffee shop, workstations, soft seating, laptop-ready chairs and tables, flat screen televisions, and current journals reading area. After a thorough investigation of options for a Starbucks coffee shop in the Library, it was discovered that the nearby VA cafeteria would soon include a Starbucks.

The Library staff weeded and shifted the book collection and freed up enough space to dismantle several rows of shelving. The resulting open space includes ten workstations, a sofa and soft seating, laptop-ready chairs with attached tablets and cup holders, study tables, oak magazine spinners with current issues of core journals, a newspaper rack with newspapers as well as Time, Sports Illustrated, and Consumer Reports. The consumer health collection was also relocated to this area.

Four 40” flat panel LCD displays were installed with DISH network satellite high definition television service. TVs are muted with closed captioning. We also plan to use the LCD displays to project presentations by students and faculty to small groups or for a recurring lecture series.

Felicia Yeh, Rozalynd P. Anderson & Ruth A. RileyUniversity of South Carolina School of Medicine Library

Evaluation

All School of Medicine students, faculty, and staff were invited to participate in a web-based survey about desired TV channels. The Library used the results to determine the four channels; two high definition channels and two regular signal channels.

The 2008-2009 LCME Guide to the Institutional Self-Study includes a new question about whether the library provides space or common areas that facilitate the exchange of ideas and generation of knowledge. During the medical school’s LCME self-study, the Library has obtained mostly positive feedback about the information commons.

Here are some examples: "Recently-added downstairs 'lounge' space is great!""TVs in library are a distraction to studying." "Especially with the addition of the TVs, I've noticed the common area is always crowded with students, either relaxing or discussing classes/assignments, etc.““The students really like it as a social space. They use it to decompress after exams and during study breaks.”

Additional feedback about the information commons will be solicited from Library users via the Library Committee and class presidents on an ongoing basis.

TV CHANNEL SURVEY RESULTS Voters were asked to pick four channels.

Status Number Response rate

Student 138 30%Faculty 25 8%Staff 44 7%

High Definition Channels Number of Votes

ESPN HD 142 Discovery HD Theater 100National Geographic Channel HD 79ESPN2 HD 69Food Network HD 43HGTV HD 12

Regular Signal Channels Number of Votes

CNN 98Discovery Health 90Fox News 81Discovery Channel 43MSNBC 43History Channel 29BBC America 27Animal Planet 17

BUDGET

Item Quantity Cost/Unit Total CostEXISTING ITEMSComputer Stations (Pinwheels) 2 0 0Sofa 1 0 0Lounge Chairs 4 0 0Occasional Tables 3 0 0Book Case 1 0 0Study Tables and Chairs 3 0 0Oak Magazine Rack Spinners 2 0 0

NEW ITEMS40” Large Screen LCD Displays 4 2,599 10,396Installation cost for LCD Displays 4 156 624LCD Displays shipping 1 350 350Arm Chair w/ Tablet Arm for Laptop 4 1,396 6,424 (install & tax)Oak Newspaper Display 1 770 770Cube Ottomans 2 300 600Satellite TV installation 1 800 800

TOTAL 19,964 one time____________________________________________________________Additional costs25/month for dish Network 300/year ongoing

BEFORE

Extreme Makeover: swapping book stacks for flat screen TVs

AFTER

ASSOCIATION OF ACADEMIC HEALTH

SCIENCES LIBRARIES SURVEY

A poll of academic health sciences library directors in October 2007 regarding use of flat screen televisions was conducted via Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries email list. Of the twelve respondents, two offer flat screen televisions in their libraries.

Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences - one flat screen TV - lounge area - CNN

Georgetown University Medical Center - one flat screen TV - leisure reading area - CNN

The other ten respondents use flat screens primarily for announcements and marketing library services.

WEEDING

Monograph collection was weeded, eliminating books published 1985 and earlier which had 2 or less circulations.

The entire monograph collection was shifted to reorganize the space at the front of the main floor for the information commons area.

All indexes were weeded and the remaining collection was relocated to storage.

Reference collection was weeded.

DOWNSIZING CURRENT JOURNALS

To relocate current journals to information commons, the number of current journals was downsized from 300 to 80 titles. The remaining journals were shelved in journal stacks. The current issues of the 80 selected print journals were displayed in two magazine rack spinners located in the information commons area.

The following criteria were used to select the 80 print journals for display:

1. Checked the currently subscribed print journal titles against the Abridged Index Medicos (AIM or “Core clinical”) journal titles.

2. Based on usage in both print and electronic versions, selected 80 titles indicating the highest usage from AIM and non-AIM titles.