Are libraries in India ready for the 21st century learning process?

Libraries are the pre-eminent icons of higher education. Leafy quadrangles, clock towers, and stadiums may star on the college home pages, but it's the library that captures the academic heart of campus, both symbolically and physically.

While information can be obtained from virtually anywhere, the library remains the only central location where new information technologies can be combined with traditional knowledge sources to support the social and educational patterns of learning, teaching and research. But if the library is to continue its pivotal role in the college learning experience, it needs to evolve to meet changing pedagogies and learning modes, and the evolving needs of students and instructors.

In an age of iPads, Kindles, smartphones and other wireless devices, it's somewhat surprising that students today still prefer reading or studying in libraries. But for how long? For earlier student generations, the college library had an aura of scholarship and learning, and a hold on students' long, quiet hours hunched over big projects in study carrels - students had to go there. Today, information is digital, downloadable, and available anytime at the click of a button.

So how do we keep students interested in using offline libraries?
Though libraries at universities or colleges are frequently looked upon as stuffy book warehouses, they now require to reivent themselves. They need to be an inspired integration of space, furniture and tools for active learning; one that supports individual and collaborative learning, provides assistance and coaching for students in acquiring new skills, and allows unfettered access to content in every form.

How to make college libraries in India ready for the 21st century
Design a range of library spaces that support social learning between students and peers, in pairs and groups. Support the librarian's evolving, expanding role as content expert, IT service provider, collaborator and educator.

Optimize the performance of informal spaces through greater flexibility and user control. Plan for adjacencies that recognize the range of activities that go on in the library.

Include spaces for individual comfort, concentration, and security. Provide spaces that improve student awareness of, and access to, library resources.

Up to 90 per cent of learning happens outside the classroom, especially for those skills that are vital for student development: the ability to think clearly, to communicate, articulate and persuade, to work in groups and collaborate. The library needs to be an academic hub where the learning that goes on after class reinforces what students learned in lectures. Thus helping them hone these essential skills.

Source: India2Day

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