Friday, April 8, 2016 by Graham Yeates
The Advisory committee’s first meeting (February 25, 2016) included a review of the Library Revitalization Project Charter, Terms of Reference and the communication plan (Rebecca and Sarah B). An update on work by the Core Team to date included a presentation on using ethnographic methods to identify user needs (Anne) and a discussion on committee members’ experience with study space at the University of Waterloo outside the library. We considered questions such as:
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Should the Library be the study hall for the campus?
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What can the Library give students that they can’t get/do elsewhere on campus?
The Advisory committee met again on March 24, 2016 to conduct a visual scan of the areas within scope for this phase of the renovation. This included the third and fifth floors of Dana Porter and both floors at the Davis Centre. Members of the Advisory committee walked through these spaces and graded different areas based on whether or not the space felt welcoming and inspiring. One participant from the visual scan commented:
“The visual scan encouraged us to see familiar spaces from different viewpoints. I was reminded how I have seen the Library over the years as a student, [Davis Centre] staff person, and alumni. The experience brought home the challenges and opportunities inherent in undertaking to revitalize these spaces for everyone who inhabits them.”
-Laureen Harder-Gissing
Clockwise from bottom left: Sharon Lamont, Carl Nagel, Anne Fullerton, Nadeem Lawji, Sarah Martin, Larisa Smyk, Rebecca Hutchinson, Alex McCulloch, Annie Bélanger, Rob Hartung, Chris Lolas, Scott Nicoll, Sue Burns, Laureen Harder-Gissing, Sarah Brown, Pam Charbonneau, James Skidmore. Not pictured: Adam Savage and Rachel Mitchell.
