Liberty University Library + Academic Commons

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

LIBRARY & ACADEMIC COMMONS

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Campus Transformation

Liberty University’s rapid rate of growth has forecast about a 30% increase in the student residential population by 2016. In order to accommodate Liberty’s expanding enrollment, the first phase of a sweeping master planning effort was completed in spring 2011, establishing approximately 2 million square feet of new building over the next 10 years.

The plan’s new Academic Commons strikes a delicate balance between collegiate architecture and traditional campus landscape and provides Liberty with a carefully orchestrated group of tree-lined quads and courtyards that will serve as the core of its expanding grounds. Bike paths and trails between new and existing parts of the campus help to unify all facets of university life, promoting pedestrian circulation and carving out dynamic spaces for teaching, learning, and recreation.

A daring occupiable roofscape over a new basketball practice facility connects academic and residential precincts and creates a continuous pedestrian route between two previously disjointed parts of campus. Expanded transit service and improved parking facilities help round-out the long-term infrastructural improvements being implemented.

Along with future academic buildings, a large renovation of Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center, a new 3,500 bed residential quad, a new library, and a new practice facility overlooking a campus lake are only a few of the first phase highlights for Liberty’s campus.

Phase-two planning efforts will feature a future dining hall, expanded athletic venues and a new sports arena facility, and a 250’ tall Landmark Tower – which will further centralize activity, shape circulation, and create an identifiable landscape for the growing residential student population to call home. When complete, the campus planning effort will have transformed a sprawling suburban campus into a truly inspirational home for one of the fastest-growing universities in the country.

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

A New Academic Centerpiece

As the primary focus of the first phase of the master plan, Liberty’s Library is a vibrant hub of student activity situated at the spatial and social heart of campus. Surrounded by inviting grass slopes, shaded café terraces, generous paved plazas, and a lake specially formed to connect the surrounding campus with its unique local ecosystem – the library is a central destination on campus. In the evening, the library becomes a lantern, marking its presence at the intersection of the major campus pathways with an illuminated cupola and a double-height reading room that fronts the new Commons with an active, lightfilled space and heralds Liberty’s commitment to its students’ success.

The library plan’s slightly splayed configuration permits the building to react to unique aspects of its surrounding sites while simultaneously inviting students into its generous atrium. The hinged plan connects various campus pathways, which naturally draw students to and through the building at all times of day.

Pulling from three surrounding student housing precincts, the library has become a communal living room for students – a central gathering point where learning, living, studying, and playing can meet and recombine in unique combinations. This programmatic elasticity and the availability of flexible space have never existed before on Liberty’s campus, and students are embracing this fresh approach to 21st-century learning with enthusiasm.

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

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Customer Service Center The library’s centrally located hub for building information, research support, and resource requests

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Forum A large set of spilling steps that can be used for informal gathering and doubles as audience seating for events in the atrium

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Book Tower A four-story browsable collection housing 56,000+ volumes of the

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library’s newest and most frequently used materials

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Lakeside Stair Atrium The building’s main vertical circulation zone, connecting the Learning Commons and overlooking the new lake landscape

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Café + Terraces A vibrant hub of student activity, located at the intersection of major campus paths

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Technology Commons The heart of the library’s computing operations with 80 Mac and PC desktops and stations for group work

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Active Learning Classroom The library’s premier flexible classroom, outfitted with cutting-edge collaborative technologies

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

User-Centered Library

Compared to prototypical libraries of the past, Liberty’s new flagship library reverses the notion of book storage as the central motive of a library’s design in favor of a usercentric layout that places student activity in the foreground. Because of the increasing digitization of resources and a waning reliance on physical books and media, a new approach that places the users at the heart of the design helps to create an environment replete with places to study, learn, and collaborate.

The building provides a wide range of flexible spaces that encourage students to meet, work, and socialize in increasingly informal groupings. The building is also strategically organized to provide a full range of opportunities for study, from completely quiet individual study zones, to small and medium sized group study rooms and lounges, to the large Learning Commons and public gathering areas. Additionally, the building plays host to a wide array of non-traditional library uses, from concerts and theater performances in the main atrium, to campus-wide lectures and symposia in the multi-purpose event spaces. Various academic departments have started to utilize the library as an alternative to the staid, static, poorly lit classrooms they’ve been using for decades.

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Pervasive Technology

The celebration of cutting-edge scholarship is evident in the sheer number of technological features deployed in the library’s various learning spaces. A network of 38 group study rooms and associated learning lounges – all linked by an electronic self-scheduling system – serve as the nexus of the library’s collaborative learning environment. These rooms may be reserved remotely or with the assistance of library staff and can accommodate a wide range of uses.

Pervasive media strategies in each group study room engage learners of every ability level. Writable walls and tables along with large screen monitors help to remove communicative boundaries and further student collaboration. Liberty’s large and growing network of online learners is able to connect with resources and library personnel through a robust virtual research assistance program housed within the core of the building’s Customer Service Center. In this way, the library serves as a creative space, inspiring learning by breaking down barriers to access to a vast array of resources for in-person and online learning needs.

Other exciting and innovative technological features include a two-story interactive media wall (made up of 198 microscreens and three motion trackers) which showcases student and faculty academic accomplishments and keeps the campus connected via social media feeds. An Active Learning Classroom fosters hi-tech, interactive collaborative learning while interactive touch-screen tabletops provide an innovative way to access archival materials as well as academic and special content from various departments across campus. Additionally, high-speed wireless connectivity and 160 public computers allow students to utilize technology with ease from any point within the building.

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

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1 Tiers of librarians and staff with varying levels of expertise operate in concert to assist visitors

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Customer Service Model

One unmistakable trademark of Liberty University’s community is its dedication to serving others. Whether it is your first time on campus or you’re a returning alumnus, you can’t help but notice the good-natured willingness on the part of the students and staff to be helpful hosts. This phenomenon is nowhere more evident than at the new library. Customer service was a central part of the planning process, and became a major component of the physical design of the building. During the design process, Liberty insisted that barriers between users and library staff be dismantled and that patrons be able to readily locate the expertise they required with ease.

This active model of assistance, inspired by the concierge-style service found in the hospitality industry, celebrates learning and transforms research and discovery from a once-daunting chore into an interactive process that is accessible and fun with the proper support.

The epicenter of the library’s support system is the Customer Service Center (CSC). The CSC is the central nervous system for the entire library, where tiers of librarians and staff with varying levels of expertise operate in concert to assist visitors. Readily visible from the key entry points in the building, the CSC invites users to interface with staff when searching for resources, technical assistance, or destinations within the library. Depending on the detail and rigor of a request, questions may be answered by a student employee at the first layer of the help desk or fielded to someone with more familiarity with the library’s collections, whose location deeper in the CSC’s interior represents his or her deeper, more integrated knowledge base.

Easily identifiable help desks are strategically located throughout the rest of the building. Many of the vital functions of the central CSC can be performed at these satellite locations which, when considered together, create a continuous blanket of customer service throughout the building.

Small groups of printers and copiers are associated with each station to provide students with easy access to necessary equipment, and each help desk provides assistance with room reservations, book requests, and wayfinding.

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

The layered spatial configuration of the library promotes dynamic connections between people, Caption resources and campus activities.

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Collection Management

While the presence of media and technology in the library is obvious, it doesn’t come at the expense of the printed material. While other universities are scaling back their acquisition plans, Liberty has mounted a campaign to grow their holdings from 250,000 volumes to nearly 500,000 volumes in the next 10 years.

A state-of-the-art Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), found in a handful of libraries in the nation currently, allows Liberty to house their growing collection, using just 1/7th of the space needed for traditional shelving. In order to facilitate browsing, the library displays approximately 67,000 of the newest and most frequently used materials in a four-story book tower and two-story reading room. This physical browsing is enhanced by a virtual browse feature incorporated into the library’s catalog which displays all related items, regardless of format or storage location, on a virtual bookshelf.

The combination of the ASRS system and book tower translate into more open space for 21st learning environments dedicated to collaboration and research, as well as shared campus-wide multipurpose areas. Liberty’s Library is unusual – compared to more traditional academic university libraries – in that about 60% of the library is dedicated to individual and collaborative spaces, and less than 10% is dedicated to actual collection space. Perhaps these percentages reflect the space-saving effects of the ASRS system – which is designed to store approximately 420,000 volumes, or perhaps these percentages are equally reflective of Liberty’s customer service mantra, which underscores the value of shared resources that are readily available, as opposed to tucked-away in hard-tonavigate stacks.

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Balancing Tradition + Innovation

A large design consideration of the new library involved balancing advanced technological features and novel interactive learning spaces with the traditional aspects and culture of an academic library setting.

The openness of the library functions to illuminate the work going on and display the academic activity taking place within while also connecting students to the campus and heritage beyond its walls. Spanning five flours and featuring approximately 50,000 square feet of interior and exterior glass, the library provides stunning views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the surrounding campus. The carefully calibrated glazing systems also ensure that a large amount of high-quality natural light penetrates deep into the building.

Multiple balconies on the upper levels, terraces off of the ground floors, and a rooftop garden which provides close-up views of the library’s green roof all provide places for students to take advantage of Virginia’s agreeable climate nearly year-round.

More traditional spaces such as the Caudell Reading Room, designated for quiet study and reading, and the barrel vaulted Archive Reading Room foster formal moments of reflection. The inspirational natural setting and introspective library spaces connect students and staff, intellectually and emotionally, with their learning aims and the campus setting of which they are integrally a part.

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Setting a Precedent for Future Growth

As the cornerstone of a planned $500 million campus rebuilding effort, Liberty’s Library establishes a precedent for future design and expansion. The design team worked to create a set of architectural design guidelines that would inform patterns of growth as well as aesthetic choices. Working with the university, the design team identified a selection of architectural elements that together create a cohesive, unified architectural language that can flexibly respond to changes and additions in the campus fabric. From traditional building elements (arcades, colonnades, hipped roofs) and a palette of local materials to designations for site lighting, furniture, and fixtures, these design guidelines provide a powerful tool to help Liberty continue to expand and enhance the totality of its campus environment.

Signage and wayfinding strategies reinforce this architectural language. In addition to clearly and creatively identifying all of the many spaces in the library, signage and wayfinding strategies assign a hierarchy of materials to these spaces – reserving more durable, permanent materials for larger spaces (such as the grand stair and Caudell Reading Room) and more agile features for smaller, interactive areas.

In all, these architectural design guidelines – reinforced at every scale and in every design and material choice in the library – will foster a sense of cohesion and identity for the Liberty campus that is lasting and meaningful for current and future generations.

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Library + Academic Commons Liberty University

Building Information

Square Footage

170,000 GSF

Group Study Rooms 6 Person Rooms

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Seat Count

3165

8 Person Rooms

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User

2500

10 Person Rooms

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Staff

250

14 Person Rooms

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Exterior

300

Forum

160

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Program Distribution* User Space

53% (Net)

Physical Collection

314,168

Cafe + Scholars

7%

Browsing

67,000

Office

18%

ASRS

227,000

Support

5%

Computers

171

Collection

8%

Undesignated

9%

* Programming provided by brightspot strategy.

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VMDO Architects vmdo.com | 434.296.5684 200 E Market St Charlottesville, VA 22902 1200 18th Street NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036

For more information on Higher Education work please contact:

For more information on Library work please contact:

David Oakland, FAIA, LEED AP oakland@vmdo.com

Jim Kovach kovach@vmdo.com

Joe Atkins, AIA, LEED AP BD+C atkins@vmdo.com