Small Change, Big Impact Assessment and Creative Re-purposing of Underutilized Space at the BU Theology Library

Abstract

Library assessment at the BU School of Theology Library identified one glaring weakness of our institution: the lack of useable collaborative/group study space. Staff identified one particular spot: a beautiful, but rarely used conference room for group study space, down a forbidding administrative hallway, as a short-term bandage for this weakness. Despite its deficiencies, this short-term solution it has become a popular spot in the library. Patron visits to the library increased over 10% during the first couple of months of the Fall 2018 semester. In an era of tightening library budgets for small, academic, and Theological libraries, aggressive data-collection and creative re-imagining of space can pay big dividends.