Sprucing up your LRC

With, or without money to spend, the Summer is always a good opportunity to de-clutter and re-organise your library or LRC and if you are lucky, a chance to replace some of that worn and out- of-date furniture, as well as adding new technology.

In early June this year, I visited Kidderminster College to complete a Learning Space Review. This is a short visit and report, which aimed to help Jackie O’Brien and her boss, Jill Edwards (now retired) to re-organise and improve the look and feel of the LRC at the 8-year old college.

I visited the college again last month and was thrilled to see the review report had stirred Jackie’s imagination and perhaps also helped her case in gaining funding for some new furniture and equipment to complete the new look. Here are some photos of what was achieved on a relatively tight budget. 

The report recommended improvements to the clarity of signage, as well as removing many low priority signs and notices, which were badly formatted. Two LCD information screens were added (one behind the counter), which can be used for announcements and quick demonstrations of e-resources.

Some un-used furniture and shelving have been removed to achieve a less cluttered look, with more space for users to circulate. The new colour co-ordinated furniture is much more attractive than the old.

The PCs were previously in long rows, which cut the area in two and are now arranged in a more social arrangement, allowing learners the choice of working in groups, or alone. 

Display spinners have been used to better display fiction and other materials.

Jackie delivers many library and information skills work shops with learners and the teaching area is now screened from the rest of the library to give more privacy and to avoid distraction

If you'd like a Learning Space Review for your library or LRC, do get in touch with me. If you'd like to get in touch with Jackie about the changes she made, she can be contacted on jo'brien@kidderminster.ac.uk