Spaced Out: The Cheap and Unscientific Science Behind Library Use Mapping

Abstract

Budgets are tight. Furniture is expensive. But the Space Planning Committee at UW-Eau Claire's McIntyre Library figured out how to best use the furniture available in a way that would best address what students need and want in THEIR LIBRARY. By mapping our space use in the library on an annual basis we learned how and where students prefer to work, what we were lacking, and it allowed us to have a plan in place when some funding did find its way into the library's budget. What began as a way to determine how to move already-owned furniture around in the building based on student use, has now resulted in the revamping of the library's first floor, including a renovation of the Circulation Desk, and the creation of a popular living room. This presentation will focus on the nuts and bolts of how we completed our use counts so that all libraries can do the same.