Hubbub 2011 Recap

Apparently the fifth time's a charm, so I'm not going to go into as great of detail as I did for previous Hubbub events (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007). The event was pretty much perfect, reaching over 400 students. We only had two problems the entire day: we couldn't find the green screen for our photo booth (ie, green plastic tablecloth) or our prize drawing tickets during early morning setup, but terrific folks from UK Libraries (thanks Doug and Sherree!) quickly came to the rescue.

We did a few new things this year. We invited the Writing Center and the campus tutoring center to join in on the fun. That went so well that I wondered why I hadn't thought of it in the four years previous. We kicked the video games up a notch with an Unreal Tournament from KY Trade in the lab and a full size Galaga arcade game thanks to Louisville Arcade Expo, in addition to video games old (a Vectrex, seriously) and new. Students once again had fun with board games and coloring pages, and the new face painting booth was a major hit. We went with a less dangerous "minute to win it" type game this year using a broom and marbles (no throwing floppy disks across the lab), but it still remained popular. And of course, Gilbert the Balloon Artist continued to wow the crowd like nobody else can.

I didn't play as great a role in planning the event as years past, largely due to my new job. We definitely couldn't have done this without our planning team (Jen, Jennifer, and Shawn) as well as the few dozen faculty, staff, and students who helped. This is a great event, and as long as I'm at UK, I can't imagine not being a part of it. What a way to kick off the new semester!

Photos by Whitney Hale, UK PR

SLA Academic Keeps Growing

So it's been three years since we began the petition drive for the SLA Academic Division. The division was officially formed in January 2009. We had our first round of programs at the 2009 SLA Annual Conference despite having any funds, and already we were 225 members strong. In 2010, we had our first "real" set of conference programs with several standing-room-only sessions, a spotlight session, and a Sunday night dance party. In 2011, we launched our open access, peer-reviewed journal, Practical Academic Librarianship: the International Journal of the SLA Academic Division. Last month at the SLA Annual Conference, we had a number of outstanding programs (check out our Twitter feed for details) and a spotlight session, not to mention the must-attend Karaoke Night. I am thrilled at all of this progress and that three years later the division is at 525 members and growing.

A huge thanks to everyone who made SLA Academic possible and keeps moving us forward--you guys are the best!

Learning Spaces Visits at SLA Conference

I have visited libraries and learning spaces from time to time while at a conference, but now I'm thinking of making it a more formal endeavor. Last week at the SLA Annual Conference in Philadelphia, a group of fellow attendees and I visited the Library Learning Terrace at Drexel and the TECH Center at Temple. Both were interesting spaces, particularly in their use of furnishings. I have a bunch of pictures I need to clean up and go through. Until then, here are some photos from Drexel showing the Library Learning Terrace's recent opening and a nice set of images of the Temple TECH Center.

7 Things You Should Know About the Modern Learning Commons

I am delighted to be a contributor to the latest in the ELI 7 things series, 7 Things You Should Know About the Modern Learning Commons. I really enjoyed working with the ELI staff and contributors, and it was especially cool to work with learning commons expert Joan Lippincott.

What do you see as the future of learning commons?

Recent Commons News

My new job and school have kept me away from posting in quite some time. Recently I've noticed a few things I'd like to share:

The Information Commons Discussion Group will be meeting again at the ALA Annual Conference. I don't usually attend ALA, but when I have, this is a must-attend event. Rudy Leon, this year's convener, is collecting ideas for the topic, so please share your suggestions.

Catherine Lavallée-Welch, a friend and fellow SLA member, has recently posted some good ideas about future learning spaces on the SLA 365 blog. She is planning a learning commons at the University of South Florida Polytechnic Library, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about it.

I don't have time to report much news anymore--there are renovations and new openings galore--but David Murray at Infocommons and Beyond is great about keeping us up to date on commons-related news. Check it out!