The amount of library anxiety-feelings of discomfort and stress in a library environmentthat students face is intimately connected with the design of academic library spaces. However, until this point, most research into library anxiety and the physical environment of academic libraries has not considered the relationship between the two. This literature review discusses the current research available about library anxiety and academic library design. It highlights points of overlap where, despite the best of intentions, libraries may have failed to address the antecedents of library anxiety when making design decisions and suggests that more research is needed to fully understand the correlation between the two.
Mellon’s 1986 theory of library anxiety named a phenomenon many librarians were familiar with, and influenced inquiry related to multiple areas of Library and Information Science (LIS). However, Mellon’s study, and the work it inspired, were done in an academic library environment that is drastically different from the academic library of today. Considering the rapid evolution of physical academic libraries alongside shifting societal attitudes towards mental health since the completion of Mellon’s study, it is essential to reevaluate the concept of library anxiety. My dissertation research critically reevaluates the concept of library anxiety in the library of today and asks, “are they still anxious?” or, “anxious in the same way?”. To explore these questions, I have designed a two-part qualitative study. Part one is an analysis of the scholarly literature exploring how the concept of library anxiety has been understood and applied in the field of LIS. Part two of the study explores how that older understanding of library anxiety aligns with students’ experiences of academic libraries today. Using a combination of surveys, interviews, and interactive mapping activities with student library users on a university campus in the Southeast, I identify possible connections between physical academic libraries and students’ emotional experiences as they relate to library anxiety in today’s landscape. This study has the potential to inform library design in ways that support students’ information needs and shed light on some of the affective experiences of student users that are sometimes overlooked as key parts of user experience.
The concepts of space and place as they relate to libraries has been a popular topic of discussion in Library and Information Science (LIS) literature for decades. In that time, libraries have been heralded as spaces and places of discovery, safety, escape, fear, control, wonder, community, learning, work, and relaxation among many other designations. Focusing on academic libraries specifically, the presenters explore the ways we have thought about academic libraries as spaces and places in the past in LIS and ask what is missing from the conversation. Through a critical analysis of the extant literature in two prominent LIS scholarly databases, the presenters first seek to answer the question, “How has space and place been framed in academic library literature?” Based on the findings of the initial analysis and the gaps identified, the presenters then ask, “What perspectives or frameworks could potentially address existing gaps in the literature?” Of particular interest is the affective relationship between people and the spaces in which they function and how better understanding of such relationships can deepen our understanding of academic libraries as spaces and places.
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