Beyond the Books
By Gabriela Arosemena
January 12, 2024
Originating as a solution to challenges posed by increasing student numbers and a limited library space, JBU built the Mabee Learning Resource Center in 1977. Now, 43 years later, JBU is renovating the LRC to reinvent it as a modern and integrated Academic Success Center and collaborative learning hub.
The renovation aims to increase awareness and use of the many student support services scattered around campus.
“I couldn’t find the tutoring center the first time,” said Camila Alfaro, a first-year student from El Salvador. “When I asked, people just said, ‘There’s tutoring in the LRC,’ but there weren’t any signs, and it wasn’t in the library. I also didn’t know there were classrooms there.”
This lack of awareness of the full scope of academic resources available to students is not unique to JBU. According to a Tyton Partners 2023 survey of over 2,000 college students, 35% were unaware of critical support services despite institutions confirming their availability.
Additionally, the report found that students who are aware of their university’s services have a higher feeling of belonging within their school communities. The study suggests this gap may affect students’ school success and retention.
Another study published by the National Library of Medicine found strong evidence of an association between students who utilize academic services and their success and their likelihood to return for the following semester, indicating that this environment enhances their motivation to study and promotes their academic performance.
The LRC renovation aims to reduce confusion by integrating all the academic services and offices so they are together and easy to locate.
“We realized that when things are easier to find — things students need — it just works better,” said Steve Beers, vice president for student development, athletics and facilities. “If we put all the academic services in proximity and within the same space, it allows for formal and informal collaboration.”
The administration also hopes the integration will alleviate any hesitation or stigma students may feel around asking for support.
The renovation is divided into two projects. The first project, which begins this month and should be complete by the end of April, converts the previous broadcast studio to a sound stage for JBU’s film program and moves the information technology offices and the media lab to the previous communication program area. The bridgeway between the LRC and the Chapman Administration Building, which became a storage area in 2001, will get new windows and be remade into a beautiful study space for students. Outdated mechanical systems will also be replaced throughout these areas.
“The building is not unsafe, but we are lacking measures that new building codes mandate,” said Steve Brankle, director of facilities. “We’ll have better technology — the Wi-Fi will be faster, more lighting, a new elevator and a new A/C system.”
The first renovation project is expected to cause minimal disruption to students and staff and cost $2.5 million.
The second project, slated to begin in May 2025 at a cost of $9 million, is the bigger undertaking and involves reimagining the library and the remaining LRC spaces.
“A lot of things have changed since the library opened in 1979,” said Taylor Vanlandingham, director of the library. “There are no more card catalogs, and as technology has changed, the needs of JBU students have changed. As we’ve added academic services, we’ve kind of just put them wherever we could. The academic needs of today’s students are varied. A lot of times students come into the LRC and know they need help, just not where to get it.”
The area for physical items (approximately 70,000 books, journals, DVDs and games) will decrease due to the popularity and availability of digital versions, allowing the library to occupy the second floor only. The library will move some books to storage on collapsible shelves, allowing access when students prefer a physical copy.
Construction will eliminate the two-story open space currently in the lobby and extend the second floor from the front of the building to the back. This allows for more space for individual and group study spaces, a reading room and a computer hub near the reference desk.
“When it’s done, the library is going to be a wide-open space with lots of natural lighting and high ceilings,” Brankle said. “This place has the prettiest view on campus. I think all the natural light will help students study and give the place a welcoming aesthetic rather than make the place feel like a cave.”
Moving the library services upstairs will open the first floor to create an integrated Academic Success Center that brings together student academic resources and support offices in one place. To fuel all that studying, the student-run coffee shop, Ground Floor Coffee, will get a new home in the LRC.
With a more efficient layout, JBU hopes students implement a more collaborative way of learning.
Decades of empirical research back up collaborative learning and its effect on student success. According to a study by the University of Washington, “active learning leads to increases in examination performance that would raise average grades by half a letter.”
“If I’m a struggling student visiting Student Support Services and need to talk to the research librarian or someone in the writing center, I need to be able to just walk around the corner and find them,” said Beers.
Students agreed that collaborative learning is more effective, and the current library is limited in its ability to facilitate it.
“Right now, even though the first floor doesn’t have a ‘talking rule,’ people don’t seem to know that, and they whisper and don’t feel comfortable having those collaborative study sessions,” said Adeline Gruen, a freshman and library staff member. “I think [this project] will help students adjust and find their study style and still have access to the library. It allows more talkative students to study with friends in a collaborative setting while being close to the library.”
JBU will begin the second project in May 2025 and hopes to complete it by January 2026.
Take a virtual library tour and learn more about the renovations at jbu.edu/steadfast-faith/lrc.
If you’re interested in giving to the LRC renovation, contact Jim Krall at jkrall@jbu.edu
or 479-524-7145.
