Policy on Library Study Areas
The Library is committed to providing public study areas on all five floors of the Library.
The Library has collected data on how students are using the Library through satisfaction surveys and head counts of how students are using the Library. Based on these measures, the Library has set a policy to provide to our users a variety of alternative settings for study.
Because students often must confer with each other in collaborative learning situations, the Library has designated the 4th floor as a consultation area where students may discuss academic projects and study together in groups. As new tables and chairs are purchased for the Library, NEIU will replace the study carrels on the 4th floor with tables in order to provide students with group study space. The Library also provides space for the Academic Computing Lab, the Learning Center, the Math Lab, and the Reading Lab on the 4th floor. Tutors and their students from these areas also use the public tables for consultation.
Some students require a very quiet setting to do individual study. The Library has designated the Lower Level as an absolute quiet area so that individuals can concentrate and study by themselves. Long term, the furniture on the Lower Level will be replaced by new individual carrels.
The Library has also designated the 3rd floor as a quiet area to provide space so that students can study alone. However, there are teacher resource collections on the 3rd floor which are used by students from the College of Education. There may be times when these students will be examining the collections and there will be noise resulting from discussions among several students. In the future, new tables and carrels will be purchased to replace the existing tables and will support this mixed use of the floor. The Multimedia Learning Resource Center Desk will also generate some noise, faculty members will be crossing the area to go to the Center for Teaching and Learning, and students will be crossing to go to the 3rd floor classroom.
Because the Library's 1st and 2nd floors contain many library service points including reference desks, public workstations, the circulation desk or the copy center, users on these floors will encounter noise from these necessary operations. Noise results from visitors entering the Library on the 1st floor and in the public display area near the entrance. Users may study together and very quietly converse.
The University Library Administration may make exceptions to these policies after discussing the particular situation with appropriate University personnel.
Approved by Library Faculty, October 9, 2002
Approved by Dean of Libraries and Learning Resources, October
9, 2002