Purpose & Goals

As our 10-year Master Facilities Plan for the University Park Campus Libraries had run its course, the Space Steering Committee was tasked to develop a list of prioritized library facility enhancements across Penn State’s 20 physical campuses to leverage when working with library donors. This paper describes a participatory approach which engaged all library personnel across 20 campuses in a survey, a full day Space Summit for middle managers, a guided discussion with senior administrators and ultimately the development of an updated list of library facility enhancement priorities expanded to 20 campuses.

Design & Methodology

The Space Summit was designed to engage middle managers from over 20 campuses and 60 departments and branches across the university libraries, to develop proposals for public space facility enhancements across libraries locations. Summit Participants engaged in individual and group activities throughout a full day of programming leveraging stakeholder input from a library-wide survey in crafting big-bold public space facility enhancement proposals. A library-wide survey initiated the effort which invited all library personnel to share ideas for public space enhancements. The resulting 154 submissions were leveraged to develop approximately 80 location-specific worksheets, summarizing enhancement ideas submitted in the library-wide survey. On the day of the summit, middle managers worked individually to develop public space proposals informed by location-specific worksheets which summarized submissions from personnel who worked in the location the manager represented, then middle managers worked in small groups to refine ideas. Following the Summit, the Space Steering Committee conducted a prioritization exercise to identify proposals to put forward for administrative review leveraging guiding principles which resulted from survey responses. Senior administrators were next led through a guided discussion to identify the final list of facility enhancements to leverage with donors when opportunities arise.

Findings

The 154 survey responses were used by middle managers to develop approximately 100 proposals for public space refinements across 20 campuses. The Space Steering Committee prioritization exercise leveraged guiding principles for facility enhancements informed by the library-wide survey, to identify 17 proposals to put forward for senior administrator review. The guided discussion with senior administrators resulted in a refined list of 13 public space facility enhancement proposals and identified additional desired enhancements to pursue regardless of donor support.

Action & Impact

The list of facility enhancements is adopted for use by senior administrators. Additional ideas for facility enhancements are in hand to capitalize on should opportunities arise.

Practical Implications & Value

Opportunities for donor funded facility enhancements are increasingly rare. Being prepared when opportunities arise is good practice. Senior Administrators are now armed with a list of over a dozen facility enhancement proposals developed by the personnel working in those spaces for consideration when donors express interest.