Information and learning commons, faculty and student benefits

The purpose of this paper is to examine the benefits of information and learning commons to students and faculty.

Based on the experiences of its author, this paper considers two cases in which Georgia Tech faculty worked with the Georgia Tech Library's East and West Commons to expand their teaching practices and their students' learning and research opportunities. It then discusses the benefits of these activities to students and faculty.

This paper argues that, although information and learning commons are designed primarily to benefit college and university students, these spaces can, with little modification, benefit faculty as well.

The idea that information and learning commons benefit students is nothing new. They are explicitly designed for that purpose. But, the idea that information and learning commons might also support college and university faculty teaching and research interests is one that has received little attention in the library literature to date. This paper explores this idea.