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One of the library’s most enduring roles has been information provision. It remains especially important today as libraries transition from passive storehouses of books into active community living rooms that offer not just information but a variety of different user experiences. Some libraries have responded by implementing new approaches to information provision that appear to fit this new vision. One such approach is roving information service. Using portable forms of information technology for assistance, librarians now roam the library floor, meeting users where they are rather than the other way around. Its advocates laud its flexibility and user-centeredness. But do roving models support this new, user-centered vision of the library? The answer lies in a deeper understanding of the library floor as a social space and how roving models of service affect perceptions of “centeredness” within it. This report reviews the results of an exploratory, qualitative study involving three libraries: two that use a hybrid model of roving service and one library that uses a fully roving model. The study’s findings indicate that indeed roving service can help create user-centered forms of library space, but a library’s method of implementation will matter.

This chapter explores how a perpetual beta mentality allows public services spaces and staffing to be more flexible, responsive, and dynamic to meet the needs of a university community. In one library’s experience, this led to a redeveloped Student Assistant Program which made better use of student employee time and prompted the authors to begin exploring the impact of library employment on the future work life of student employees. Through various data collection metrics, pilot project testing, and staged implementation, public services have expanded and become more adaptable. This approach included collecting usage pattern statistics, focus groups, and surveys. A perpetual beta mindset and career-oriented work for student employees makes for more responsive public services. The sample size for each focus group was small, but spanned a broad range of student stakeholders. Because perpetual beta allows for constant change, it can be hard to compare data between iterations. Libraries should make employment more meaningful to student assistants and their future careers. This chapter further explores the current research of library employment for student assistants and begins to track their perceptions of said impact after graduation.

This multiple case study investigates the impact of technology on organizational change in public libraries. Over the past 12–15 years, public access computers (PACs) have been introduced into public libraries. Once these PACs were connected to the Internet, they attracted patrons who had not previously used public library services. The main themes around which this study was organized relate to the implementation of technology with facilities and services, city government, and people. The main research questions were following: (1) How has public library culture changed since the introduction of computers for patron use? (2) What adjustments were necessary to deal with the influx of computers and other technology in public libraries? (3) Have PACs changed the way the libraries are organized and how they are staffed? The findings of the study included how technology influenced changes in staffing in the public libraries. Each of the libraries has undergone a culture shift due to the introduction of technology. One of the shifts is the change of the reference desk from general reference to the addition of a help desk with reference responsibilities. Another concern of the directors was constantly funding the upgrades necessary for software and hardware that technology requires. As not all of the directors have supportive city government, this can be problematic. Finally, the facilities where the public libraries were housed had undergone changes either through renovations or through new buildings to accommodate technology and the infrastructure needed to support it.

There is a plaque on the wall near the reference desk in the Aubrey R. Watzek Library at Lewis & Clark College where Johannah Sherrer served as library director from 1993 to 1998. It reads, “In Memory of Johannah Sherrer.” I always imagine that Johannah is watching over us as we staff the desk, answer questions, and provide service. For in addition to being a library director, Johannah was a reference librarian par excellence. She not only knew her stuff, but she also had a way with people, a way of engaging them and showing that she really cared about them and their needs. She would go the extra mile to find the answer to a tough question, and she instilled her service values in her staff.

Library spaces are being reimagined to better fit the needs of today’s and future users. At the Georgia Tech Library, a new library space, currently called the “Library Store,” is being developed as part of the “Library Next” initiative. How can this space best attract users and how can it work to intuit their needs to offer more seamless services? Careful planning and dedicated participation on the part of library management and library staff have set into motion a design for a new space that will meet user needs immediately and will be flexible enough to respond to their ever-changing use patterns.

This chapter explores the relationship between staff needs, user needs, and institutional needs when tasked with creating a library space and services in the 21st century academic library. It explores the development of the “Library Store” as a case study to shed light on the ways in which academic libraries can adapt to the research and learning needs of their users.

The authors provide insight into the complexities of leveraging existing staff skills in order to offer new user services in a space that boasts a new and updated design. They also detail the lessons learned from the initial planning stages of the new space and services.

This chapter considers user and library staff needs from a management perspective when planning a redesign of space and services. This library is one of only a few that has embarked on this specific model of space and service reimagining.

The case study in this chapter describes the planning and implementation of a single service desk or “one desk” model, merging the circulation and reference desks at a large academic library. The transition to a single service desk model was proposed as a way to utilize library staff more efficiently and effectively. The project included a literature review, interviews with libraries that had recently moved to a one-desk model, and a recommendation that included a method as well as timeline for implementation. As a result of the recommendation, three committees were formed to lead the transition, each with representation from both the circulation and reference departments. One committee oversaw the physical implementation and assessment, while the second committee created training program for all staff teaching core competencies for both reference and circulation. The third committee recruited student peer research leaders as part of a pilot program for student assistants. Through the implementation process, the chairs of the three committees concluded that implementing a single service desk involved much more than just moving furniture and relocating equipment. Combining two departments with distinct organizational cultures was the key to making the transition successful. The details of the implementation can be used as a model for other libraries of any type contemplating a similar transition.