Putting the learner at the heart of student experience: The role of the University Library in a seven-year journey of superconvergence at Northumbria University, UK

Abstract

Higher Education in the UK is experiencing a level of change unprecedented in the last twenty-five years. Coupled with global drivers and disruptors, from technology to generational differences, the new higher education landscape that is emerging is presenting academic libraries with a series of new and extreme strategic challenges and opportunities. Putting students at the heart of learning, by aligning with and influencing university strategy, creating new and more integrated learning environments, and designing support with student outcomes in mind, are rapidly becoming business critical.

In this article, we describe the experience of the directorate of Student and Library Services at Northumbria University, in which the University Library has played a pivotal role driving a broad, deep, and sustainable superconvergence while transforming in its own right to deliver innovative new services and successful performance. In so doing, we discuss the evolution of the superconvergence portfolio, how structure and roles were arrived at, what phases of change and stages of convergence we passed through, and how we have adopted a new support framework to integrate distinct services, and physical and virtual spaces, while retaining the quality of our broad professional expertise. We provide several examples of how the new service is operating and specifically how the University Library works in this wider context. We conclude with a reflective discussion on the outcomes and impact our approach has afforded, and what may follow.

Keywords:

• Higher Education
• UK
• learning
• academic libraries
• convergence
• student experience
• organizational design
• student services