Becoming Learning Commons Partners: Working towards a shared vision and practice

Abstract

In 2005, the Provost at Seattle University chose the writing centre, the learning assistance programmes and the speaking centre to partner with the library to create a learning commons as part of a renovation project. For these programmes, the learning commons was a foreign concept and not a totally welcome idea. Each unit had its own culture, professional community and administrative affiliation. This article examines how the programmes developed a collaborative partnership. Several organizational strategies were employed to develop a shared vision and mission. Each unit was challenged to reconsider its traditional ways of providing services, both by designing new work spaces and by learning how their colleagues provide services. Although the group has not formally identified itself as a community of practice, it demonstrates some of the characteristics of such a group. Issues of organizational structure, sustainability of a voluntary collaborative partnership and power relationships are explored.

Keywords:

• learning commons
• academic libraries
• change management
• communities of practice
• organizational development
• reference service
• tutoring
• writing centres