A Space for Innovation

My parents recently came to visit and I could think of no better place to take them than the Hunt Library at NCSU, so I took them on the tour of the library, and they were as impressed by the space as I was.  My father said, “this place gives you a sense of the hope and possibility in the world and I think it’s important for students to experience that.”  Time magazine called it the library of the future and it exemplifies how the design of a space is critical for igniting innovation, collaboration and research.  When we live in world where technology allows us to learn in so many different ways, it’s important that the library is no longer seen primarily as a place to store books, but rather a learning lab.  When you enter the building, the first thing you see is the massive book Bot that not only gets books to borrowers in an incredibly efficient manner, it also frees up a tremendous amount of space that is used instead for a wide range of creative and reflective spaces including a creativity studio, music and video recording rooms, a game lab, a teaching and visualization lab, an iPearl immersion theater, a makerspace and at the highest point a skyline reading room and terrace that overlooks Lake Raleigh. Technology at the Hunt Library is ubiquitous and ever present.  When you walk into the library there is a space that looks like an Apple Showroom that displays all of the devices students can check out from a variety of laptops and tablet to high end cameras and 3d printers.  The Hunt Library redefines the library from a quiet space where students come to study independently to a buzzing community space that encourages collaboration, creativity and connectivity.  Most surfaces in the library can be written on and the furniture is light and portable to allow students to reconfigure it for their needs.  The library is open 24/7 for students during the school year.  If you go to Instagram and search for the hashtag #huntlibrary, you will see photos from students that are incredible and tell the story of how Hunt Library has quickly become the gathering place for students to expand the possibilities of what it means to learn in the 21st century.