Beyond the Library Learning Spaces: An Assessment of Discussion Room Usage of the De La Salle University Libraries

Abstract

Academic libraries have embraced evaluation as a way to acquire information that is used to guide administrators’ and service providers’ decision-making in recent decades. In an era where libraries aim to assist users at the moment of need, thoughtfully designed and well-carried-out evaluations can shed light on a variety of library operations, including service performance, space use, and overall user satisfaction (Trembach S. et al., 2020). Students perform better when they participate in learning commons (Khan, 2020), and they study best when given the opportunity to do so in a friendly and encouraging setting (Holeton, 2020). This paper is to understand how the De La Salle University Libraries can better support the academic community by improving the space utilization and accessibility of their discussion room. And aims to examine the actual use of discussion rooms in the De La Salle University Libraries from 2017-2022, which includes understanding how the discussion rooms were used before and during the pandemic; assess the adequacy of the discussion rooms as learning spaces, that involves determining if the available discussion rooms meet the needs of library patrons for collaboration and study; identify the major users of discussion rooms, signifying which colleges/schools use the discussion rooms the most; and determine the preferred booking times for discussion rooms, which indicates understanding when users typically book the discussion rooms. This study employs a descriptive research methodology. Data were extracted and culled from Springshare (a content management system used by DLSU Libraries for online room booking), and used tables and percentages to describe the usage of discussion rooms. The data were then analyzed using the measure of central tendency, mean. Frequency and percentage were also employed to present the data and show its distribution. A tabulated summary and graph were made to interpret the results easily. The research findings highlight the usage trends of discussion rooms at De La Salle University from 2017 to 2022. Overall, there was a peak in usage during the academic year 2018-2019 (102,284 users), followed by a significant drop in 2020 due to the pandemic. Undergraduate students consistently represented the highest user group, totaling 122,579 across the years. The Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business (RVRCOB) led in user numbers among colleges, while the highest room usage was recorded for 8B. Daily usage peaked on Thursdays, with the booking hours changing post-pandemic to reflect safety protocols. The findings ultimately illustrate the impact of COVID-19 on discussion room accessibility and user behavior. The results of this physical learning space initiative will provide the librarians with an actual number of usage of discussion rooms per floor and will equip innovative ideas for future redesigning or redevelopment for improvement, if necessary, of the said learning space for active teaching and learning.