The College of the Rockies is undertaking an initiative to enhance the student experience through the creation of a “learning commons” consisting of engaging and supportive space(s), services, partnerships and technologies that will facilitate progressive learning, teaching and campus connections and experiences for all students, employees and the larger regional community. To start the process, the Library is hosting a series of community engagement sessions to gather stakeholder input to understand users’ needs, requirements and preferences to improve library operations, user experiences and future partnership and expansion requirements. The goal of the stakeholder sessions is to begin the conversation with the College of the Rockies community about how the existing library is, or is not, meeting your needs (for spaces, services, resources, technologies, etc.) and how you would like to see it evolve. The input gathered at these sessions will drive the design decisions to determine how best to move the Library forward and enhance the student learning experience at the College of the Rockies. During the fourth community engagement session, we did a quick re-cap of what we heard during the last meeting, and then we talked about the final design principle to consider when designing a learning commons space, as well as discussed furniture solutions that could be incorporated in the new design. All of the input that you provided will help us answer the main discussion question; how does the library move forward into a new one-stop shop “learning commons” that will merge key student success and support services within a 21st Century learning community? Thank you to everyone who participated! Please join us for the final session on February 11 where we will be doing a summary of all the community input we gather gathered over the past 4 weeks.

1. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. Session #4 will begin at 4:00pm
Retain +
Furniture
Session #3 Recap:
How does the library move forward
into a new one-stop shop “learning
commons” that will merge key
student success and support
services within a 21st Century
learning community?
Remove + Reveal

2. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. Session #4 will begin at 4:00pm
What we heard – Types of educational programming

3. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. Session #4 will begin at 4:00pm
What we heard – College of the Rockies connections to honour

4. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. Session #4 will begin at 4:00pm
Agenda for Session #4
1. Team Introduction
2. Zoom Refresher
3. Introduction to today’s topic
4. Community Input
5. Wrap Up

5. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. Session #4 will begin at 4:00pm
Next Sessions:
1. February 11 – Session #5
Topic: Community Engagement Summary

6. Learning Commons +
Library Design
• Retain
• Furniture Solutions
• How does the move forward into a new one-
stop shop “learning commons” that will merge
key student success and support services
within a 21st Century learning community?
Cranbrook, British Columbia
College of the Rockies
February 4, 2021

8. How does the library move forward
into a new one-stop shop “learning
commons” that will merge key
student success and support
services within a 21st Century
learning community?
Retain +
Furniture

9. Reorganize /
Rebalance
Reorganizing and
rebalancing the space
to be structured around
a central gathering area
helps to focus the
spatial configuration on
the people rather than
the collections, allowing
the library to reinforce a
sense of community
with engaging gathering
spaces that promote
interaction.
Reconfigure
Reconfiguring the space
allows the library to
embrace change and
continue to find
innovative ways to
deliver service that
supports the shifting
needs of the
community.
Remove
Removing barriers in
the space between
people, knowledge, and
resources allows the
library to support
inclusive spaces that
accommodate learning
opportunities for people
of all backgrounds.
Reveal
Revealing the space to
the community allows
the library to become
an equitable
environment that
promotes access to
resources for growth
and learning, and that
recognizes the historic
and ongoing
connections to the
Ktunaxa and Kinbasket
Peoples.
Retain
Retaining the historic
character of the existing
library and surrounding
buildings preserves a
story of the city,
neighbourhoods and
school across
generations, and
acknowledges the
relationship of the
College and the Ktunaxa
Peoples upon whose
unceded ancestral lands
we learn and thrive on.

10. Retain
1. When existing buildings or spaces are in good condition, renovation is often the most fiscally and
environmentally sustainable approach.
2. Careful consideration should always be given to the existing building’s or spaces ability to support
the future needs; building new will be an appropriate course of action in many cases.
3. Additions and renovations should be respectful of historic structures but should be designed to be
of their time and place.

11. Poll:
How important is it to you to retain the historic background of
the existing Library or College in the new design?

12. Are there any historical
features from the
Library or the College
that you would like to
see incorporated in the
new design?

13. Furniture Solutions
1. Create informal learning spaces that are multi-purpose and support group interactions.
2. Provide students with comfortable ergonomic furniture that promotes physical well-being.
3. Create a stimulating environment that sparks creative thinking and supports active learning.
4. Use furniture to create quieter, distraction-free study areas for the individual.

14. Private / Alone
Individual spaces
should support quiet,
focused work and
provide security of work
tools. These spaces can
be used for short-term
and long-term time
periods.
Public / Alone
Individual spaces for
people who prefer to
work in the company of
others to stay socially
connected. These
spaces create a balance
of focused work and
social interactions.
Private / Together
Enclosed rooms that
support small to large
groups for collaboration
and active learning.
Furniture should be
mobile to rearrange the
room as needed by the
occupants. These
spaces should offer
easy to use technology
for screen sharing,
presentations, etc.
Public / Together
Open gathering spaces
to support students
working together to
achieve a common goal.
The furniture solutions
can offer visual and
acoustic privacy to
reduce the amount of
distractions that are
produced in group
settings.

15. Private / Alone

16. What does Private / Alone furniture and learning look like to you?

17. Private / Alone

18. Public / Alone

19. What does Public / Alone furniture and learning look like to you?

20. Public / Alone

21. Private / Together

22. What does Private / Together furniture and learning look like to you?

23. Private / Together

24. Public / Together

25. What does Public / Together furniture and learning look like to you?

26. Public / Together

27. 1
2
3

28. 5
4 6
7

29. 9
8

31. Questions?
Please join us for our final
community engagement session
on February 11.
This session will be uploaded to
the project website within 24
hours.
Thank you for joining us!
+ Hospice
Retain +
Furniture