If you went to library school at the height of the internet boom of the late 1990s, you probably heard (repeatedly) as I did that “library as place” was a dead concept. Ten years on, walk into an academic library and you’re likely to notice two things: 1) it’s crowded; 2) it’s noisy. What’s died is not the need for library space but the traditional notion of what library spaces should be. Libraries have gone from bastions of silent, individual labors to more social spaces for group work. (And as someone who avoided as much as possible sitting at a little study carrel in a windowless room listening to the fluorescent lights hum above my head, I’m all in favor.) We’ve built learning/information commons to bring services like writing support and peer tutoring into the library, torn down–or at least lowered–the silos, and added things like laptop-friendly rooms and cafes. This isn’t your father’s library…

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the More than Mortar conference at Wilfrid Laurier University. It was a great day of speakers describing their experiences transforming libraries into spaces for 21st century learners. In her session, Wendie McHenry from the University of Victoria Library talked about the renovation and expansion undertaken on their original 1960s facility (and how many of us wouldn’t like to do that). In discussing future plans, Wendie mentioned that they were looking into creating a “graduate commons”; like a learning commons, but with services geared to graduate students.

It’s a brilliant idea. Much as I like the bustle of the modern academic library and the demise of the shushing librarian, I think we have to admit that many of the new services and transformations we’ve implemented are aimed at a particular clientele: undergraduates. Undergraduates, to be sure, make up the largest single demographic for most academic libraries, and supporting their needs is vital. But it’s also important to remember that they’re not our only user group.

Have we gone so far in turning libraries into undergrad-friendly social spaces that we’re driving out other users? I hope not, but I’m not sure we know the answer to that question. At McMaster, one of the most frequent comments in our Library’s online suggestion box is a request for more silent study space, and we’re identifying ways to address that. We’ve also heard from our Provost in her State of the Academy reports that boosting graduate enrollment is a strategic priority for the University. I suspect McMaster is not unique in either of these. Perhaps the graduate commons is the next step in transforming the academic library. Not a return to the shushing (or the soothing hum of fluorescent tubes) but a space that graduate students can call their own.