Student input is at the heart of the Learning Commons Refresh Project. We listened to student voices through surveys, letters, anecdotes, and informal interviews gathered in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Direct quotes from students have been shared below in "bold" while our response in the upcoming refresh is directly underneath each comment. Learn more about these UX (user experience) Research Activities.
“Thank you for all the comfy couches that are great to sit and do essays on!”
The current Learning Commons has quite a few booths, green couches, and soft chairs. We’re happy to say that we’ll be adding more comfy seating with the Refresh!
“We love the booths, the privacy screens, and the seats!”
The booths have been really popular! It’s also pretty common to find students in the Learning Commons using privacy screens or whiteboards to
“We could use more natural light.”
We agree. One of the major changes to the Learning Commons will be that the layout of furniture is different to allow natural light from the windows at the back of the Learning Commons to more easily travel through the space.
“Please add some plants, it feels sterile in here!”
We’re so excited to be adding plants to some of the desks thanks to help from OSU Seminarium! Our friends will help the library by caring for plants in the library so you can enjoy a more homey experience while you study.
“Please make a fun reading section.”
There are already a few themed book displays in the current Learning Commons, but we think that there could definitely be more. Thanks to this comment and many other student suggestions, we’re adding more book display areas to the Learning Commons so that browsing for books is easier.
Students had much more to say about the current and future Learning Commons and we look forward to learning more about how the upcoming changes resonate with them in Fall 2025.
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