This study examines how students are using academic library spaces and the role these spaces are playing in the campus community. Data were collected on five campuses (two community colleges, two undergraduate universities, and one technical institute) via observational seating sweeps and questionnaires. The study found remarkably similar usage patterns across all library types. Academic pursuits remain the most common activities, despite perceptions of the modern library as a social space. The library as a place to study is shown to be a complex topic, with noise, need, and personal preference influencing experience. The research provides libraries with evidence to demonstrate their support of student learning and engagement within their institutions.ransformations in the academic landscape, including the format and availability of information and new approaches to teaching, mean the role of the academic library is in flux. As Martell reports, virtual access is the preferred method for accessing information in postsecondary institutions, a fact that might lead some to call into question the very existence of the library as a physical entity.1 John Regazzi reports that, between 1998 and 2010, although there were large drops in reference and circulation statistics at most of over 3,000 academic libraries examined, there was comparatively little change in the number of physical visits to these same spaces.2 These changing statistics highlight questions about the role that academic libraries as physical spaces play in the academic community. This reason, in addition to tightening financial constraints and the resulting increase in pressure to prove value to the larger academic community, makes studying the academic library as place a timely and useful topic.Scott Bennett reviews the evolution of the library in terms of several paradigm changes, from a reader-centered space where books were scarce, then, as accessibility of printed material exploded, to a book-centered space designed primarily to house materials.3 Now the digital age returns us to a time when storage of physical materials becomes secondary; but, instead of a return to a reader-centered paradigm, Bennett advocates embracing a learner-centered approach.4 After reviewing articles that consider the role of the library in the academic community, Danuta Nitecki concludes that

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the terms of the Creative CommonsAttribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License 2.5 Canada (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncsa/2.5/ca/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the same or similar license to this one. AbstractObjectives -To describe aspects of the 21 st century role of the public library as a physical space by observing the actual use of a selection of public libraries. This study seeks to reveal how patrons are using and experiencing these institutions as spaces and how patrons and staff characterize the role of public libraries in communities.Methods -A multiple case study design was used to examine three urban and three small town public libraries within Nova Scotia, Canada. A triangulated set of methods including patron interviews and questionnaires, staff interviews, and seating sweeps was used to develop answers to the research questions.Results -These public libraries are functioning as successful public places in that they are community spaces used in a multitude of ways and where patrons feel welcome. These libraries play important roles in the lives of respondents and, while respondents were willing to give critical feedback, they generally described the spaces positively. Patron use and experience of these library spaces can be broken into three themes that describe the roles of public libraries in communities. These 5Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2010, 5.2 6 include the role of provider of books and information, provider of access to technology and provider of a social space where members of the public are welcome.Conclusions -Patron experiences in Nova Scotia public libraries show that libraries are vibrant places that are highly valued by their communities. A number of common themes about the use and perception of these spaces emerged, yet when examined individually each library was also revealed to be a unique place, reflecting the particular qualities of the community and the physical space of the library building itself. It is clear that public libraries are complex institutions which play a variety of valuable roles in the community.

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