Now more than ever before, college libraries have a challenge ahead of them. The challenge is technology, so while college students will likely always need the study space the library provides, they need the physical resources less and less all of the time thanks to the extensive ability to obtain many of these same resources online. Traditional study carrels and areas just don’t work for today’s students. A concept that might? One borrowed from the business world called hoteling or hot desking.

What Is It?

The idea is a fairly simple one. Because many employees are on the run these days to customers, sales meetings, or other offices, the desk space remains unused much of the time. As a result, freeing some of that up, and thus needing smaller work areas overall, is finally possible. Thus the idea of hoteling was born. The concept is this – when an employee is going to need a workspace, he calls ahead to the concierge (or office manager, as the case may be) to reserve a desk space. That desk space is then open for him on a given day at a given time, and he has the space he needs to work.

The idea is pretty easily transferable to college libraries, though you may need to put some policies in place to make it work well. There are several software solutions on the market today to help make it work well from an administration standpoint. Students, particularly on those campuses where many students commute or live off-campus, reserve a great workstation for a period of time. Libraries are sure their workstations are put to good use, and students aren’t trying to study in the noise of the food court.

Making It Work

If hoteling might be a good choice for your library, the essential factor will be the workspace itself. You have to have amazing casework to play this game. Students aren’t going to want to reserve a space if it isn’t comfortable and useful, so much thought has to go into the areas themselves. Keep in mind that you probably don’t want to give your entire library over to the concept, but dedicating a portion to the space is going to do excellent things for both your library and the students themselves. The work areas need to fulfill the simple needs of students who wish to study or complete assignments. An attractive work surface is a given, but you should also ensure students have access to power, maybe even a variety of available charging cords for various devices. Beautify it with some task lighting, and add some functionality with a coat hook or even a trash can. All of these things are simple to accomplish, but they’ll make these hoteling spaces amazing for student use.

Not all business concepts have a place in education, but this is one that certainly does.