A $257,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will support four additional Transformation of the College Library Workshops and two Learning Spaces and Technology Workshops over the next two years. Teams from more than 160 CIC member institutions have already participated in previous library workshops since 2002; the new grant will enable at least 100 additional institutions to participate.

“This most-welcome grant should go a long way toward meeting the high level of interest that has previously been expressed in these opportunities,” said CIC President Richard Ekman in announcing the grant and the workshops. The Transformation of the College Library Workshops address such critical issues as advancing information literacy as an element of liberal education, the role of the library in teaching and learning through collaboration between librarians and faculty members, the changing use and conception of the physical space of the library, the challenges of using technology in improving students’ learning, and assessing the institution-wide impact of changes in library services.

Application materials for this round of library workshops were emailed to chief academic officers and library directors at the end of May. The deadline for applications is July 28, 2006. These materials are also available here.

The 2007 Transformation of the College Library Workshops are scheduled for February 1–3 in Savannah, Georgia; March 1–3 in Portland, Oregon; and April 12–14 in Cleveland, Ohio. They are again being offered by CIC in partnership with the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE). The Council on Library and Information Resources and the Association of College and Research Libraries are cosponsoring the workshops, and the Appalachian College Association (ACA) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) have endorsed them.

Teams from all independent colleges and universities are eligible to apply, and if accepted as a participant will receive a travel subsidy of up to $1,100. Preference will be given to institutional teams that have not already attended one of these workshops and that are members of CIC, NITLE, ACA, and/or the UNCF.

In addition to the library workshops, CIC and NITLE will offer two Learning Spaces and Technology Workshops in 2007 and 2008 to be led by Jeanne Narum of Project Kaleidoscope. The 2007 workshop is scheduled for March 23–25 at the University of Puget Sound (WA). Topics will include the overall planning process; creating spaces that support active, hands-on investigation; “cyber-infrastructures” and the library as an integrated learning center; sustainability issues; creating and locating informal spaces that students will use; and linking the development of new learning spaces to institutional planning. One of the most important lessons participants can expect to take away from this workshop series is that as colleges design new learning spaces, the problems they need to solve are tomorrow’s, not today’s.