For our project, we chose Alden Library because it is a public space on campus. Alden Library was constructed between 1866 and 1869. The designer is the 16th president of Ohio University, Vernon R. Alden, who served as president from 1962 until 1969. He planned this place as a public space for all the students. The library serves the Athen's campus as the central library facility: the building can seat 3,000 students. The main purpose of the library is to provide a place where people can read, study, and do research. The Ohio University library contains over two million printed volumes, 2.3 million units of microfilm materials, and 13,500 current periodical subscriptions. Electronic resources of the library include ALICE, the online catalog, OhioLINK, a statewide library and information network, and a wide variety of networked databases in many subjects and disciplines. All of these are accessible from within Alden and many of them are linked to the library home page and other campus networks. Special collections within the library are the Fine Arts Library, the Health Sciences library, the University Archives and Special Collections, a Map Collection, and the Southeast Asia Collection. Instructional Media and Technology services supports instructional technology across the Athens campus and houses video and other multimedia collections. Alden Library is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, as well as to students and faculty seven days a week during the academic year. ALden Library also houses the Learning Commons (2nd floor) and the Academic Advancement Center, which offers study skills instruction, tutoring programs, and a computer lab.Alden Library is a busy pseudo-public building that serves many people everyday. Students and sometimes other members of the community use the building as a place to do work and use resources. The whole design reflects its main purpose, which is to cater to the university. As soon as you enter the building all you can see is college students bustling about. It is not uncommon to see professors using the space, but everyone seems to notice when an outsider to academia is in the library. Although, the library is supposed to cater to "the public" it clearly serves college students first and foremost. This would make it very unwelcoming to anyone who is not a part of Ohio University.
This particular public space contains many aspects of representations of space. In order to remain an efficient and well-used building, many rules must be followed. Every floor and area within floors has specific rules to be followed. Each floor has a specific purpose and is divided into areas of use for the students. These rules are put into place in order to create an atmosphere that functions well for the majority. For example, organizations and special events posters are prohibited from being posted in the restrooms of the library. Despite this rule, the library itself posts many fliers advertising help sessions and tips for library use. The nature of the material that's approved and posted in the main arreas of the library has 100% to do with university sponsored events. This un-Democratic action excludes opportunities that may be offered by students and community members.
Although there are many regulations that must be maintained, Alden is a well-used place. In many aspects it functions very well as representational space. It has become a successful meeting place for organizations and even groups of friends. Many people spend a good portion of their time at the library due to its comfort and resources. The 3rd floor is the Fine Arts floor, it's probably more representational than most of the library because the staff encourages work to be exhibited. This creates an opportunity for people who are not part of the art scene to be exposed to what their peers are doing. The 2nd floor is the "customer service" oriented floor because that's where the IT department and cafe are located. The 4th floor is where most of the books and DVDs are help for pick-up. The 1st and 5th floors are archives. Most of the library inventory and collections are sifted through on the 1st floor and the 5th floor is where the administrative offices are. The 6th and 7th floors are the stacks.
Each of the floors is designed to appeal to a certain group of students. the 1dt floor-anthropologists, 2nd floor-everyone, especially the international students because of the writing center and OPIE program and business students because of the group study rooms, 3rd floor-art students, 4th floor-everyone but mostly film students because it's where the materials can be rented, 5th floor-political science and journalism majors because it's where the government papers and archives are located, and 6th and 7th floors cater to graduate students because theyre the ideal environment for researching. The fact that although each floor isn't labeled as the "anthropologist floor" and so on shows that certain groups carve out places for themselves and we see this as a space of representation.
Here are the rules that must be followed when in Alden Library:
-Alcohol cannot be consumed anywhere in the building
-Smoking is absolutely forbidden. Smoking as allowed 10 ft away from the building
-Crunchy food is not allowed in the quiet study area. Talking is not allowed in the quiet study area. People should turn off their cell phone or turn them to mute before entering the quiet study area.
-Elevators in the library are used by library users to go up and down, and are used by librarians to transport books.
-Animals, other than animals trained for service purposes for the disabled, are prohibited in the Library.
-Library users in the library are responsible for their own personal property.
-Disturbing or unseemly behavior is prohibited, including abusive or threatening behavior to the librarians or other library users.
-Library users who are studying have the priority to use the computers in the library.
-After using or moving furniture (chairs or tables) people must place them back.
-Noise levels shall remain within the norms of typical library activity. If there are groups of people studying or meeting together, they should reserve a group study room.
-Children are not permitted in the library except under the direct supervision of a parent or other responsible adult. Children should conform to all library rules. Children are not allowed on the balcony unattended.
Here is a floor plan of Alden Library
For our project, we decided to challenge the social norms not only of the library, but of the elevator too. Dani made some wonderful cucumber sandwiches, and Jia brought tea. We set up a small table and a chair in the elevator, and invited travelers to eat a sandwich and have a drink. The reactions were what we expected. Most people seemed to be quite confused as to why there were girls handing out food not just in the library, but in the library's elevator. Some people inquired as to why we were doing what we were, while others got off on the first floor they were able to. Some even decided not to enter the elevator once they saw the strange set-up inside. Here are some pictures we took of our project that redefined social norms.
Many people would ask why we were giving away food, and once we replied it was for a school project they seemed to be much more at ease. So it seems that if you have an agenda is still academic, then the socially abnormal behavior was "ok". But, if we were to reply that we just wanted to give away food, I'll bet the reactions would have been different.
