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The way students learn and work together is rapidly changing. The bulk of academic pursuits today entail less time spent buried in books and more hours collaborating with peers.

Such considerations will have profound effects on how Penn and others design space for student study. It brings into question what exactly the fundamental purpose of academic facilities ought to be.

The answer here is group-study areas.

If the newest addition to Van Pelt Library is any indication, the University has recognized at least to some degree the importance of these rooms for present and future students.

Next spring, a new extension of Penn's main library will open, and it will serve as a model of what new academic space should look like. The Weigle Information Commons takes into account the idea that space should be designed based on the way students work together. It will feature conversation-friendly booths, media labs and 10 group-study rooms.

Too bad it will only take up 6,600 square feet.

If the Wharton School's Huntsman Hall has taught us anything, it is that group-study rooms are all the rage. Planners for that facility clearly took into account the people who would be using the space and their need for room to work collectively on group projects -- a major facet of Wharton's curriculum. It is not surprising, then, that there are 57 of these rooms and they are usually booked solid.

Also not surprising are the complaints from everyone not in Wharton that these rooms are not open and available for them to use as well. It has been a valid complaint since the building opened in 2002. The crux of the argument, though, should not be the exclusivity of Wharton's rooms, but rather the lack of rooms in other buildings.

College, Engineering and Nursing students should be afforded such meeting facilities in their academic centers as well. Collaboration is becoming more and more important each year in the way academic work and learning take place.

Designing any new academic environments without taking these new realities into account would be a mistake. So too would be failing to recognize the short supply of group-study facilities on campus.

The library's newest addition is a nice glimpse into the future of learning, but it is only 6,600 square feet.

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