How does the design of Georgia State University’s library affect people’s’ relationships on that space?

Thesis: Georgia State University Library promotes interaction, togetherness and group work among students.

T: The computers are aligned together so when students whether they are partnered in pairs or groups are able to interact and collaborate with one another. Some have walls built around them like a mini cubicle space but are still in an open space.

T: The second floor of Library North near the computers and study rooms are chairs that are grouped in fours around a small coffee table. This interior of the chairs promotes the idea of group work and collaboration among students that are studying, however, from sitting in these chairs and also passing them while going through the library, most of the students that sit together are not interacting with one another.

T: In the library, there are some but very few spaces where students that to study alone are located. There are some cubicles students can occupy in closed spaces such as the ones near the bookshelves in the third and fourth floors. Sometimes, students would even sit between bookshelves to create and amend their own space.

Conclusion: Students are limiting interaction with other students by attempting to create their own closed-out cubicle space. This isn’t anything personal towards other students regarding to communication and relationships with one another. This is primarily for academic reasons being if a group of students were studying at a table and a student by themselves was studying at the next table over it is because that one student is probably more comfortable working alone than in pairs or groups.