From Inside Higher Ed: Bill Garrity [university librarian and vice provost of digital scholarship] still remembers the moment last fall when the University of California, Davis, library transformed into a performance hall. A quartet played beneath its high ceilings, the strains of a medieval-style guitar echoing among the stacks... Increasingly, UC Davis students are turning to Shields Library not just to study but to attend musical performances, meet with mental health ambassadors, cuddle with therapy dogs and engage in other activities. Campus leaders say it has become a “third place”—a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg to describe a space beyond home and work where people gather, connect and belong.
Amid broader discussions about the disappearance of third places—particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic—the role of community as a public health necessity has gained renewed attention. College libraries nationwide have increasingly stepped into that void... At UC Davis, “the library is intellectually, organizationally and physically at the heart of campus,” Garrity said. “It’s a place where people spend a lot of time and absolutely serves the whole campus—all students, all faculty, all researchers, all disciplines.” ...In addition to hosting programs, the library also deploys mental health ambassadors to engage students in conversation, promote stress-relieving activities and connect them with resources, Garrity said... The library also partnered with the campus tutoring center to repurpose the lower-level reading room into a centralized tutoring hub...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/college-experience/2026/03/03/uc-davis-library-emerges-campus-third-place.
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