Student Library Ownership and Building the Communicative Commons

Based on William Birdsall's research on the Communicative Commons (2010), this research moves toward reworking the commons model by integrating classical definitions of the commons with theories of psychological ownership, the Information/Learning Commons, and engaged learning and citizenship behaviors. This research seeks to enable institutions without the financial resources for physical renovations projects to create an environment in their libraries capable of training students to become citizen-scholars by providing the goal of increasing student ownership over library resources. It argues that prioritizing student participation within the library may be the best preparation for participation in the wider cultural commons post-graduation.