I arrived a few minutes early and found a history of the university with pictures of the three campus/buildings. Pampeu Fabra is quite a new university--established in 1990. To me the library seemed very forward looking and has well-developed services for the users. They have an excellent information literacy program and an extremely well-developed, broad-based service desk. At the same desk, they have Reference (with a librarian), circulation (another person), technology assistance (someone from their information technology dept), and what they called PIE (punto de informacion al estudiante). I found the PIE part extremely interesting. They have 15 people who cover this section of the desk (1 at a time, of course!) from 9am to 9pm and they are not library employees but university employees. So instead of a separate desk in some other location for all the other questions students have, Pompeu Fabra locates it in the library--the place the students know and use. I was very impressed with this.
Inside the library, they have what they call the Factoria--a place with technology; special computer software, scanners, and personal assistance for both faculty and students. The staff there helps faculty with the content management system, Moodle, making tutorials, and anything else they need. They also help students with video editing, scanning, and whatever. I saw the same setup in Tarragona in March.
During my visit I met with the Directora, Montserrat Espinos and with four of her staff who all explained the part of library services for which they are responsible. About 2 pm, I accompanied several of them to lunch and I had a great time. They were all joking around and telling me places I needed to visit. I pulled out my laminated map (they laughed to see that Pampeu Fabra was circled on it) and they pointed everything out to me. The owner of the place where we had lunch is from Galicia, and they told me that the soup several of us had was Galician. I also had chicken and rice, fresh strawberries in orange juice and a shot of espresso.
After lunch I got the walking tour of the library. They have sort of quiet space in the main part of the library except that groups can work there and talk. They have a glassed in area for real quiet and when we went in, I could tell they had done it right. You could not hear what was going on outside the glass. This main part of the library was located below street level but was open to a courtyard, so it was very light inside. We walked through to the second part of the library which is located in an old water tower--don't picture anything like our water towers. There is no longer water on the top as this picture shows.
The water tower area is totally quiet. About two thirds of the total space has been retro-fitted for the library. Again care was taken to preserve the historical structure while at the same time making it usable. There are three levels. The 3rd level can only be used by post-grad students--access is restricted. Of course, I was allowed entry! And my guide, librarian Xavier Brunet, took me up the winding staircase to the very top where we walked all around checking out the view. Needless to say, I was very impressed with Pampeu Fabra. Xavier took me back to Montserrat's office where I retrieved some folders I had left. Montserrat gifted me with a Pampeu Fabra bag and fan. We joked that the bag was my new "office" because had I told her I needed to have my jacket with me because it was my "office." I had paper, pens, and my camera in the pockets--things I needed with me all day! I got "dos besos" (what a joyful tradition!) and was on my way. Now I need to get ready for the next visit.
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