January 9, 2018

This fall, the Drexel University Libraries continued the transformation of the 24/7 space in the W. W. Hagerty Library, adding new furniture, new technology and a new name: The Dragons’ Learning Den. 

Previously called the Bookmark Café, this space was once home to a Taco Bell outlet, which was fully removed from the building in spring 2017. Since then, it has evolved from a café where students go to eat and relax into a space that inspires students to learn to explore and discover new ideas and use of information with their peers.

In December 2017, the Libraries installed new furniture and equipment in the Dragon’s Learning Den to create a Practice Zone. This new collaborative work space includes an 80” ThinkHub monitor with a multi-user software application designed to help groups brainstorm, collaborate, visualize and problem solve together on screen. Students can share content from their personal devices to ThinkHub via USB drive or Bluetooth technology. With the addition of this new monitor, students can now view content from numerous devices at one time on one big screen instead of hovering around an individual screen, making presentations and group work even more dynamic. 

The monitor is surrounded by new mobile white boards and soft, stair-style seating, creating a small theatre ambiance around the screen that further lends the space to collaborative rehearsals and design projects.

Sunlight now streams into the space, thanks to the removal of the retail eatery, and additional high-top tables and chairs have also been added in front of the windows formerly blocked by the old Taco Bell kitchen equipment. Still to come is an enclosed workspace, which will allow small groups to practice presentations or work collaboratively in a semi-private space. This final piece of furniture is expected to arrive in late spring 2018.

Student-generated learning activities—perhaps competitive information games, hackathons, book discussions, presentations and debates—will be hosted in this space over the coming months, with an emphasis on programs that help students practice communicating digital information and ideas.

Interested in hosting a program or event in the Dragons’ Learning Den? Contact Ann Yurcaba at acy24@drexel.edu