What will libraries at USC look like in 2025 and beyond? What will it mean to “go to” one, and what will students find when they get there?

In keeping with themes of multimedia literacy in the university's plan for academic excellence, the Library of the Future contest encourages students to explore those questions using the tools available through USC Libraries' new Multimedia Commons. The contest is sponsored by the Friends of the USC Libraries.

The Multimedia Commons, on the first floor of Leavey Library, features sophisticated workstations, scanners and Wacom graphics tablets. The new space complements other recently added services such as a podcasting studio, digital cameras, HD camcorders and audio kits available for check-out at the Leavey service desk.

Students already have begun using the podcasting studio for multimedia class assignments and personal projects such as video and music blogs and short films.

The Commons is available to all students, but Karen Howell, director of Leavey Library's Undergraduate Learning Center, hopes that students interested in the Library of the Future contest will be among the first to take advantage of the new services.

“Leavey is a perfect place to work on contest presentations,” Howell said. “Our mission at the libraries is to support the university's 21st-century curriculum. Students will start here to do their research and then return to produce multimedia content for the competition as well as their classes.”

The Library of the Future competition asks student teams to consider the physical structure, technology and social aspects that will shape tomorrow's library. Teams must consist of students from more than one academic discipline. Entries will take the form of three-minute multimedia presentations.

The libraries currently are recruiting the high-tech business leaders and scholars who will make up the panel of judges. The panel will select a grand-prize winner and two runners up at a Parents Weekend event. The grand prize will be an all-expense-paid trip for four to the USC football game against Cal this fall.

“Many of the library services we take for granted today seemed impossible only a decade or two ago,” said Marje Schuetze-Coburn, dean of the USC Libraries. “This contest will reward students for thinking creatively about what libraries can and should do for them in the future.

“The prizes will be a big draw, but the opportunity to present work to a prestigious panel also will be a large part of the contest's appeal to students,” she added.

The USC Libraries soon will begin offering workshops and other educational programs to help students get started creating contest entries and other multimedia content.

The workshops will cover everything from basic technical issues to intellectual-property rights and privacy concerns in today's media landscape. Further details will be posted on Leavey Library's Web site and the libraries' home page.

The Library of the Future contest deadline is Sept. 28. More information is available at http://www.usc.edu/libraries/future