Academic libraries: social, communal or scary?

Journal of Academic Librarianship Vol.34 No.1 Jan 2008
Academic libraries: "Social" or "Communal"? The nature and future of academic libraries.
An article critical of attempts to introduce more social spaces, such as coffee bars and group study areas, into academic libraries on the grounds that such moves threaten to undermine "the environment of serious study and research."

College and Research Libraries Vol.69 No. 2 Mar 2008
A mixed-methods investigation of the relationship between critical thinking and library anxiety among undergraduate students in their information search process.
Mellon coined the term library anxiety in a 1986 study which found that it was experienced by 85% of college students. Many reported feeling lost, helpless and confused, and this study finds students making very similar comments more than 20 years on. One thing that's new is how many students contrast the anxiety they feel about using the library with their feelings of capability and comfort in searching the internet. The author quotes Diane Nahl's affective load theory in which she says that negative affective states disrupt cognitive strategies. I think this means it's hard to think straight when you're scared.