The Peggy V. Helmerich Collaborative Learning Center – a recently renovated, flexible-use space on the Lower Level 1 of Bizzell Memorial Library at the heart of the University of Oklahoma Norman campus – has been selected as a recipient of the 2015 Great Inspirations Award presented by Creative Oklahoma as part of the State of Creativity Forum.

Creative Oklahoma is a statewide nonprofit organization advancing the state’s creative economy through creativity and innovation-based initiatives in education, commerce and culture.

The collaborative learning center opened to the public on Sept. 15, 2014. Since its reopening, the center has averaged 1,200 visits per day.

“This award substantiates my belief that the Helmerich Collaborative Learning Center serves as a model for what libraries should be to their community – a crossroads for intellectual discovery and an enabler of innovation and learning,” states Rick Luce, dean of libraries.

“When designing the space, we challenged common assumptions about what it means to be a library in the 21st century,” Luce added. “We pushed boundaries to reinvigorate the library as a catalyst for imagination and creativity, both physically and virtually, with flexible spaces to experiment, discover and learn together. I think the popularity of the space speaks to our success.”

The Helmerich Foundation of Tulsa made a $500,000 gift in support of the renovation to create a 21st-century collaborative learning center. The renovation involved the modernization of approximately 18,000 gross square feet of the library.  It features informal and flexible learning spaces as well as technology designed to enable collaboration.

The Great Inspirations Award acknowledges individuals or organizations that advance Oklahoma’s creative economy. Winners of the award will be recognized at the Creativity World Forum, to be held at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, March 31 (http://stateofcreativity.com/).

To learn more about the Peggy V. Helmerich Collaborative Learning Center, please visit libraries.ou.edu.