Thanks to various connections, I have been invited to speak at the opening symposium for the Academic Commons at Kwansei Gakuin University. I will be joining Professor Yamauchi from the University of Tokyo for a panel discussion. It makes me nervous. I heard that the 90-person capacity has already been reached.

Unlike national universities, private universities can act quickly, so many are engaged in various initiatives. I wish national universities had the same agility and speed as private ones. National universities are, after all, slow to move. Or rather, it takes time for them to make decisions and move to action… While our university’s library is doing quite well for a national institution, I would like to see more proactivity and faster movement. I also hope for a university educational organization that can receive the library’s intentions. Our university’s central library is scheduled to move to the Ito campus in five years, and since it will be a new facility, I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I hope we can make it something great by referring to various examples from universities both in Japan and abroad.

I am looking forward to the Kwansei Gakuin University Academic Commons.

Kwansei Gakuin University Academic Commons Opening Symposium
The World Opened by New Learning Spaces: Activation of Knowledge Created by “Awareness and Encounters”
http://www.kwansei.ac.jp/kgac/kgac_006523.html