Learning engagement is a crucial factor in college students' academic success and future development. Current studies indicate low overall learning engagement among Chinese college students, highlighting the need for improvement. While the university library is a central academic space, its impact on student learning engagement remains under-explored. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between the library environment, student interaction, and learning engagement. The research aims to understand how the library environment influences learning engagement directly and indirectly through student interaction, and whether these relationships differ between liberal arts and science majors. The study's significance lies in providing evidence-based recommendations for optimizing library design and promoting a more engaging learning environment for all students.

Existing literature highlights the importance of learning engagement for academic achievement and future success, noting its correlation with persistence, satisfaction, and performance. Research has explored various factors influencing learning engagement, including individual characteristics and environmental factors. The campus environment and architectural design have been shown to impact student engagement, and libraries are recognized as significant informal learning spaces. However, studies directly linking library environments to student learning engagement and the mediating role of student interaction are limited. This study builds on previous research by explicitly examining the library environment's influence on learning engagement, considering student interaction as a mediating variable, and comparing the effects across different academic disciplines (liberal arts vs. science). The review also acknowledges the importance of intentional learning, learner-centered design, and the impact of peer effects and social learning in shaping student behavior and engagement in library spaces.

This quantitative study employed a survey administered from October 1, 2021, to January 30, 2022, across 45 universities in China. The sampling strategy aimed for representativeness, considering geographical location, university type, and campus size. A total of 1060 students participated, with efforts taken to ensure sample representativeness in terms of gender, grade level, major (liberal arts vs. science), and monthly living expenses. Measures were taken to enhance data reliability, including password protection, elimination of invalid responses, and enforcing minimum completion times. The study measured learning engagement using the UWES-S scale (Fang et al., 2008), assessing four positive emotional states related to learning. The library environment was assessed subjectively through a questionnaire focusing on location, functionality, equipment, lighting, artistic atmosphere, and maintenance. Student interaction was measured through questions assessing communication and discussion with peers. Grade, monthly expenditure, and gender served as control variables. Multifactor validation analysis was employed to assess the measurement models' reliability and validity, and structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses regarding the relationships between the library environment, student interaction, and learning engagement, considering major as a moderating variable.

Descriptive statistics revealed differences in learning engagement between liberal arts and science majors, with science majors exhibiting higher scores. However, liberal arts students reported higher levels of satisfaction with the library environment. Structural equation modeling revealed that the library environment significantly and positively influenced both student interaction and learning engagement. The analysis supported the mediating role of student interaction in the relationship between the library environment and learning engagement. However, the mediating effect varied significantly across majors. For liberal arts students, the direct effect of the library environment on learning engagement was stronger, whereas for science students, the mediating role of student interaction was more pronounced. The total effect of the library environment on learning engagement was 0.320 for the whole sample, with a mediating effect of student interaction at 0.072. For liberal arts students, the total effect was 0.329 with an insignificant indirect effect (0.024), while for science students, the total effect was 0.315, with a significant indirect effect (0.087). The library environment's effect on student interaction was 0.227 for the whole sample, 0.110 for liberal arts students, and 0.255 for science students.

The findings confirm the significant influence of the library environment on student learning engagement, supporting previous research on the impact of learning environments on student outcomes. The mediating role of student interaction suggests that fostering a supportive social environment within the library is crucial for enhancing learning engagement, particularly for science students who may benefit more from collaborative learning experiences. The differing relationships between the library environment and learning engagement for liberal arts and science students highlight the importance of considering disciplinary differences in library design and programming. The direct impact of the library environment on liberal arts students suggests the need for quiet, focused study spaces, whereas the mediating role of interaction for science students indicates a need for collaborative spaces that promote peer interaction and knowledge sharing. These findings have practical implications for library design and resource allocation, emphasizing the need for flexible and diverse learning environments to support different learning styles and disciplinary needs.

This study demonstrates the significant influence of the university library environment on college students' learning engagement, with student interaction acting as a mediator, particularly for science majors. The findings highlight the need for differentiated approaches to library design and programming to cater to the specific needs of liberal arts and science students. Future research should explore the long-term impacts of library environments on student outcomes, investigate the specific features of library spaces that are most effective in promoting engagement, and expand the scope of the study to include a wider range of universities and student populations.

The study's limitations include a relatively small sample size and the reliance on self-reported data, which may be subject to biases. The sample of universities was also limited geographically and might not fully represent the diversity of Chinese universities. The focus on subjective evaluation of the library environment might limit the generalizability of the results. Future research could benefit from including objective measures of the library environment and a larger, more geographically diverse sample.