As the University discusses plans to expand and renovate Perkins Library, officials have decided that departments now in the Languages Building will be displaced to make room for the library--a move that departs from the plan presented to the Academic Council in September.
"[This] was considered from the very beginning; it was not ruled out at any point," said Robert Byrd, chair of the Perkins Library Renovations Committee and assistant University librarian. "It became apparent that having some library functions in that space would make the library as a whole function better."
One group that will be significantly affected by the decision is the Romance Studies department.
"My department is a little concerned that the decision to take the [Languages Building] has been made without preparing for where our department is going to go," said department chair David Bell.
Bell noted that the Arts and Sciences Council has established a committee to examine space concerns. The committee was convened at the beginning of this year by William Chafe, dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences, and is scheduled to make a presentation to the council in the fall.
"It's not fun to contemplate a move," said Bell, who said he believed his department has been in the building since the 1970s. "On one hand, my department is concerned... [but] on the other, there is an opportunity here to do some creative things."
For example, Bell said this gives the University a chance to re-examine which departments should be located near one another for academic reasons. Bell noted that the move is still several years off.
Byrd said the construction will not begin until over a year from now and that the first phase of construction will involve building a new, five-story structure behind the Old Chemistry building. Once that is complete, the first floor of the current library will be renovated. This ground floor renovation will include moving technology services, freeing up a significant amount of space.
"It's going to be a fabulous place for people to come in there and study," said Tom Wall, director of public services, emphasizing the "relationship between content, service and technology."
In the renovated library, the ground floor will contain a coffee-shop comparable to the Perk and a computer cluster; the top floors will be converted into library administrative offices. The area between the Languages Building and Perkins will also be converted into a glass-covered pavilion.
Wall said services in periodicals would be one way the library could be improved. All forms of periodicals, bound magazines, newspapers, digital media and microfilm will be located together. Additionally, there will be technology available to convert all forms of periodicals into digital format.
"We know [periodicals are] one of the things people sometimes have difficulties with," he said.
The library will also turn its attention to other multimedia areas. Wall said there will be areas dedicated to digital multimedia technology. This technology will also be heavily incorporated into new group study rooms, which he said would be a prominent feature of the renovated library.
"What is becoming clear is how much we will improve the service and the quality of space for the library user," Byrd said.
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