Please come in!

A little over one year ago, our front entrance looked like this...

...and today!

The flags, featuring our benefactor Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., were put up for our grand opening event on April 10.  Grass is on the way, but it is only April, and the ground has been torn up for over a year, after all!

Here is the vestibule, just inside the front doors.

On the right you can see our donor wall, recognizing all the groups and individuals who made donations to the renovation campaign.  Many of the names seen here are also on spaces throughout the building, as their donations allowed them to designate a specific area or room.  Also featured on this plaque are opening lines from great works of literature.

Enter the next set of doors, and you will be in the newest library space.

Look to your right, and you will see our cafe - open Monday- Friday from 8 am to 2 pm.

To your left is our program space (denoted on posters as L102).  It can hold 50-70 people comfortably for speakers and presentations, and has a large screen and projector.  When not being used for such functions, you can find current magazines and newspapers here, as well as a great casual space to study or relax.

Continuing on, you are now entering the remodeled space.  On both sides of the gallery you can see pieces of art - we'll talk more about those in another post - and directly in front of you is a portrait of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr.

Also featured on (in!) this wall is Excalibur, a piece of Steuben crystal that is also visible in the painting (look on the table next to Mr. Houghton's right hand).

If this looks familiar, it is because Arthur has always had a place of honor on this wall.  However, our main desk used to sit between those 2 columns, like this -

Are you getting a sense of the enormity of the changes that happened around here?!?!?

Our main desk is now located to your right, at a 90-degree angle to Arthur/where the desk was before.  Staff offices are behind that and along both exterior walls.  Course reserves are on the shelves that you can see behind the desk in the picture below - ask at the desk if you are looking for a textbook.  This is also the place to get research help, check out a laptop, tablet or graphing calculator, and ask all your library-related questions!

In my next post I'll give you a tour of the Learning Commons.

The More Things Change...

Our renovation odyssey is (mostly!) complete!  Stay tuned next week for more pictures, both old and new, as we recap the project and show off our new spaces.

In the meantime, find your favorite nook and curl up with a good book...obviously a timeless pastime, as these pictures illustrate!  (And there usually ARE students sitting here - your photographer took this picture on a Friday afternoon, so as not to need signed picture release forms and all that.)

The Books Come Back

On April 23 of 2014, the physical book collection of the Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. Library was packed and moved to a storage facility (click this link to read about the process).  Today, the good folks at Naglee Movers brought them back to their new home!

The books are unloaded from trucks, on carts that are still shrink-wrapped and numbered to correspond to the shelves where they belong.

Here are 2 pictures of the book carts, all lined up and ready to go into the shelving area.

One of the crew hard at work re-shelving books.  You can see the stickers on the shelves - these numbers correspond to the labels on the carts.  Because it is compact shelving, workers cannot always work in sequence, and careful numbering means that shelving can happen in different spots simultaneously.

An empty book truck exits the other side of the shelving area!

The entire collection should be back in place by early next week. However, the library itself will not re-open to the public until January 20.

New Shelving Installed

We've fielded many questions about our book collection over the past several months.  Rest assured, they WILL be coming back - and look at the spiffy new compact shelving!

Open shelves, with lighting that runs perpendicular to the shelving so there shouldn't be any dark aisles.

All the units together - turn a handle to open!

Looking in from the computer/study area on the lower level.

The books themselves are still in storage - they will return sometime after the new year.  But we're getting closer!

Getting Closer...

As winter break approaches and Spencer Hill is covered with snow, the exterior work on the library is mostly finished.

So come inside to see how the finishing work is progressing!

This is the entry from the new program space and cafe (the addition) across the walkway over the stairs.  The wall in front of you - where the workers' tools are sitting - is where Arthur A. Houghton, Jr's portrait will hang.

Once you have entered the library, the main desk and library offices will be to your right.  To your left, you will see the writing, math and science learning centers, now re-imagined and consolidated in one space!

 This first picture shows the offices for the 3 centers.  There are similar rooms for group study and/or tutoring sessions on the other side of the gallery.

That's a lot of ceiling tiles!  This picture was taken from the back of the building, looking toward the program space/addition.  Those boxes full of ceiling tiles will be replaced by computers and work tables for student use.

Here is the "gallery shot," looking from the Learning Centers down the gallery toward the main desk.  It looks deceptively peaceful, doesn't it?!?!?

Downstairs, flooring is going in and walls are going up.  Here is the library instruction room, a hands-on learning space for librarians to teach search skills and information literacy to students and classes in any discipline.  We are excited to use this space!!

And finally, a picture of what we anticipate will be some of the most popular space in the library - reservable group study rooms!  That's right, we are investigating ways to allow students to reserve rooms for group projects and study time.  Stay tuned!

Even though it isn't completely finished, this room has great lighting, lots of power and data access, and an inviting feel.  We're looking forward to seeing our students in these spaces!

November News

"November comes 
And November goes, 
With the last red berries 
And the first white snows."
       ~Elizabeth Coatsworth, American poet

With the coming cold weather, the library is mostly closed in.  Here you can see the addition, and the new sidewalk approaching from the east.

Inside, this is how the gallery looks this month.  This view is from the east end of the building, looking through what will be the Learning Centers and toward the new main desk.  The wood timbers mark the entry "hallway."

The elevator wall, where the portrait of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. will hang, with the library main desk, staff workspace and offices to the right.

When all the equipment and boxes are gone, this will be the Learning Centers' space.  Offices and group/individual study rooms are behind the photographer.

As the interior finishing progresses, a lot of the spaces are starting to look similar...but here is something that should catch your attention!  That's right - more power!

(The upper outlet and data port will actually be for an LCD display - great for group work!)

Those small cut-outs in the floor will also house power outlets.

 And for you doubters, here is proof that we'll have both heat AND air conditioning!

One question we've heard quite frequently is, "but where will the books be?"  Well, now we can provide a picture of that as well.  This area, the space under the new addition, will hold our print book collection on compact shelving.  If you haven't seen this nifty space-saving stuff before, check it out on Wikipedia.

The tracks will run the width of this room.

 

Your photographer is standing where the shelves will be, looking out into the lower level of the library.  The glass wall will help keep noise to a minimum, yet still let in light from the new windows on the backside of the building.

Break Week Updates

While students were on break this week, the librarians were on the job...and got some pictures of the work being done in the library by the tireless construction crews!

An updated shot of the front - the entrance is framed by the inside timbers.  The program space will be the large area to the left, the cafe to the right.

From the "inside."  The small ladder is in the cafe, the taller ladder is in the program space.

Looking out.  The walls along the entry, with beautiful southern yellow pine timbers, will hold display cases of various sizes for the Library's art collection.

Looking down the gallery, toward where the main desk will be.

You will find study spaces of all kinds in our renovated space.  This is a seating area on the main level (see the "old" column on the right side of the picture?), beyond which will be an enclosed study room with a beautiful view out over the hill.

More group study rooms, large and small, that you will find on the lower level.

Even President Douglas is excited by the progress!  We are eagerly anticipating our re-opening in January!