Library staff continue to receive many questions regarding plans for the building of a new library. Don Craig, dean of the library, responds to some of the more frequent questions in this issue of Todd Library Update.
Update: When will the new library open for use?
Craig: It's difficult to give a specific date of opening, since a number of factors will influence that date. While several important milestones have passed, others remain--completion of construction documents, approval of construction funds by the legislature later this Spring, and construction bid awards. A very important milestone reached was the inclusion of the project in the budget Governor Don Sundquist recommended to the legislature.
The joint venture architectural team has almost completed preparation of construction documents, so we should be able to seek bids for construction of the new library during the summer, and it is hoped we will break gournd early in the Fall.
With a 24-month building timetable, construction should be completed by early fall of 1998. It will take several months to receive and install furniture and equipment and to move collections from the current library, so we do not expect the new building to open until January of 1999.
Update: Where will the new library be located? What will it be like?
Craig: The new building will be at the location identified in the University's master plan for facilities--southwest of the Bragg Mass Communication Building, directly south of the new Business/Aerospace building, and adjacent to Felder, Deere, and Gore halls.
The building will be a four-story brick structure facing a large, open landscaped space that will replace the street between the Business/Aerospace and Bragg Mass Communication buildings. The building will have many exterior glass windows, as well as glass walls inside an atrium that will bring natural light into the core areas of the building. At the entrance will be a four-story atrium or multi-floor lobby surrounded by major service areas. The majority of collections will be located toward the rear of the facility.
Update: Can you tell us more about the atrium?
Craig: Yes, and I'm glad you asked about it. The atrium will be a space about 60 feet wide by 60 feet long inside the entrance. It will rise above the lobby floor to the roof of the building. On upper floors it will be surrounded by balconies leading to the major service areas.
To create the atrium, floor space on floors 2, 3, and 4 was removed and added to the remaining floor area so that the building retains the approved 250,000 gross square feet. In other words, no space was sacrificed to create the atrium; this floor space was simply moved to other parts of the building.
The inclusion of an atrium is an integral part of the building's functional design, which includes surrounding it with the major service points, main stairway, and elevators. This design will be a major factor in the ease with which people will be able to find their way around such a large facility.
Update: How will the new library be different from the current one?
Craig: The new building will be two and one-half times as large and will have an additional floor. It will offer a variety of spaces not available in Todd Library. For example, the new library will have over 40 small group study rooms accommodating 4-8 people and 60 individual study rooms for faculty involved in extensive research.
A room equipped with specialized equipment for students and faculty with disabilities will be located on the first floor. A much larger central copy center facility will be available, as well as small copy rooms on upper floors. While the new building will have a large Electronic Information Center, additional computer workstations will be located on other floors as well.
A study room open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week will be located off the entry vestibule to provide a quiet place to study when the library is closed. A Special Collections area where older and valuable items in the collection can be secured and preserved in a climate-controlled environment is planned on an upper floor.
In general, there will be more seating and more computer equipment scattered throughout the building in areas that are not crowded or noisy.
Update: Speaking of noise, some people prefer a quiet area to study while others like a little noise. How can the building accommodate both preferences in the new building?
Craig: One design criterion is sensitivity to user needs for different kinds of study space. That is why the new building includes a variety of seating--from small group study rooms, individual study carrels, and casual chairs to study tables for four persons.
The building is also designed to have zones with varying degrees of quietness and noise, from front to back and bottom to top. For example, most noisy service areas will be on the firs and second floors where traffic is expected to be heaviest. Quieter study space will be located in areas walled off from these noisy spaces and on upper floors where traffic and noise will be much less.
While the zoning concept works vertically, it also has a horizontal element. The quietest areas will be on the upper floors toward the rear of the building away from the atrium and central service core. We believe that this design will provide almost any study climate that a user many need.
Update: Where will staff offices and work areas be located?
Craig: Another one of our design criteria is that staff must be accessible to users who need them but close enough to one another to be able to work efficiently. This is being accomplished by designating one quadrant of the building primarily for staff use. By arranging staff work units in a vertical core in one part of the building, travel distance and time between units will be reduced, thus improving staff productivity.
Update: We often hear that libraries are in transition from complete reliance on print to greater use of electronic technology. What is being done to make this transition into the future successful in the new library?
Craig: Another design criterion is that the building have the capability to accomodate present and future technology. It will contain a considerable amount of electronic infrastructure to accomodate technology that is expected to be available when we open.
Extensive conduit and above-ceiling cabling trays will be used for wiring needed immediately, as well as for cabling added in the future. Where the functional use of the area may need to change, for example from shelving to reader space, floors are being constructed with easily accessible openings to allow the installation of additional cabling in the future.
Future issues of Todd Library Update will answer other questions about the new building. If you have a question, please let Update staff know.
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