A multi-modal building use study was completed during the 2015 calendar year. We studied building use patterns and conducted a needs assessment survey of our students. Using this data, we prepared a State Capital Funding request in 2017 to replace carpet and furniture and modernize the library. $1.1 million of state funding was received in the summer of 2018 and improvements were made during the 2018-19 academic year.

What Students Wanted and What We Provided

New carpet – 81,100 square feet of new carpet on the 2nd through 4th floors.

More study space – Repurposed 5,883 square feet for new student study spaces.

Private study rooms, bookable – 7 individual rooms and 6 multipurpose rooms now available with cloud-based, self-booking software.

More designated quiet study areas – 2nd floor annex now designated quiet study, 7 quiet study rooms added.

Update furniture: add more soft furniture, get a variety of furniture, offer flexible layouts – New furniture on all floors: booths, couches and 5 styles of soft seating, new chairs – with/without arms and with/without wheels, 4th floor tables/chairs on wheels, sit/stand desks, bicycle desks, 40% more soft seating.

Fewer wooden carrels and more open individual tables with dividers – Replaced wooden carrels with 22 individual tables with dividers, retaining six wooden carrels for students who prefer that level of privacy, added modern soft-sided single carrels.

More whiteboards – Added 13 rolling whiteboards, 9 whiteboard tables and hung whiteboards in bookable rooms.

More computers – Kept same number of computers, but relocated some. Use data from 2015 – 2019 showed a downward trend in computer use.

Computers/Printing on other floors, quiet computing area – 3rd floor, room 328 offers 7 individual quiet study rooms with computers/dual monitors and printing.

Update computer workstation furniture – Old workstations removed, wider tables installed providing opportunities for dual monitors on most computers.

Bring outlets to study areas – Connectrac installed to stretch outlets to new areas, over 200 outlets and 150 USB ports added on table tops, 5 power towers added. Furniture laid out to take advantage of outlets.

Expand library hours on Friday and Saturday evenings, expand summer break hours – We extended finals week hours on Friday/Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings and extended summer break hours by 78% to support medical students in their summer term. Loss of library staff prevented us from offering more.

Replace elevators – In progress, completion by December, 2019.

See this information in a printable PDF: Library capital improvements summary