The renovation of the Bucks Library, plans for which have been in the works for almost 10 years, aims to provide more efficient services to students.
The Library’s entire upper level is being gutted and re-worked into a space which will centralize student services and cluster them together, making them more accessible. There will be one large help desk that will be staffed and equipped to handle students’ needs. “We are trying to make services easier to access. It can be scary for students to ask for help. We want to make it easier,” said Dr. Maureen McCreadie, Dean of Learning Resources, which includes the Library, Tutoring Center, MInDSpace, the Technology Learning Center (TLC), and Online Learning/Virtual Campus.
The upper level will still be home to the Library’s books and magazines, however it will also feature several spaces geared toward collaborative learning amongst students. The space has been artfully divided into different sections, all serving a different purpose. According to Dean McCreadie, the goal of the new floor plan is to “create different spaces for different functions while still maintaining the Library’s openness.” The new layout creatively merges creativity with practicality, tucking offices behind walls of bookshelves, giving them the feeling of being “Harry Potter rooms.”
One of the most interesting features of the new Library is the “wave wall,” a floor-to-ceiling structure that provides a barrier between the main section of the Library and group work rooms. Shaped, like the name suggests, in the form of a repeating vertical wave, the wall is designed to deflect noise, ultimately providing a more conducive study space.
Behind the wall, students will find a group production area, where they might work on group projects, study together, or practice group presentations. In the open area of the Library, students will have access to about 50 desktop computers stationed on special tables in the shape of three-pronged propellers. The tables have been designed to hold a desktop computer on either side of each “propeller,” with space enough on the ends for other students to work with their laptops. In addition, students will continue to be able to check out laptop computers, which the Library has been lending to students for about six years. In recent years, students have been borrowing laptops approximately 20,000 times each year.
An additional area will provide room enough for an entire class of students. The desks, shaped much like individual sections of a pinwheel, are designed to wheel into a variety of different shapes, from a roundtable discussion formation to an open circle of students, and even a face-to-face interaction between two people. Explained Dean McCreadie, “The whole idea is that of a ‘flexible classroom,’ a single space that will provide a host of learning environments.”
The theme of flexibility in learning carries through to everything from the layout of the Library to the furniture. KI Furniture, which also provided the furniture for the new Penn Hall classrooms, will be furnishing the Library with their Learn2 chairs. These have fully adjustable attached work surfaces that swivel to accommodate both left- and right-handed students comfortably, and the base doubles as an accessory rack for books and personal belongings- complete with cup holders.
The MInDSpace (Media and Instructional Design) is also located on the main level of the Library next to the new Tutoring Center, which is divided clearly into two sections- Math and English- making it easier for students to get the help they need. The Tutoring Center also includes a room for tutoring music. The old Tutoring Center (currently housing the TLC and open access computers) will be transformed into administrative offices and training centers.
As for the tables and chairs that currently occupy the Gateway Center, although they were originally set up as something of an informal extension of the Library, they seem to be a popular place for students to get together. Dean McCreadie noted that a few of them may remain after the upper level of the Library reopens, saying “some of the best things happen by accident.”
The biggest challenge that the Library is experiencing in the current phase of the renovations is lack of space. There isn’t as much room for students to work, although the tables in the Gateway Center have provided more seating and work areas. Though Dean McCreadie was quick to point out, better the Library be overcrowded than vacant. “I am thrilled that the Library is a place where students want to hang out,” she said.
The Library’s upper level is expected to re-open in time for the Fall semester.