Photo by Public Relations
Adam Chapman and Amanda Moore
Reporter and Editor-in-Chief
March 24, 2006
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The library is getting set to undergo renovation changes to make it more
student-friendly Photo by Public Relations |
After lengthy evaluation, P.H. Welshimer Memorial Library will receive a student-friendly facelift. These renovations will include space utilization, climate control, accessibility, information resources and a more comfortable environment.
The administration, library staff, library committee and various faculty and students met with Scott Bennett, a consultant from Yale University, from Feb. 28 to March 2 to evaluate the library and discuss plans for renovations.
According to Gary Daught, Reference and Collection Development Librarian, the library functions as a place to store information resources, and students still feel that the library is a place to connect with these resources. Nevertheless, the environment itself is uninviting, and students come because they have to, not because they want to.
“Due to the outdated resources and uncomfortable environment, (the library) does not create an ideal study environment” said freshman Jeremy Long. “I am very thrilled to see what kind of improvements will be made to modernize the library.”
“The library needs to reclaim its iconic role as the academic center of the college, and the environment it provides will draw students into the adventure of learning” Daught said. “It is exciting to sense that the Milligan College library may be receiving some much-needed and well-deserved attention.”
These renovations to the library are part of a larger plan of changes happening on campus, said Academic Dean Mark Matson.
According to Matson, President Don Jeanes plans to move by midsummer into an off-campus house. His office, currently in the top floor of the library, will move to Little Hartland along with the admissions offices. This space will then be open for library use.
After the admissions office relocates to Little Hartland, student development and campus ministry offices will move into the current admissions area on the bottom floor of the Student Union Building. Information Technology offices, currently located on the bottom floor of the library, will also move to the bottom floor of the SUB.
Once these relocations are completed in November, short-term changes will take place in the library to allow more space for students, Matson said. The long-term renovations designed by Bennett will be expensive and take more time.
“We’re just starting to talk about it,” Matson said. “We are looking at some big dollars, but, as Bennett has said, this is an opportunity to do what works for us.”
Look for continued coverage of these changes in upcoming editions of The Stampede.