Director's Reflections...Temporary Disruptions for Permanent Improvements
In Western Pennsylvania, drivers know that spring has arrived when they see orange construction cones along the highways. In Falk Library, we are also in the midst of a construction project to build a state-of-the-art computer classroom near the circulation desk at the front entrance, and four small group meeting rooms for students on the upper floor. The HSLS administrative offices will move to the main floor, and there will be a new office suite for the growing Information Service in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Nervous riders will be happy to learn that Falk Library’s rickety elevator is scheduled for replacement after several postponements.
On the main floor, empty shelving that formerly displayed unbound issues of print journals has been removed to make room for additional study space and comfortable seating. The library’s collection of print journal volumes is rapidly shrinking as new and older volumes are converted to electronic format, and as older print materials are moved offsite. The number of journal titles received only in print has decreased from more than 2,900 ten years ago to about 550 today.
These alterations are the first steps in a long-term plan to upgrade library space to accommodate new services, technology, and staff configurations. Delivery of electronic resources to users’ desktop computers changes the role of the library-as-place, but it does not diminish it.
Falk Library was designed in the 1950s and has undergone modest renovations and reconfigurations in past years. The growing variety of formats of library resources – print, electronic and multimedia – calls for greater variety in the individual and group settings available to our users. When renovations are complete, the library’s study environment will include comfortable seating and lounge areas, individual study carrels with space for personal computers and electrical outlets, tables seating two to four people, and small group study rooms with technological aids to enhance group learning and programmed instruction.
Most construction work will be done after 3 p.m. to minimize noise and disruption. Since workers will only be on one floor at a time, users can move to another study area for a more tranquil environment. We expect that construction will be complete by September 2006.
--Barbara Epstein
