Library plans proposed to state officials

Big things are happening at the IU Main Library -- $80 million worth of big things. \nWhile the finishing touches are being put into place for the unveiling of the Information Commons 2 next month, University officials are at the state capital requesting $28 million, enough to begin phase one of renovations on the Main Library. But phase one is a small part of the Main Library master plan that is slated to take nearly 10 years and $80 million to complete. \n"It's about an $80 million renovation because the building is such a large building -- the largest building in the University," said Dean of University Libraries Suzanne Thorin. \nBeing the largest building on campus, it provides services to hundreds of undergraduates, graduates and faculty daily, but surprisingly has never been renovated. With Thorin and University Architect Bob Meadows' plan, the library will become more than just a place for students to study. \nThe initial blueprints include plans for expanding the Jordan Avenue entrance, which means ripping out the current stairs outside that lead to the second floor. In its place will be an entrance on the bottom floor, including the current Information Commons, new book checkout, copy center, common area and coffee shop. In addition, a book drop and pick-up will be constructed through a new circle drive that will overlook a new yard and plaza. The circle drive, housed under a glass canopy, will also serve as a drop-off for students coming and going to and from the library. The second and third floors will begin to serve as smaller areas intended for research needs of graduates and faculty. The fourth floor will house an auditorium and also bridge the two towers, undergraduate and graduate together with a walkway. The fifth floor will mainly serve as an extension of the fourth. \nOther plans include a skylight on the undergraduate side and working to get the building up to code with a sprinkler system, which the building currently lacks.\nWhile plans sound extravagant, with glass canopy and skylight, IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said portions of the renovations are definitely a necessity. \n"The library is in pretty bad condition," Gros Louis said. "It's thirty-five years old, it hasn't had any major renovations; it has no sprinkler system, obviously it doesn't have what it should have. I don't think these things should be luxurious, but on the other hand I don't want the building to look (bad) either." \nVisiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese John Slater said he believes the project should be about the quality of the books inside rather than the look of the library. \nIn an e-mail to the Indiana Daily Student, Slater wrote about his concerns regarding turning the library into a technology hub rather than a place for books.\n"The library formerly existed to support teaching and research missions and responded to the requirements of those who actually did the teaching and research, new technological changes, such as the IC2, are not in response to the requirements of faculty," he wrote. "I have never, for example, heard a colleague lament that there were too many books and not enough computers in the library, complain that their students lacked space to complete collaborative assignments, or celebrate the fact that their students can now watch a flat-screen television in the library."\nThorin said although many professors had the same concern, they should not worry. Years ago, the Bloomington Faculty Council Library Committee decided the 1.5 million books for which the library was originally designed would always remain in the library, in addition to the books held in auxiliary locations.\n"We have been concentrating on student services with the Information Commons and other services, but there are two entire floors which expand what is now the east and west tower that are to be designed for research services for faculty and graduate students," Thorin said.\nBut before any construction can begin, the plans need approval from the state and the IU Board of Trustees. The plans will be presented to the trustees in their March meeting and Meadows said they are hoping for approval from the state in May. \nBut don't expect bulldozers and dump trucks to be moving onto campus anytime soon. If funding is approved and plans stay on schedule, construction still won't begin until 2006. \nThough given a ten-year timeline, Meadows said construction will be done in phases in order to get funding from the state sporadically and to not inconvenience students. Meadows said sections of the library will be closed off during the construction, but not the whole library at a time.\n"(Our goal is) to make it a library of the twenty-first century, in everything that that means," Thorin said. "The library has always been the intellectual core of the University and with all the changes in teaching and learning we want to keep it as the core and provide the services to faculty and students need."\n-- Contact Senior Writer Katie Schoenbaechler at kmschoen@indiana.edu.