Now that the Main Library is to be known as the Herman B Wells Library, plans to begin renovations will get underway, pending funding from the state.\nAt the IU board of trustees' monthly meeting this weekend, plans were presented to completely reconstruct the library. The trustees also approved naming the library after former IU President and Chancellor Herman B Wells.\nDean of University Libraries Suzanne Thorin said the University does not want to have Wells' name on a building that doesn't reflect his stature, so a push at the legislative level to gain funding will now begin, but it won't be easy.\n"It's been a priority from the University, but what any priority needs is a push, and so what I think the University is hoping is that the naming will be the beginning of that push and students can of course help that," Thorin said. "I think enough people knew him on the legislature as the great chancellor and we can find that collective energy we need to get the funding."\nWhile the plans to renovate are feasible, IU Trustee Patrick Shoulders said money is exceedingly tight, and the state economy is not in the best position to be giving out money right now, especially $28.9 million, which is the estimated cost of beginning phase one of renovations. An overall $80 million is needed to complete the renovations over a period of about 10 years. Although money looks tight, Shoulders gave the plans strong backing. \n"This will happen, it is a priority," he said. "The board will work with the legislature to make sure it takes place."
A cosmetic transformation \nAfter funding is received, the clock will start ticking on renovations, including schematic drawings and phase one, which will take approximately a year and a half to complete. Phase one includes expanding the Jordan Avenue entrance of the library, overhauling the current elevators and working to get the building up to code with a sprinkler system, which the building lacks.\nTo complete the entrance, the current exterior staircase that leads to the second floor will be torn out. In its place will be a handicap accessible entrance on the bottom floor that leads to the current Information Commons, new book checkout, copy center, common area and coffee shop. \nIn additional phases, 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. \nThe second and third floors will serve as smaller areas intended for research needs of graduate students and faculty. The fourth floor will house an auditorium and also bridge the two towers with a walkway between undergraduate and graduate sides. The fifth floor will mainly serve as an extension of the fourth. Other plans include a skylight on the undergraduate side to let in more light.
The next steps \nAfter phase one is completed over a year and a half period, the next renovations will occur in a similar fashion in order to get funding from the state sporadically and to not inconvenience students, said University Architect Bob Meadows. He said sections of the library will be closed during the construction but never the whole library at one time.\nThorin said the future depends on funding, but if things go well phase one could begin as early as December.\n"We should spare no expense in doing whatever it takes to make the library useful, practical and a repository for the collections of human knowledge, available to all students as they further their college education," Shoulders said.\n-- Contact Senior Writer Katie Schoenbaechler at kmschoen@indiana.edu.
