Wells Library gets makeover during break

The third floor in the West Tower of the Herman B Wells Library received a facelift during winter break.\nBefore the changes, individual study tables dating back to the late 1960s took up the third floor, said Eric Bartheld, the library’s director of communications. Now, the third floor is filled with new shelving and 20 large tables with booths, intended to provide a quiet study area for students, he said.\nIn February, the library will receive another update in the form of two rooms with webcams on the fourth floor, said Diane Dallis, head of the Information Commons Undergraduate Library Services. Skype, a free software program, will enable students to communicate over the webcams, Dallis said.\nThe IU Parents Fund provided an extra $19,900 for iPods, video cameras and digital voice recorders, which students will be able to check out from the Kent Cooper Room, Bartheld said. The money also paid for the webcams.\nThe addition of the new furniture on the third floor, and especially the iPods, came about because of student interest. Dallis said the iPods may be popular not only because they play music, but also because professors are also starting to put more and more of their lectures on podcasts.