If you’ve visited the John T. Richardson Library this summer you probably noticed construction workers in the building and perhaps even heard a bit of occasional noise as they went about their work. The initial phase of the Library’s previously announced renovation is reaching its completion as summer winds down and the new academic year begins.<\/p>\n
The renovation’s initial phase has two components: physical space, repurposing square footage that until this summer was occupied by DePaul’s Art Museum, and computing infrastructure. On the east end of the Library’s first floor, a new instruction room has been built for use by librarians in working with DePaul’s faculty to teach students research skills. Flexible furniture will allow the room to be configured for a variety of teaching and learning activities with or without the use of laptop computers, and the room will be more convenient and easier for students to find than the current instruction room on the Library’s fourth floor. The renovation’s second phase, in 2012, will add a second, adjacent instruction room with desktop computers throughout, which can be used either separately or in tandem with the first room.
\nAcross the corridor from the instruction room are offices for the library administration and a new program room. The new administrative offices will free up space elsewhere in the building for additional group study rooms. The program room will offer high-quality lighting, audio and video projection capabilities that will make it a very attractive venue for a wide variety of lectures, panel discussions, author readings, film presentations, and other programming.<\/p>\n
Although it is not visible to students and faculty, the technological infrastructure component will perhaps be the most noticeable part of the renovation’s initial phase. When the John T. Richardson Library was opened in 1992 its computer networking capabilities were state-of-the-art. The same was true of the building’s wireless network when it was added in 2002. In order to keep pace with changes in information technology and patterns of student and faculty use, these network capabilities are being fully upgraded, and the results will be evident to anyone who uses a computer in the building.<\/p>\n
These improvements comprise the first of four phases, with the remaining work tentatively scheduled for the summers of 2012 through 2014. The second phase will entail a sweeping transformation of the Librarys first floor into an information commons with extensive student computing facilities and spaces for student collaboration. This phase will also add a “Scholars’ Lab” where faculty will be able to work with Library and Information Services staff to integrate technology and library resources into their teaching and research.<\/p>\n
During the construction of this second phase, tentatively scheduled in the summer of 2012, all functions and collections currently on the Library’s first floor will need to be relocated to the second floor. In preparation, many of the bound periodicals currently housed on the second floor are being transferred to storage at a remote site in Chicago. While many of these materials are available in electronic form through the Libraries’ website, the bound volumes will be accessible upon request within one business day.<\/p>\n
More updates will be forthcoming as this next phase draws closer. More information about all phases of the project is available at http:\/\/libguides.depaul.edu\/renovation\/ .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you’ve visited the John T. Richardson Library this summer you probably noticed construction workers in the building and perhaps even heard a bit of occasional noise as they went about their work. The initial phase of the Library’s previously announced renovation is reaching its completion as summer winds down and the new academic year <\/p>\n