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During the fall semester, we began to build on the work accomplished in the 2013 Vision Plan for the Z. Smith Reynolds Library building. Architects from Perkins + Will are developing a formal Master Plan that will guide future renovations in a holistic manner.
As in recent years, we will continue to carry out discrete renovation projects as funding becomes available. During the summer of 2016, we constructed two new classrooms that expand library instruction capabilities. Room 624 is located next to the Special Collections & Archives department on Reynolds 6, and Room 477 is on Wilson 4 in the Reference area. You can reserve these rooms for non-class hours using the University room booking system (DeaconSpace).
In summer 2017, we will upgrade two separate spaces from Phase 1 of the renovation plan.
- Reynolds 400 (current location of Microtext and Government Documents) will become a Scholars Commons. We will create a student study room with flexible study options, plenty of electricity and increased technology choices. The room will be refreshed with new furniture, paint and light fixtures. There will be a major increase in number of available electrical outlets. We will also update, enhance and increase the technology available for student use.
- The Faculty Collaborative Services project will create two complementary faculty-focused spaces on the sixth floor of the Wilson Wing. This project will locate the Teaching and Learning Collaborative and the Digital Scholarship Lab adjacent to each other, taking advantage of natural synergies between their missions and affording an efficient sharing of class and conference rooms, a recording studio and a faculty lounge. Space for this project will be created by shifting collections in that area to other locations in the library.
3 Comments on ‘Update: Building Renovation Planning’
Go ZSR! Appreciate the mention of how the space for the faculty collaborative services project will be obtained.
This is all well and good but please tell me you’re not going to reduce the amount of seating in these areas like you did with the atrium “renovations.” The most prevalent issue with our library is the lack of seats.
Dear Deac Undergrad:
Thank you for your interest in our forthcoming renovations. I want to make sure you are aware that in our atrium renovation we actually increased available seating by 62%. You can read about the changes in this earlier article about that project:
In our upcoming Summer 2017 projects, we will be converting Wilson 6 to a faculty area. However, at the same time we are creating the “Scholars Commons” on Reynolds 4 in the area now known as “Gov Docs.” The seating in this area will be over 100 seats which is an increase for that area. So there will be no loss of seats, and the new ones will be a big improvement! You can see a rendering of the planned space here.