In an effort to increase study space in Ralph Brown Draughon Library, an offsite storage facility will be created to house materials that are currently taking up extra room on the third and fourth floors.
Dan King, associate vice president for facilities, presented the proposal to the Auburn University Board of Trustees at its Sept. 25 meeting.
"Within the library, there’s a great deal of pressure for individual space," King said at the meeting. "Every day, students have to compete for that space. There’s not enough to go around."
The building will be located on University property, at 340 Skyway Drive. The move will begin in March 2016.
Bonnie MacEwan, dean of libraries, said most students get their information electronically. However, she understands the need to keep physical copies around.
"We have a lot of materials up here that aren’t used very often or, even better, are available electronically," MacEwan said. "We’re calling it an archiving facility because, if anything ever happens to the electronic version, we know we have that paper copy."
If someone does want a physical copy of a text, MacEwan said they can ask for it at the circulation desk. Someone from the library will make regular trips to the archiving facility to pick up requested texts.
The change will also help prepare for the new Mell Street Classroom Building, MacEwan said. The building will be attached to the library and will overlap on the third and fourth floors.
The removal of the texts will open up space for improved group study rooms, according to MacEwan.
"We are going to completely redesign and reconfigure those rooms," MacEwan said. "The group study rooms will be scattered among the classrooms, so if you're studying right before a class, you can use one."
MacEwan said students will have free reign over the rooms after dark.
"The professors finish teaching around 5 p.m., and then students take over," MacEwan said. "‘Take over’ is the operative phrase here, because the whole building will be turned over to us. Most of the classrooms and all the public space in the addition, plus everything built here in RBD, will just be part of the library from about 6 p.m. to about 7 a.m., which is the time students are using this space the most."
MacEwan said she hopes the additions will be a welcoming area for students.
"We’re working with the University to make sure these classrooms are a comfortable place," MacEwan said. "The doors will be open, you can move the furniture around and you can use it however you want as a study space during the evening hours."
Martha Koontz, director of marketing and communications for facilities management, said renovations and construction on the Mell Street Classroom Building will begin in December and are expected to end in 2017.
"It will take until summer 2017, and that is including the new study spaces for the library," Koontz said.
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