The Ralph Brown Draughon Library has seen its share of changes over the years, but imminent remodeling of the building will rival any seen before.
What began in the summer with the closing off of part of the first floor near the Mell Street entrance will result in a full service Caribou Coffee shop and a learning commons area on the second floor.
"We had been working with SGA and the Student Advisory Council (SAC) for several years, asking them to survey students and get input about their thoughts on the library," said Bonnie MacEwan, dean of libraries. "The number one thing that came out in the surveys was that the students wanted a full service coffee shop. They also wanted priority to auxiliary services. We also worked a series of exercises to determine the best place in the building for it to be. The AU Hotel and Conference Center gave us some advice and we determined that the space by the Mell Street entrance was the best place. We received a grant from the EBSCO Corporation that helped immensely."
The shop will be open at the end of October.
Some students don't mind the obstructions caused by these changes as long as they have an alternative to the library's current coffee establishment.
"I think it will be beneficial to everyone because there will not be so many people in one line in one place," said Darian Cheshier, a sophomore in public relations. "Everyone will be more spread out and have to spend less time getting coffee and more time studying. I hate standing in line to get coffee in the basement."
In addition to food venues, the library's academic services are continuing to expand.
According to Marcia Boosinger, reference department chairman for the RBD Library, organizations such as Study Partners call the building home and a lack of digital resources such as scanners, printing, and additional software in group-study areas has necessitated the construction of a commons area.
"With the grant money we had been planning to take the second floor and use it as a learning area for group service space where there would be access to technical services," Boosinger said. "We're about to start work on what will be open next semester. The library advisory said that we would get input from Tiger Tuesdays, so we give them to the planner and incorporated those suggestions. Hopefully the learning commons will be available by January."
All AU students can have a voice in the development of library facilities and services. by providing feedback at the library's link on the SAC's Web site at www.lib.auburn.edu.
"We've been studying this process for a number of years and have visited half a dozen libraries across the country," Boosinger said. "Students will experience some shifting around while these things are happening. You may go to find a book that you were using yesterday and find that it's on a different floor, but overall our goal is to do this as painlessly as possible."
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