First
steps taken for library to undergo renovations
Plans:
Changes to the 32-year-old University Library
are intended to allow students easier access
to library resources.
By
Nicole Davis
Daily Forty-Niner
Plans
to renovate the University Library at Cal
State Long Beach are still in the preliminary
design phase, according to physical planning
officials. The plan designed to update the
aging library facility was approved only
two years after its initial proposal by
the Dean of Library Services.
"It
generally takes 5 to 8 years to secure funding
for a capital project," Susan E. Brown,
director of Physical Planning said. "The
campus had a demonstrated need ... that
enabled us to get the funding much quicker
than would normally be expected."
The
library, built in 1971, is currently experiencing
problems related to an aging facility, such
as shredding carpet, inadequate electrical
and data circuits, and an unreliable heating,
ventilation and air conditioning system,
stated library officials in a presentation
given to the Academic Senate last March.
Also, in response to the severe shortage
of space facing the university, the upper
levels of the Library East will be vacated
and made available to the university for
the construction of classrooms and faculty
offices.
Other
upcoming changes to the library include:
• Upgrades to the West Wing: more
electrical outlets and computer cabling
and wireless access points.
• A new main lobby design, with the
addition of public restrooms on the first
floor
• The construction of an Internet
café where the campus copy center
is currently located.
• The use of 3M digital tagging, already
in use in the Children's Literature collection
to scan shelves and quickly identify out-of-order
books.
• New flooring and the addition of
more collaborative study rooms.
The most notable feature of the renovation
plans is the construction of a four story
automatic storage retrieval system (ASRS),
the same type of archival system currently
in use in the Sonoma State and the University
of Las Vegas. CSULB's Online Remote Collections
Access, or ORCA, will allow library users
easy access to low-demand items and other
resources especially prone to theft and
mutilation with the simple click of a mouse.
The current COAST catalog will label items
stored within the new ORCA system with the
word "STORAGE." Students can then
perform a "STORAGE REQUEST" to
have the selection delivered to the circulation
desk within five minutes.
"I
think (the system) will make it easier and
less confusing for our users to find the
information they are seeking," Henry
DuBois, associate dean of library services
said. DuBois believes ORCA will simplify
students' research by preventing them from
having to waste time to "travel to
remote stack areas" or "understand
Library of Congress number arrangement."
The
total project cost, estimated at $19 million,
will be funded with money from the sale
of bonds authorized by Proposition 47, The
Kindergarten-University Public Education
Facilities Bond Act of 2002 approved by
California voters in last November's elections.
With
the current California budget crisis, some
might question the use of bond sales to
fund such a costly project. Associate Dean
DuBois is quick to point out the financial
soundness of the renovation plans.
"This
project is totally independent of the state
budget and the university budget, both of
which are currently in tight circumstances,"
DuBois said.
Eventually,
however, the bonds will have to be paid
off, costing the state "about $26.2
billion over 30 years to pay off" in
payments of "about $873 million per
year," according to the Legislative
Analyst's Estimate of Net State and Local
Government Fiscal Impact released in November
2002.
The
bond issue is set to provide $2.3 billion
in funding for improving higher education
facilities, with $690 million each being
set aside for the University of California
and California State University systems.
The
university expects construction to begin
on the project during the summer of 2004.
Physical Planning officials estimate the
completion date to be within 18 to 21 months
after construction commences.
Library
officials are optimistic, however, that
the upcoming construction plans will not
have a negative impact on library services.
"We
will work to minimize inconvenience to library
users as much as possible," said Associate
Dean DuBois. "We anticipate no impact
on library hours from the project."
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