The UGL closed to the public on May 13, 2022.
As announced in 2018, the building will be converted over the next few years into an Archives and Special Collections building. Services for undergraduate students will be integrated into the Main Library, Grainger Engineering Library Information Center, Funk ACES Library, and other units around campus by the start of classes in Fall 2022. Transition planning is currently underway for popular services including the Writers Workshop and Media Commons. The Library looks forward to welcoming students into these renovated spaces in the next academic year. For the most up-to-date information, please check back here often.
“We are designing spaces in the Main Library and other campus libraries with the interests of our undergraduates as a priority. These spaces will continue to offer the tools and services the UGL has become known and loved for and will also allow us to meet the unique needs that have emerged during the pandemic.”
~John P. Wilkin, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries (2013-2022)
The Library has long offered undergraduate student services across a range of campus libraries, including study spaces, collections, and services in the Main Library, Funk ACES Library, Music and Performing Arts Library, and Grainger Engineering Library and Information Center.
Town Hall: Archives and Special Collections Building and Undergraduate Services
Together, the Senate Committee on the Library and the University Library hosted a campus-wide Town Hall via Zoom on November 18, 2021. Representatives from the Library provided background and logistics for the project and spoke on Undergraduate Library services. The architecture/engineering teams (Ratio and Shepley Bulfinch) gave a project presentation. There was also time devoted to Q and A.
View the entire November Zoom recording here.
A follow-up Town Hall is taking place on Wednesday, April 27th, from 1-2:30pm on Zoom. Details an registration information are on the Library Calendar entry.
Resources
- Main/Undergraduate Library Integration Project – in-depth information about the one-year project
- Campaign to Transform the Library website – more information on the anticipated building that will house the Library’s archives and special collections
- Research and Study Spaces
A new, spacious study space is currently being designed for the First Floor of the Main Library, opening in Fall 2022 (see the map showing the east side of Main below).
Updates
The UGL closed to the public at the end of Spring Finals, with Friday, May 13th, 2022 being the last open day. The new study space on the north end of the Main Library’s first floor is scheduled for renovation during the Summer of 2002, opening in Fall 2022. This space will replicate many of the features of the UGL’s upper level, including large group study tables and reservable study rooms, loanable technology, printing, exhibits, programming, and the popular Writers Workshop. Additionally, new features, such as sound-dampened portable rooms for Zoom conferencing, will be added during the Fall 2022 semester. As part of this renovation, operations for the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL) will be consolidated into the south end of the Main Library’s first floor.
Study spaces are also being extended in other campus libraries. The Funk ACES library has added additional seating, and will be adding late night hours in Fall 2022. The Grainger Engineering Library and Information Center will resume 24-hour operations in the Fall. And as a final example, the Music and Performing Arts Library will also extend hours later in the evening, and is investigating a space revamp as part of fall planning. Combined with the Main Library improvements, these four 4 large study spaces will cover all four corners of the center of campus.
Planning for instructional spaces and services has wrapped up, and construction work is underway. The classroom in Funk ACES Room 509 is being renovated to accommodate larger instruction classes, with updated audio-visual presentation abilities. Main Library Room 106 will add laptop support for instruction, and other meeting spaces within the Main Library are being converted to support Zoom teaching. Finally, some Library instructors have begun piloting teaching in campus classrooms, and identifying technology support needs to support this activity.
The Media Commons is merging with the Scholarly Commons, as well as extending services into the Grainger Engineering Library and Information Center. During Summer 2022, media production spaces (audio and video booths) will be created on the second and third floors of the Main Library, as well as an immersive studio, with capabilities for 3D, VR and AR capture, being constructed in the basement of Grainger, near the IDEA Lab. These services will also open in Fall 2022 for student and faculty use.
UGL collection transfers were completed over winter break, and the Library’s catalog now reflects the future homes of all items formally held in the UGL. While the bulk of the collection, including the media collection, is in the Main Stacks, some of the more unique materials are housed in other departmental libraries. For example, the board game collection is now in the Music and Performing Arts Library, and the extensive popular culture collection, including genre fiction, graphic novels, cookbooks, etc., is split across a variety of libraries, including the Main Stacks, Literatures and Languages Library, Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL), and Funk ACES Libraries, among others.
A variety of other smaller scale, but still critical, moves will also occur over the next several months. The Mortenson Center will have its offices and operational spaces integrated into the International and Area Studies Library (IAS) on the third floor of the Main Library. And the 4th floor of the Main Library will have rooms used for storage converted into staff offices, to free up space on the first and second floors for library users.
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