Accessibility

Directions

MPAL is located within the Music Building at 1114 West Nevada Street, Urbana IL. The building has two wheelchair accessible entrances on Oregon Street (which is closest to the Library doors) and Nevada Street. Add your starting location on GoogleMaps for directions to MPAL.

For public transit, the Goodwin & Nevada bus stop is the closest to MPAL and is served by several MTD busses.

Parking

Parking near the Music Building is available in the underground Krannert Center for the Performing Arts parking lot (opposite from the ramp-accessible Oregon Street entrance), and at on-street meters on Nevada and Oregon Streets. The Krannert Center has accessible parking spaces on all levels of the parking lot.

Ramps & Doors

The north Oregon Street entrance (pictured below on the left) has a ramp that leads to the main entrance. The Nevada Street entrance (pictured below on the right) has a flat approach without stairs or ramp.

Automatic doors are located at both the south entrance of the Music Building (Nevada Street) and the north entrance (Oregon Street). There are two sets of doors to enter the Library itself; the first set is always propped open when the Library is open, but the second set is a pull-door with a handle (it is not automatic).

General Space Details

MPAL has two floors with a mixture of study areas and bookstacks on each. You’ll find books, plays, periodicals, reference materials, and music pedagogy materials on the first floor; the score collection is upstairs. The aisles in the stacks are 42″ wide.

Seating – The computer area has swivel chairs on casters (some with arm rests, some without); the chairs throughout the study areas on both floors are chairs without arm rests, some with 21″ seats and others with 17″ seats. There is also some soft seating on the first floor including low arm chairs and one double seat.

Lighting – The lights throughout the Library are fluorescent; there are large windows and good natural light along the north side of the Library on both floors.

Noise – The reading room on the first floor is a quiet study space; expect more noise in the computer area next to the service desk. For information about private spaces, see the next tab.

Layout – To see how the space is arranged, reference: floorplan – first floor; floorplan – second floor.

More details – For a brief description of each section of the Library with photos, see our page on Study & Research Spaces.

Accessing the Second Floor

Accessing the second floor via elevator requires staff assistance as the elevator is located in the Music Building (rather than the Library itself), so a staff member will have to unlock the upstairs door. Please ask at the service desk if you would like to use the elevator.

Library Policies

Service animals are welcome in the Library. Please see the campus policy on service animals for more details.

If you need a quiet study space, check out the Reading Room on the first floor. For photos and details, see our page on Study & Research Spaces.

For a quiet, private space, you can reserve a room. MPAL’s study and listening rooms are on the second floor and require a key that you can check out at the service desk. Accessing the second floor via elevator requires staff assistance as the elevator is located in the Music Building (rather than the Library itself), so a staff member will have to unlock the upstairs door. Please ask at the service desk if you would like to use the elevator.

There are no bathrooms within the Library itself; all restroom facilities are located down the hallway in the Music Building.

There is a women’s bathroom (with an accessible stall), a men’s bathroom (with an accessible stall), and an accessible single-occupancy all-gender bathroom with a changing table all along the first floor hallway of the Music Building.

All Library computers provide basic assistive technology. Headphones are available behind the service desk for in-library use for anyone that needs them to use the assistive technology. MPAL’s computers have the following programs installed:

Net-ID login Library computers are equipped with a suite of assistive software including: JAWS, Kurzweil 3000, ZoomText Magnifier/Reader, OpenBook, Dolphin EasyReader, and OpenDyslexie. For more details about our assistive software, check out the Accessibility and Technology Guide.

Public kiosk computers are equipped with Narrator and Magnify.