A new Knowledge Commons that will provide students with a number of technology services is currently under construction in Pattee Library — a major renovation that will be available for students by the next academic year.
“We had wanted to do it for a long time since a number of major research universities have instituted similar spaces,” said Daniel Mack, the Tombros librarian for classics and ancient Mediterranean studies and head of the arts and humanities library.
The new space will definitely come in handy to students who use technology in their work, Mack said.
The Knowledge Commons will feature a number of resources for students, including video production areas, podcasting facilities, service kiosks, study areas and integrated help desk areas.
University Libraries began construction on the project last spring, and Mack said the project will be completed by 2011.
Catherine Grigor, manager of public relations and marketing for University Libraries, said the project has been coming in stages.
Initially, the maps library was moved from Pattee Library to Paterno Library, Grigor said. The Foster Auditorium was also moved from Pattee Library to Paterno Library, with the original auditorium becoming a new reading room, Mack said.
Grigor said a public website with the Knowledge Commons’ design will launch this week.
Mack said the project was set into motion after a $2.5 million joint donation by Anne and Peter G. Tombros and Jean and John R. McWhirter last February.
“We’re able to do things like this from amazing alumni. Without them, we wouldn’t even consider a project like this,” he said.
Though the project had been an idea for quite some time, Grigor said the project really got underway after the donation.
“Unless you have money, you cannot move forward. The money has to be in place to get approval,” she said.
Anne Tombros and Jean McWhirter have been longtime friends and members of the Libraries Development Board. As a result, they’ve become familiar with the libraries’ aspirations, Grigor said.
For the past two or three years, library officials have continued to benchmark what other university libraries were doing and how they could mimic that success, Grigor said.
The new technology that will be incorporated into the library comes as no surprise to many students who spend most of their studying time on the computer.
“I use computers way more than I use books. I’ll definitely be more willing to use the library than I do now,” Wendy Kaufman (freshman-graphic design) said.
Mack said the reason behind of the project is to really focus on the students.
“People think libraries are dead. They’re not,” he said. “It’s all about the resources that are available to students.”