Sue Shaffer Library to begin phased re-opening

Remodeled and reopened, the Sue Shaffer Library is back

The library staff is excited about their soft reopening on Monday, Oct. 16 and the new offerings the renovations provide, including updated study spaces, a coffee bar and more to come.

“Please bear with us and be courteous; this is all new to all of us as well. We’re here, we’re going to be open, we’re happy to be here,” Liz Teoli-Thomason, director of Library and Learning Commons, says. “We did not intend to be closed [this fall], but we’ve been doing what we can.”  

While the library will officially reopen Monday, services will continue to roll out as various areas of the remodel are finished. 

The Sue Shaffer library began its most extensive renovation project since its initial construction with high hopes to reopen prior to fall term. However, delays in a variety of areas — such as back ordered construction materials — added time to the project so that the physical library remained closed much of fall term, and traditional library services had to be disseminated via the library’s website.

This created a variety of issues for students: “I didn’t know where to find a printer to use when this term started,” Michael Ritter, an Emergency Medicine major, said.

New amenities now available

Since its opening in the 1960s, the library has served as a community gathering place for students and community members to sit, talk, read, and learn. The updated library includes new elements such as a coffee bar and a variety of individual and group gathering spaces that cater to meeting the needs of all its members. 

When students walk in, the first thing they will notice are new individual seating spaces with modern chairs, each with their own power sources, phone chargers and desks.

For quick snacks, vending machines are available as well as a beverage station. A new ADA compliant custom-made circulation desk is located immediately to the right of the main entry. Towards the back wall are two private family rooms for studying, enabling students to bring their kids into their study room.

In multiple sections sit six brand new white private study pods. Each soundproof pod is equipped with its own power sources, light sources, a fan for air circulation, a large sized desk and multiple chairs inside enabling multiple people to utilize the pods together. They can be reserved online via the library website.

The back of the library includes a new tutoring center and innovation room which will be utilized by faculty and staff to learn and familiarize themselves with any new technology the campus has to offer.

Current online services and updates will continue to be offered through the library website. 

For more articles by Laurel Younis, please click here.