A Guide for Patrons of the Thomas Tredway Library

Augustana students, faculty and other patrons of the library will find the building’s interior and resources much changed since spring of 2012, when Russell Construction began its work.

As the library moves toward a completed renovation and assimilation with the new Center for Student Life in August 2013, it will enter into two stages of transformation—the first beginning at the start of the 2012-13 academic year.

Please note that the library’s original elevators will continue to operate for floors one through four—both throughout construction and in the completed Center for Student Life. There will be no service to fifth floor. A new elevator from the second floor will bypass third floor and go directly to the fourth floor. The new elevator is scheduled to begin operation in January 2013.

Augustana’s dining services will keep Brew by the Slough open as fourth floor construction begins in August, and may close the coffee shop only for brief periods as construction continues through- out the year.

Neither fourth nor fifth floor will be available for study August 2012–January 2013. The renovated fourth floor is scheduled to be available in January, but fifth floor will continue to be closed throughout 2012-2013. The F.W. Olin Center will provide many open classrooms, labs and meeting rooms for alternate study space.

Users can anticipate progress throughout this year, with pointers along the way to help them continue the studying, research, reading, teaching, planning and collaborative work that comprise the primary function of a college library.

STAGE ONE August through December, 2012

FIRST FLOOR: Special Collections, circulating books, interlibrary loan/technical services

The first floor will house about one-half of the library’s circulating book collection in new electric, mobile compact shelving units. These ingenious, mechanical shelving units fit more books and journals into less storage space, and open to create aisles for checkout and browsing with the push of a button.

Special Collections will continue to be located on the first floor, as will interlibrary loan/technical services. Special Collections in particular will offer great enhancements to its environment and services, including a larger classroom/reading room, expanded work area for projects, more efficient storage space, new offices and more display cases. The area will house a much-needed new HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit).

Virtually all of the beautiful oak cabinets from the old reading room were salvaged and sold. The new classroom/reading room will include a large touch screen for projection of images, and tables to spread out work on projects.

A new quiet study room across from Special Collections will accommodate about 25 students, and a circulation area at the hub of the first floor will be in view of the new Special Collections displays.

The entrance for patrons with physical disabilities will remain at its location on the first floor; the second floor entrance will stand as the primary exterior entrance to the library.

SECOND FLOOR: lobby, circulation and research help, open teaching areas, computer tables, soft seating, group study rooms, Reading/Writing Center, administrative offices

The central functions of the library’s second floor will be very similar to the old second floor, but with several significant improvements. Most upgrades and new resources will be ready on the first day of classes.

A new, smaller and more user-friendly Research Help Desk will be located slightly north of the elevators. A librarian will be available at this help desk during most of the library’s open hours. Library displays will be located in the center of the floor, directly across from the main entrance.

An exciting change for small group study on the second floor will be the banquette-style seating around tables with an attached flat screen monitor, located on the south half of second floor. The layout of the seating and tables will allow up to six students easily to sit facing one monitor and project materials from individual laptops, promoting better efficiency and focus for small group work. This banquette seating will be a significant improvement over the current rectangular tables with large monitors.

The second floor eventually will include two new group study rooms, each containing a larger version of the tables described above. One of these rooms will be available at the start of the school year and the second will be available in January.

Some individual librarian offices have been relocated, and a few will change again during Stage 2. If you are looking for a specific librarian’s office, please check at the Circulation Desk or Research Help Desk.

The Reading/Writing Center still will be located on the second floor in the fall of 2012. On January 1, 2013, it will move to the fourth floor. In its new, larger location near the Offices of Student Activities and Multicultural Services on the fourth floor, the Reading/Writing Center will be near to open study areas as it is currently, and will include more room for tutoring. Equally important will be its proximity to a library instruction room with computer consoles, to be used as a classroom and as an open computer lab.

All else on the second floor—including the table for puzzles and games—will remain essentially the same. Library instruction will continue to be available at either end of the floor, and restrooms will be available on this and all floors of the library.

THIRD FLOOR: circulating books, open seating, study carrels, group study rooms, computer lab

This quiet floor will continue to house the quiet computer lab, seven small group study rooms, and many areas of open seating.

The previous individual study carrels on the third floor will be replaced with new, more spacious carrels—about 48” wide, with more flat space to spread out materials. In addition, a new carrel-style “study bar” will be strategically placed around the atrium-style opening to the second floor.

Many circulating books will remain on the third floor in traditional shelving units, with a variety of kinds of seating placed among the stacks for a choice of reading environment.

FOURTH FLOOR: (to be completed January and later) Reading/Writing Center, OSA, Multicultural Services, Brew by the Slough, information desk, library instruction room, open seating, group study rooms

The current fourth floor of the library will undergo the most change throughout 2012-13, as this floor will extend into the newly constructed Center for Student Life (CSL). All current fourth-floor construction should be competed by January 2013, but construction on the addition to fourth floor will continue throughout the year.

To compensate for the temporary loss of the fourth floor computer lab, the library has increased the number of laptops available for check-out and will continue to do so. By January, there will be at least 40 laptops available for use throughout the Center for Student Life.

As host to Brew by the Slough, formal and informal gathering spaces, and a variety of academic and co-curricular offices, the fourth floor will demonstrate the CSL’s approach to a “combined,” flexible learning space that allows students and faculty to select the most suitable environment for study, discussion and collaboration.

Brew by the Slough will be expanded and improved, with the addition of a large outdoor patio.

Renovations will be ongoing throughout the 2012-13 academic year, with Stage 2 beginning in January 2013. Watch for an update on library renovations and CSL construction in December.

If you have any questions, please contact: Library Circulation Desk, 794-7310; Research Help Desk, 794-7206 or libraryinfo@augustana.edu; or speak to any library staff member.