NEWS

Carolina’s undergraduate library to re-open Aug. 19 after renovations

By ASHLEY ATKINSON
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- A renovated, updated undergraduate library -- with wireless Internet connection, new facilities for group study, and advanced World Wide Web-related software -- will greet students arriving at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill next month.

And books will still be there, too.

The Robert B. House Undergraduate Library, closed for interior renovations for more than a year, will reopen at 11 a.m. August 19 as a modern, 24-hour academic support center for research, study and computing.

Chancellor James Moeser and Student Body President Jen Daum will be among those cutting the ribbon for this, the first major renovation project completed on UNC’s main campus supported by North Carolina’s higher education bond referendum of November 2000. An open house with tours and refreshments will follow.

"The renovated House Undergraduate Library gives us the capability to integrate services, print and electronic documents, and group and individual study," said Dr. Joe Hewitt, associate provost for university libraries. "It’s designed to serve the diverse needs students have for information today."

Deputy University Librarian Larry Alford and Undergraduate Librarian David Taylor also will join the re-opening ceremony, the day before fall semester classes begin Aug. 20.

"The renovated library will serve as a state and national model for delivering information services to 21st-century students," said Hewitt. "This contemporary facility will help sustain our status as the best academic library in the Southeast."

When House opened in 1968, it provided a state-of-the-art learning environment for the print age that integrated academics and comfortable surroundings. But in the 32 years until its closing in December 2000 for renovation, the "Undergrad" became outmoded and rundown, with more than a million patrons using the facility each year -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The need for technological improvements, increased comfort and improved study spaces became critical, said Leah McGinnis, assistant head of the undergraduate library. Construction on the $10 million-plus renovation began in April 2001.

The completely redesigned floor plan includes a reserve reading room, nine group study rooms, a new Media Resources Center (formerly non-print), film and video screening rooms for classes of up to 45 students, a computer lab with about 65 computers and more than 100 public computer stations.

Wired and wireless connections to the Internet have been installed throughout the building, and new equipment and software will offer advanced services to students working on Web pages and other digital applications. Academic Technology and Network’s technology support center will move from Wilson Library to House.

A new heating and ventilation system, a centrally located elevator and new furniture and carpeting complete the picture. The furniture is among several enhancements made possible by private gifts as part of the university s Carolina First campaign.

"It will be a learning library -- a comfortable, welcoming place for freshman and sophomores to make the transition to a major research library from the kinds they’re used to," said Hewitt.

Undergraduate library services continued in Davis and Wilson libraries while House was closed. Davis, open 24 hours Sundays through Thursdays during the 2001-2002 fall and spring semesters, will observe a preliminary fall schedule Aug. 19 through Sept. 15, available at http://www.lib.unc.edu/libinfo/hours.html. Regular hours beginning Sept. 16 will be 8 a.m. to midnight Mondays-Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to midnight Sundays.

Undergraduate library services and collections will return to House from their temporary locations. Those include reserve readings and undergraduate reference returning from Davis and non-print collections from Wilson.

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Contacts: Joe Hewitt, ujhewt@email.unc.edu, 919-962-1301, or Larry Alford, deputy university librarian, alford@email.unc.edu, 962-1301

(Atkinson is a recent graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication)