Friday, July 21, 2017 by Graham Yeates
As you may have heard by now, renovations are underway at Dana Porter Library. We anticipate that all work within Porter will be completed by the beginning of March and are scheduled to break ground on construction by the end of August. Only two floors will be affected by the construction work: the 3rd Floor and the 5th Floor. Our hope is that this renovation will allow the 3rd Floor to someday become a new, revitalized space for the Library Mission to support:
- Co-creation
- Digital literacy
- Presentation
- Writing
- Research
In order to take the first step in achieving this vision, we are relocating most of the staff that are currently on the 3rd Floor and placing them on the 5th Floor. This will open up the majority of the 3rd Floor to library users.
The immediate benefits for users will include:
- increased access to the Flex Lab
- a new instructional space
- that will serve as a group study hall outside of the library’s business hours
- space on the 3rd floor for more group study
- including six new group study rooms
- computers licensed with GIS software that are on the same floor as the Geospatial Centre
- new lounge areas with a wellness/relaxation focus
- a new reflection room on the 7th Floor, which can be used for anything from prayer to study breaks
In the short-term, the 3rd Floor will house many print resources. It is expected that curation of these resources will continue over the years in order to open up space for group study and collaboration.
The curation work involves systematically identifying and removing items that:
- Have perpetual electronic access and where electronic format is appropriate
- Are now in an Open Access format
- Have not circulated over an extended period of time and can be easily obtained through interlibrary loan
- No longer meet the teaching and research needs/interests of the UW community, based on collection policies developed in conjunction with academic departments
Once the curation work has been completed, our long-term vision for the 3rd Floor of Dana Porter includes:
- technology-enabled rooms for students to practice presentations
- the space being used as a learning commons
- Could accommodate a variety of user services on the 3rd floor
- Enables the exploration of co-curricular spaces
If you have any questions about the renovation, please submit them using this online feedback form. Be sure to include your name and point of contact if you would like a response from us.
