Furniture!

Office desk is finished!

Stop by to see the new reception desk in the office.  With the installation of the counters this morning Linda’s desk is now finished and it looks great!

4th floor project

This project is consuming a lot of time right now and probably will for the next several months.  As you’ve read in the update on Wednesday, we are taking several actions to preserve as much study seating as possible.  Over the break we’ll be making some changes to the old media listening rooms (see below) and staff from the main library will be coming over to move most of the study tables from the 4th floor down onto the 3rd and 2nd floors.

“Media listening rooms”

Over the break the built-in desks will be removed from the old media listening rooms.  These rooms have been used as group studies for many years and this should help to make them more useful for larger groups.

Javad, 4th floor

Javad is home!

Dave learned this morning that Javad has been released from the hospital.  We will keep you informed as we follow his progress!

4th floor project

Here is the text of an email that will go out to the AHSC students this week and again after the break.  A similar message will go out as an AHSC memo after the break.  We will host a session for students to express their concerns and to hear about our plans.

--

AHSC Offices to Move into 4th Floor of Library

Effective December 19th, the 4th floor of the library will close and offices for the Arizona Health Sciences Center will be built in the space.  According to Facilities Management, construction will begin in early 2015 with completion of the offices expected in April.  The 4th floor has primarily been used as study space for AHSC students and includes 8 group study rooms and a large silent study room.

The director of the Arizona Health Sciences Library, Gary Freiburger, stated that his main concern is reducing the impact this change has on AHSC students and their ability to study in the library. Working with the Library Advisory Council, library staff and Facilities Management, he has quickly identified several short and long-term strategies to create additional study space on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the library.

As part of the construction project, eleven study rooms--9 individual and 2 group study rooms--will be built on the 3rd floor to replace the rooms on the 4th floor.  Current study space will be reconfigured to accommodate furniture from the 4th floor to be distributed throughout the 2nd and 3rd floors.  Some library staff will be relocated and office space converted to study rooms. Longer term strategies include reducing the print collection to free up additional study space.  Where possible print journals will be replaced with electronic holdings and lesser used materials identified and moved into off-site storage. 

AHSL is committed to making the library a great place for serious study. Your ideas and suggestions are important.  Join us on January 16th at a time to be announced in Room 2150M in the library so we can share our ideas and listen to yours. You can also use the contact form at: http://ahsl.arizona.edu/contact and choose "Give us feedback" from the dropdown menu.

Space, Space, Space

Student services in the library

The Graduate and Professional Student Council offers counseling to students regarding professional development, job hunting, etc.  They are looking for a space where they can meet with AHSC students.  We are currently talking with them about their specific needs but anticipate that they will use a group study room one or two half-days a week.

4th floor

Thanks to Dean Williams we have come to an agreement with the Dr. Garcia regarding library space.  The Vice President’s office will be taking responsibility for the entire 4th floor, including the silent study space.  In return the library will not face the loss of other space in the library, will get new group and individual study spaces built on the third floor and will have some voice in the planning of the HEAT building.  We believe that the opportunities for us in the HEAT building are tremendous and look forward to involvement with this planning.

Work on the 4th floor may begin any day in the form of architects, engineers and space planners doing measurements.  We have asked that they remember that students are studying for exams on that floor through Friday, December 19th.  We should be able to keep access to the eight group study rooms open for a while longer.  However, the floor will probably be closed to all early in January as work progresses.  The ambitious timeline for completion is April 2015.

The Administrative Team, Dean Williams and others will be meeting soon to discuss issues, ramifications and solutions.  We will keep you informed!