Dec. 3, 2009

Staff Senate supports new library

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The NDSU Staff Senate has approved a resolution supporting construction of a new main library on campus. The vote of support came at the group’s Dec. 2 meeting and is in agreement with a similar resolution earlier approved by Student Senate.

 

The resolution states the present main library is not able to provide adequate space for collections or individual and group study, and does not meet the academic needs of the NDSU community. The resolution said the facility is significantly below the standard set by peer institutions in collections, study space, resources, hours of operation, size of staff and aesthetics.

The resolution asks “immediate action take place to develop plans for the construction of a new main library on the campus of North Dakota State University which exceeds those of our peer institutions in all aspects and meets the projected growth of our university” and “NDSU Staff Senate implores university officials to recognize, consider and act upon the academic needs of the NDSU community through the construction of a new main library.”

According to Vance Olson, Staff Senate president, “By passing this resolution Staff Senate is showing support of the Student Senate’s efforts to help bring our library facilities, collections and resources to a level befitting NDSU’s academic excellence.”

The current main library dates from 1950, with a 1980 addition that was intended to serve 8,000 students. The total area of the building is 95,000 square feet. Following the 2000 flood, collection and study spaces were reduced in order to absorb Publications Services, the Writing Center and Information Technology Services computer cluster classrooms. Initially intended as a temporary move, the Institute for Regional Studies and the University Archives were relocated to leased space in the Skills and Technology Center, which lacks climate controlled environment standards required for special collections and is not conveniently accessible to students and faculty.

“I believe a new main library at NDSU will be welcomed by faculty, staff and students to support their research, teaching and learning needs,” said Michele Reid, dean of libraries, noting the current building also has water leakage, seepage and air quality problems. “Critically, with the growth of the student body, the main library does not provide sufficient study space for students during peak evening hours, and there are no adequate spaces for events or other large gatherings.

“A new facility addressing the deficiencies of the existing building would re-establish the main library’s central role as the intellectual heart of the campus, a physical symbol of the institution’s land-grant heritage that enriches all the citizens of the state, and affirms NDSU’s academic, cultural and lifelong learning mission,” Reid said.

University Senate has been asked to consider a similar resolution of support. 

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