The Simmy and Harry Ginsburg Health Sciences Library, all 50,000 square feet of it, opened on June 19th. The Library is located in the Medical Education and Research Building, which is approximately 480,000 square feet, 11 stories, and will house classes for the departments of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology. Of the approximately 100,000 square feet of the building that is for educational purposes, half is taken up by the Library, emphasizing the committment that Temple has made to resurrecting the reputation of its libraries.
The library has 30 group study rooms, two classrooms for library instruction, and wireless access facility-wide. Additionally the library is equipped with flat screen panels to convey directions to different sections of the library, hours of operation, and other annoucements.
The library has seating for almost 1000 and work stations for over 150. There are also "learning rooms" with the multimedia technology for sharing and reviewing information.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of this library is that students, faculty, staff, and researchers will all be under the same roof. Having research and education in one building will make interaction much easier on many levels. Librarians will be an arm's length away from students; researchers and librarians will know each other face-to-face, not just email-address to email-address. Faculty will be able to stop by reference and discuss resources they are interested in, not happy with, or looking for. As comfortable as we are all with email, and the shortcuts for expressing emotions :) sometimes face-to-face discussions are the most efficient and best teaching method.
As the Library has only recently opened, there are not many photographs, but I am including links to the ones I have found. The architect for the building, Ballinger, still only has the conceptual drawings on its website. Compared to some libraries, the Ginsburg comes across as very spare. However, I like the clean, clear look of the interior. As the Library has opened during the summer time will tell if the layout meets the needs of the entire population that will 'living' there.
A bit of trivia about events that took place while the MERB was under construction: Harry Ginsburg died in December 2008, so he did not see the Library completed(Simmy had passed away several years earlier); in November 2008, Temple obtained is 3 millionth print resource.
http://www.temple.edu/medicine/newbuilding/5.21.09_slide5.html
http://www.temple.edu/medicine/newbuilding/5_21_09_slide6.html
http://www.temple.edu/medicine/newbuilding/5_21_09_slide7.html Staircase(my favorite)
http://www.temple.edu/medicine/newbuilding/construction_update1.html
http://www.temple.edu/medicine/newbuilding/index.htm
I love it when libraries are within the departments and from what I've heard many faculty think the same. For example the mathematics department at Cornell University has its own library in the same building and everybody loves that. What you mentioned about faculty being face-to-face with the librarians as being important, I also think that was a big plus. At the University of Nebraska in Lincoln is the same story. In that library all the faculty even had a key of the library for after hours needs. Worked perfectly for everybody.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great looking building.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I'm just amazed at the new expectations for what a library should offer students and faculty. This is another beautiful example. Thanks, Laura
ReplyDeleteThis library sounds really well designed. I love that it is housed in the same building which will hold many of the health sciences classes – convenient for students and faculty alike. I think it’s very interesting that the library uses flat-screen televisions for directions and information – a big improvement over plain print signs which often are difficult to interpret anyway. I also like how bright and open the library looks. In that first picture you provide a link to (a study area I think), it reminds me of the National Archives at College Park, one of my favorite buildings to work in, with it’s open design and floor to ceiling windows.
ReplyDeleteIf an academic library seeks to serve its users (students), it may not be best to ask them what they need (the may tell you what they want, which is not the same as what they need). Professors may know better what they actually need. Putting faculty in or near the library would certainly improve communication between professors and the library and should enable the library to better serve the student.
ReplyDelete---Robin Robinson
Larry Alford, the director of the University's 10 libraries has said: "The enhanced funding that has come from the Board of Trustees and the president has made a huge difference in the support that the libraries can offer to research and teaching at Temple,” said Alford. “It has allowed us to engage the librarians and our resources to become even more integrated into the academic enterprise.”
ReplyDeleteFunding for integrating the librarians and library resources in the academics of the university was apparently a priority as much as funding the incredible library building
This is an informative and well-written overview of what promises to be an innovative new library. It seems great in theory to have the library housed in the same building as the academic areas that will make use of it. As difficult as medical studies can be, anything to make this experience more user-friendly and enhance the learning experience seems like a big plus.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming that studies were done beforehand about projected growth of the academic area and whether it would make sense to include the library in the same building.