My choice of libraries is the Simmy and Harry Ginsburg Health Sciences Library at Temple University in Philadephia. Temple University was founded in 1884 and its health sciences degree programs include medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy. The Ginsbury Library opened on June 19, 2009. Prior to the new library being built the health sciences resources were housed in the Kresge Library and the South Library. In a coordinated effort to maintain services for students while moving the resources in to the new facility , the Kresge closed on June 17, and the South closed on June 26.
The Temple administration and Board of Trustees recognized in 2003 that reinvestment in the libraries of the University was necessary on multiple levels to regain the high status that had been previously held. Besides enlarging the library budget in 2004 and 2005 and including in the new Medical Education and Research Building a state-of-the-art Health Sciences Library, Temple hired Larry Alford, a nationally respected librarian, to head up the Universitiy's 10 libraries in 2005. Mr. Alford is currently the Dean of Libraries at Temple and the Chair of the OCLC.
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I am so impressed that Temple's administration and board of trustees recognized the value of the library.The library must have communicated well with administration because they translated this need into dollars, which is the lingua franca of universities.
ReplyDeleteIt is so nice to hear of a library getting an increase in their budget instead of having to find what the library can do without due to a cut in the budget. It sounds like a lot of thought and effort went into the planning of the new building and curriculum.
ReplyDeleteSeating for 1000-it seems like an incredibly large library but I have not seen that statistic in looking at other descriptions. The other changes are consistent with the new design with increased technology (flat screen panels to display information) and "learning rooms." I also like that you emphasized the design encourages face to face opportunities by combining research and education in one facility.
ReplyDelete"30 group study rooms, two classrooms for library instruction, and wireless access facility-wide"
ReplyDeleteClearly the library has emerged as more of a teaching facility than it used to be.