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January 30, 2009, 12:30 PM ET
Who Needs Library Furniture Anyway? Not Fresno State
That is, of course, a wild exaggeration. The Henry Madden Library at California State University-Fresno does need a bunch of tables and chairs—nearly $8-million worth—but the new facility is set to open on February 19 anyway. After all, it does have online services and books and staff to help faculty and students find things.
The California state budget crisis has put a lot of furniture on hold at the $105-million building. But Peter McDonald, the library dean, points out that the essentials are in place, in a revealing interview with the Library Journal Academic Newswire.
“The collection level below the first floor is arguably the largest single-floor open compact shelving in the world,” Mr. McDonald said. It “can hold on a single floor upwards of 1.3 million items. So the books as such remain in the building, it is just that they are significantly compacted to make room elsewhere in the building for user centered services and seating.”
With furniture and window treatments on hold, Mr. McDonald said the library instead will focus on outreach to students and faculty, new programs, and expanding online access. But having those books on hand—not shipped out to some annex, as many new libraries have done with their collections—is a big draw. “Students at Fresno State have not had a proper library building in over three years, Mr. McDonald told the Library Journal. “For faculty, for humanists especially, just the fact they will finally be able once again to browse open stacks will be a big plus, and we have expanded most all our services to support faculty as well.” —Josh Fischman
Categories: Libraries
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