The Cullom-Davis Library went through major renovations this summer, as it was repainted, carpeted and equipped with moveable furniture. Additionally, several power outlets, nearly 60 power towers and more than 100 writing surfaces (including dry-erase tables and walls) were added.
While the first floor and half of the second floor was completed, the west side of the second floor, which includes the study rooms, was not planned to be finished until mid-September. The renovations are still in their final stages.
“We are into the last few days of basically finishing up some carpet base, taking delivery of furniture for the remaining furniture pieces, and then we’ll have a group of movers come back in, and we’ll just rearrange it,” Kim Green, supervisor of the Planning and Sustainability Department, said. “We are really on the fringes of completion.”
Green said there have been little tune-ups that have kept the second floor from being completed.
“At times, when we are doing a project of this magnitude, some of the scheduling, some of the logistics, define what we are able to accomplish in a day or a week,” Green said. “We are forever making small, little tweaks in the process to make sure it’s a smooth transition.”
Green also said projects get added to the agenda, which can change the schedule.
“Something that became obvious to us during this project was we need to take a hard look at the wireless,” Green said. “So that was a component of the project that we added and that I think has been well received also, and so we saw an opportunity and we jumped at that.”
Because the library decided to renovate both the first and second floors, the renovation team planned to do some work during the academic year.
“We were trying to be cognizant of the fact that students do come to the library to study and work on projects and that kind of thing, so hopefully we haven’t been too disruptive in that whole process,” Green said.
Students should return from Fall Break to a fully functional library.
