When was the last time you stopped by Clemons or Alderman Libraries? What about the Library of Tomorrow?
Maybe students cannot physically go to the Library of Tomorrow, but it may soon affect the way students and faculty learn and teach.
The Library of Tomorrow plan stems from a collaborative effort by current library administrators and the Engineering School, and will help expand collections and look at new ways of ensuring usability of the University's digital and traditional collections and resources.
The idea of the Library of Tomorrow is part of the University's overall five-year plan. Its cost is estimated around $7.5 million, covered by the state legislature pending approval, according to Martha Blodgett, associate University librarian for information technology.
The Library of Tomorrow proposal incorporates all University libraries.
It will serve as a model for libraries to change with the new "flood of information coming from the Web and other sources," Blodgett said.
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Part of the Library of Tomorrow plan includes posting books and documents online, she said.
She is quick to warn that online documents are far from replacing the books that fill Alderman's stacks.
Carey Haglund, a third-year Commerce student, said she would like to use more online books because she gets scared going into the Alderman Library stacks.
Andrew Hunter, a third-year student in the College, said he supports the Library of Tomorrow and the plan to post more online documents.
"I'm gung ho for online books," Hunter said.
The Library of Tomorrow would collaborate with research libraries at peer institutions such as Cornell University, and its plan is serving as a model for other colleges and universities. Virginia Tech, for example, is trying to model the University's proposal.
Part of the Library of Tomorrow's outline calls for altering room layouts in some of the University's libraries.
The Library of Tomorrow includes "collaboratories" for students to work together on digital projects.
This change would accommodate students such as Kurt Hall, a third year in the College, who thinks there should be spaces in the libraries designed for group work.
The plan will not eliminate the traditional library, but it will integrate the traditional library with the digital library, Blodgett said.
Some students said the money should be used for other purposes, such as Hall's recommendation to "make some parking spaces near the library or put in more Coke machines."
But Blodgett believes the Library of Tomorrow will make the libraries more useful to students and faculty.
The program is still in its planning phase, and planning teams will be meeting this week.
Karin Wittenborg, University librarian, said the Library of Tomorrow "will keep us a leader in technology."
Maybe we'll soon be spending our time at the Library of Tomorrow instead of the fourth floor of Clemons.
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