FRONT PAGE

Library transition begins

By Shirley Melikian Armbruster
University Communications

Library offices and staff members are relocating from the older portion of the Henry Madden Library to the newer portion, as the $91 million redevelopment and expansion project moves forward.

The older sections of the library on the north side of the building will be demolished next year and a new structure built in their “footprint.” The four-story South Wing of the library, which was built in 1980, will be retained and eventually connected to the new structure.

During the three-year construction process, most services will take place in the South Wing, but services may be limited. Entrance to the library during the transition will be the solarium doors, just south of the current entrance.

Books from the Madden Library will be moved
to this warehouse facility south of Fresno.

The library staff is working closely with the project architect, builder and the university’s Plant Operations Division to make the transition as smooth as possible. But, some inconvenience is inevitable.

We hope that our students, faculty, staff and community borrowers will remain patient during this period,” said Michael Gorman, dean of library services. “The Henry Madden Library has, until now, only been limited in its scope by the outmoded building it occupies. Soon, it will have a building that will allow its excellent service-oriented staff, wonderful collections, advanced technology and a wide variety of programs serving the university and wider community to flower.

“This new library will be the architectural jewel in Fresno State’s crown – a place that celebrates the life of the mind and the pursuit of education and scholarship,” Gorman said.

Library hours starting in summer 2005 and continuing through the transition period will be 7:45 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays; closed Saturdays; 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

The latest updates about the project are posted at www.maddenlibrary.org.

 All personnel and collections will be moved out of the North Wing by the end of the summer and demolition of that wing will begin next spring, followed by construction of the new building.

Completion of the library is expected in fall 2008. The project architect is A.C. Martin Partners Inc., in association with Hillier Architecture. The construction manager is Swinerton Builders.

Trustees of the California State University system approved the conceptual design of the new building in March, and now the actual layout of the spaces is being checked to ensure everything fits and works together, said Bob Boyd, director of Facilities Management. The next phase will begin the development of the actual construction documents, which should be completed in December 2005.

The project will require extensive coordination to relocate the library’s 750,000-volume general collection and 150,000 bound periodicals and about 40 of the library’s 80 employees while the demolition and construction are under way.

The goal is to have everyone and the collection moved by the start of the fall 2005 semester.  The books and periodicals will be moved to a storage facility located in south Fresno in the Orange Avenue-Freeway 99 area. The university is completing lease negotiations on the 80,000-square-foot warehouse and making arrangements for shelves and books to be moved from the library to the facility.

Because of the transfer, some library materials may not be accessible over the summer, said Susan Mangini, assistant to the library dean who is coordinating the transition. But, she said, library staff will make every effort to obtain requested materials in a timely manner.

If the move goes as planned, a new system for checking out general collection books will begin in the fall semester. Library patrons will request materials that are stored off-site by fax, online or in person, and the request will be transmitted to the storage facility. Once the items are requested they will be pulled and delivered to the library at set times throughout the day. Patrons will pick up and check out the requested items at the circulation desk, which will be located inside the new main entrance.

Remaining in the South Wing will be the following departments: Government Documents, Maps, Curriculum/Juvenile, Current Periodicals, Music and Media Library, Arne Nixon Center, Central Valley Political Archives and Special Collections.

Disabled Student Services will be relocated to University Center building (the former Carl’s Jr. space) and Interlibrary Borrowing and Lending will move to the Renaissance Room during the summer. Current periodicals will be processed in the Renaissance Room but will remain available in the South Wing of the Library.

Library staff members take a look at the
warehouse facility in which books will be stored
during construction.The library will offer all current services – but at a reduced capacity – with the exception of the Information Competence Center, which will be out of service during the transition. Library instruction classes will continue at a reduced capacity. When completed, the library will have a total footage of 315,600 square feet for reading rooms and study areas, collections, library administration, individual study carrels, group study rooms, specialized libraries and special collections. The university administration will be housed on the fourth floor of the building.

The new building will include state-of-the-art information technology systems, 3600 reader stations and a wide variety of study configurations.

The Madden Library is the largest academic library between Sacramento and Los Angeles. The current structure was designed to accommodate 13,000 full time equivalent (FTE) students, but the university now has about 18,000 FTE students (21,000 individuals). The expansion will provide space to serve a campus community of 25,000 FTE students.

The project is financed with funds from the Proposition 55 bond measure approved by California voters in March 2004.