In an email message to students yesterday, Sheridan Libraries Dean Elisabeth Long and Homewood Student Affairs Vice Provost Rachelle Hernandez, shared the interim library service plan while Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) Library is closed for renovation.
Dear Students,
As you know, this summer the university will undertake a multi-year project to renovate—and fully reimagine—Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) Library, now critically overdue for health, safety, and mechanical system upgrades. Over the past several months we’ve heard your concerns and feedback about access to study space and library resources while MSE is closed. We are grateful for your engagement. Your input, along with data about the building’s use over the past year, served as the basis for developing an interim library service plan that we’re confident will meet your needs.
We are excited to share this plan with you, designed to maintain continuity of library service throughout the renovation and provide the community learning environment our students value. We’ll do everything we can to minimize disruption by establishing a dedicated service point, providing replacement study space, maintaining current library hours, and facilitating prompt delivery of books and other material.
- The former Johns Hopkins Club building, across from the Chemistry Building on Bowman Drive (see campus map, building 38), will serve as the dedicated library service point during the renovation and be open the same hours as Brody. Like MSE, this building offers a variety of space configurations that can be differentiated by study preferences: quiet rooms with carrels for individual study, and collaborative study areas for those who prefer a more bustling atmosphere. Library services will include book pick-up, course reserves, printing, and research consultations with your liaison librarians.
- Brody Learning Commons will remain open, with access to Special Collections, the quiet reading room, group study rooms, printers, and Brody Café.
- Gilman Hall Hutzler Reading Room will remain open. The south wing will be devoted to disciplines that rely heavily on print reference collections in teaching and research, such as History of Art, Classics, and Near Eastern Studies. It will have added book shelving, a teaching space, and a reservable seminar table for classes needing access to these collections.
- Hodson Hall will be outfitted with various seating options to create new study spaces in the reading room and lobby areas throughout the building. More tables will be added to the outdoor terrace for studying outside during warmer weather. The third-floor boardroom will be dedicated to graduate student study and model the graduate space we’re planning for the renovated library.
We’d like to thank you in advance for your patience and good spirit as we navigate the MSE Library renovation together. Our goal is to ensure that students continue to have access to library study space and resources throughout the renovation period. We look forward to working with you to meet student needs.
We will continue to provide updates and additional information on the MSE project website and will hold additional virtual and in-person town halls in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Elisabeth Long
Sheridan Dean of University Libraries, Archives, and Museums
Rachelle Hernandez
Vice Provost for Student Affairs