As of the Summer of 2017, Olin & Chalmers Libraries may be no more, if all goes according to the 2020 Master Plan. Last year, a survey went out about possible projects to begin work on, and students, it seems, were eager for a new place to study.
However, despite the response gathered from the aforementioned survey, it seems that most students are filled with mixed emotions about the deconstruction of our current library, the interim location, and the construction of a new location. To get a deeper look into the possible concerns, I asked for the opinions of students who are employed by the library, as I am, for their insight into potential problems—the results were a mixed bag.
Taylor Hazan’19, who works in Multimedia, believes the construction is necessary, but not beneficial to the current campus population, “I think the campus needs a better library, but I’m a little disappointed that none of the current students here will experience it.”
Others, such as John Chase’19, a Desktop Support Assistant, agreed about the necessity, but wonders if it should be first priority, especially if the plans for the structure do not meet student need, and that “the allocation of the resources could do better things for the college as a whole than a new library…especially as the plans stand currently.” Elna McIntosh’16, who works at the Reference Desk agreed that there are “there are other aspects of the campus that can be improved first,” while adding “It might be nice to have a bigger space for collections or some more study areas.”
Circulation Desk employee Caitelin McCoy’17, disagrees that Olin & Chalmers should remain as the Kenyon Library, saying the current building “functions exactly as a library should.” While the debate is out on whether a new library would be a great addition to campus, it seems clear to me that the main concern to Student Employees was not that Kenyon is getting a new library — an inevitable fact as of now — but rather, the process of which we will be getting one.
The first problem, the interim housing of the library, a problem which plagues Jessica Berger’17, a Special Collections Student Assistant, who says, “I’m just afraid at how much labor is going to be put into transporting everything into trailers, just to transport everything again a few years later.” She adds that Special Collections contains a great number of “heavy”, “old”, and “expensive” books, and she doesn’t want to see “anything to be damaged in the process.”
Maggie Griffith’17, who works in ITS and Circulation, echoed Berger’s sentiments, and felt that, just as with Special Collections, the ITS side of the library will be greatly affected by the construction, calling the process “absurd.” Colin Cowperthwaite’18, of Helpline, shared a similar feels with regards to the running of Student Jobs and how they would function in relation to the proposed blueprints. Cowperthwaite is concerned about the spacial relationship shown in the latest library plans, saying: “It is crazy for circulation, reference, and helpline to be in the same space, even crazier for us to work at the same desk (even if it’s a long one). We need separate spaces because we have different responsibilities.”
While Seth Reichert’17, another Helpline employee, acknowledges that he doesn’t utilize the library as a study space often, he see the limitations of the current plans for a study space, particularly due to the “large atrium that is open to the whole building”. Reichert also believe that “the library’s primary function is to provide services to students”, and doesn’t believe the currently proposed plan have “been designed with that functionality in mind.”
While, Paige Ballad’18 a Reference Desk employee wonders if, in hindsight, students will regret the choice they made during the Master Plan survey, saying that although she realized student voted on the Library during the survey, it felt “distant,” but now as the time approaches, people are starting to realize what a big ordeal this will be. Ballad believed that “students have changed their minds”, about the construction of a library that few students on this campus will get to enjoy.
In words that truly seemed to sum up the sentiments I received in my own research on the top, Ballard said, “Give us another survey, and I guarantee ‘new library’ won’t be anywhere near the top of the list.”
Image Credit: The Kenyon Thrill, Kenyon College