Up to our Necks in New Library Planning!
The excitement of receiving 48 million dollars to build a new library has sunk in, and so has the reality of the difficult work of predicting future student learning styles and trends in information and libraries. The good news is that there is progress to report.
Last summer the Library put together an Internal Library Building Committee (ILBC) who, along with members of the faculty and administration, conducted a number of site visits to new libraries and began developing a program statement for UTC’s new library building. Information about the site visits, as well as meeting minutes from the ILBC are available at www.library.utc.edu/building. Then, in the Fall semester, Chancellor Roger Brown put together a super university-wide committee to conceptualize, plan, and draft the Program Statement for the new library and all it contains. Information about the New Library Program Statement Committee, including membership, minutes, and other supporting documents is available at www.library.utc.edu/building.
The process of creating the new UTC Library will be open, transparent, and collaborative. The new library is a campus resource and as such, input into the process from the campus community is essential to the project’s success. In addition to the Committee meetings mentioned above, I met throughout the Fall semester with a number of academic departments, academic support services, the information technology division, and facilities personnel to discuss the new building and possible future collaborations. A list of past and upcoming meetings is available at www.library.utc.edu/building. I am hosting a number of open campus meetings throughout the Spring semester. I invite you to attend any or all of these meetings so that we can receive input from you about your hopes and desires for the new library, and to share with you the progress of our two committees.
Open campus meetings on the new library will be held:
- Wednesday, February 27t at 9:30 am in Library 208
- Thursday, March 27th at Noon in Library 208
- Monday, April 21st at Noon in Library 208.
On the New Library Building Facts Page you will key facts regarding the new library building project as well a proposed timeline. Please contact me at theresa-liedtka@utc.edu or 423-425-4508 to talk about the new building or anything else that might be on your mind involving the Library.
All the best for a successful Spring semester.
Theresa