Wednesday, May 19, 2010

NYU Library Visit

Last week I had the pleasure of touring NYU's Bobst Library. I have walked by the massive building so many times but had never been inside--it is a very impressive space.

To complement the 2004 renovation of two floors to create the Brine Library Commons for undergraduates, the library is now undergoing a major renovation on two upper floors to develop a research commons which incorporates significant student feedback into the plan.

See this report for background and this LibGuide for floor plans and other information about the project. The new research commons is scheduled to open in Oct-Nov this year.

The pictures I took did not do justice to the library, but I did want to highlight a couple of creative additions to various spaces: the whiteboard walls in one collaboration space and the reservable portable storage cabinets in another. Neat ideas, particularly with the storage as we have heard repeatedly from our own graduate students how important it is to have large, lockable storage spaces. I am looking forward to my next visit.