New library to open in March

By Liz O'Brien

Santa Clara's new Learning Commons, Technology Center and Library, originally set to open in the fall of 2008, is now on track to open by March 31 of this academic year, said Chief Information Officer Ron Danielson.

The 194,000-square-foot structure will offer a café, 25 collaborative student workspaces and a three-story atrium lounge, as well as a new location for all of the university's Information Services.

Devcon, the general contractor for the project, "knows how important this building is to Santa Clara," said Danielson, "and has been very aggressive in trying to stay on schedule."

The project manager for Devcon declined to confirm an exact date, but did verify the early opening. Devcon is currently 11 months into construction, and a March opening will reduce the project time by six to eight months.

"The pace has sometimes caused us some discomfort," said Danielson, "because we've had to make some decisions with shorter notice."

The March opening will still allow students to access the entire facility, and Danielson said that "not a thing" would be sacrificed by the new, earlier deadline.

"The only difference is that instead of the 250,000 volumes being out on the stacks when the library opens, we will still be in the process of moving them out of the ARS and into the building during the opening weeks," he said.

A difference of about 79,000 square feet between the new building and Orradre allows for much more seating and a more "welcoming" atmosphere, said Danielson.

"I think the entire ambiance of the new place will be a lot more inviting than Orradre," he added.

The planning for the building began 12 years ago, and inflation has significantly increased the cost, Danielson said. Originally, the total cost was estimated at $80 million, but the current expenses are closer to $95 million.

Just under $83 million has been booked for the project, and another $7 million has been committed, which includes a $5 million challenge grant, according to Nancy Calderon, assistant vice president for development.

"I'm sure we'll make it with time to spare before it opens," Calderon said in reference to raising enough money by March.

The library's capacity -- 1.1 million volumes -- is expected to incorporate 20 years of growth, and Danielson estimates that the increase in digital media will allow even longer before the library reaches maximum capacity.

"This building was designed from the beginning to be able to meet the changes we will see as we go toward the future," Danielson said.

A key part of the building's design is the raised floors on the first, second and third levels. Fourteen inches of space underneath each floor houses heating, cooling, power and cabling. Underground cabling permits more flexibility in the location of electronic devices and can more easily be altered to incorporate future technology.

The floor design keeps the building about 10 degrees cooler, allowing for lower energy use. All the toilets in the building will run on reclaimed water, and the above-ground levels will use mostly natural light from the oversized windows.

The building's design follows an east-to-west layout, with predominately IT data on the north side and public areas on the south side. The main entrance, which faces the Benson Plaza, will house the open-air Gellert Café, named for the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation.

Jump Start, the smoothie bar and café located near the university parking structure, is scheduled to close by the start of next academic year in conjunction with new services offered by Gellert Café. Jump Start will stay open through spring but may offer a more limited menu, according to Lori Flashner, general manager of dining services. Gellert Café will not cover Jump Start's complete menu, as it will not offer smoothies. It remains to be decided whether a different university food service location will feature the items on Jump Start's menu that the café will not offer.

An information commons directly inside the new library's main entrance will offer lounge space, a "new book nook" and a 65-inch wall-mounted LCD screen for wayfinding and general library reference materials.

Four large lab spaces on the first floor will be available for classes as well as individual use, each featuring wall-mounted LCD screens. Twenty-five collaborative study rooms, each accommodating six to eight people, will also house LCD panels with computer hookups. Students will be able to reserve collaborative study rooms online to ensure availability.

An atrium on the south side will begin on the first floor and have open ceilings to the third floor. Casual lounge furnishings and deep window sills have been incorporated into the design.

"We think that this is going to be a very popular place for students to just hang out with their friends or study," said Danielson.

The second floor will house a 16-station computer lab, training and instruction rooms for 32 to 48 people and a video conferencing room.

IT, networking and a service center will be located on the third floor. In addition, the third floor will hold a small gallery and multiple public terraces. It will also include the St. Clare Room, a space free of technology to be used for receptions and presentations. A multimedia room will feature Macintosh computers and video equipment comparable to the labs in the Arts and Sciences building.

The new space will incorporate all of the current staff members of the Interim Library, and Danielson said that the library is currently fully staffed.

"I definitely think it's going to be a big change," said junior Robert Raymond, who currently works in the Interim Library. "I'm not exactly sure how the layout will be, and some people are anxious about the amount of work it's going to take to move all those books. But it's going to be big."

Contact Liz O'Brien at(408) 554-4546 or eobrien@scu.edu.