Nobili Hall opens study area in place of library this week

By Jon McDonald

The final interim library location opened this week in Nobili, but many had yet to discover the new study space.

"It's still really quiet," said Alana Lucyshyn, a student desk receptionist, Tuesday afternoon. "In the last two hours I've seen maybe 10 people, maybe. I don't think enough people know that it's open."

Nobili's study area, which opened its doors Oct. 9, is the final piece of the university's plan to provide library alternatives during the estimated two-year construction of the Learning Commons.

The Nobili facility holds 150 students and has an information commons, three group study spaces and a computer lab, which will be open to students when not being used for training or instruction during school hours.

Touches of Jesuit decor are scattered within the hall. The desk receptionists sit behind an old-fashioned metal screen. The original purpose of the information commons, as a chapel for the previous Jesuit occupants, is still represented by a dominating wooden cross that is the centerpiece of the dimly lit study room.

Nobili has housed students on the upper floors since the start of the school year, but the library facilities that were supposed to open at the same time have been delayed until this week because asbestos, a once-common insulation substance, was released during construction.

While study areas are now open to students, construction still has not been completed. As students walk to the library facilities, they pass a space enclosed by sheetrock and plastic tape. Ronald Danielson, chief information officer, said the area that is still under construction will eventually become rest rooms.

All the construction has not bothered Nobili resident Jannee Campero.

"I couldn't hear any noise from the construction," said Campero, a second-floor resident. "It looks like there's a lot of room that is not being utilized."

With the academic year moving toward midterms, Lauren Martinez, one of the first students to use the new facility, wondered if the interim library facilities will be enough.

"I'm worried that without having a library, we're not gong to have enough places to study this year," she said. "Luckily I have my midterms early."

The two interim library facilities, Nobili and the gray trailers next to Buck Shaw Stadium, provide approximately 60 percent of Orradre's study space, Danielson said. Danielson has said administrators are planning to actively monitor the use of different spaces and open up more options as needed.

"It might be overcrowded to the point where studying is just not going to work out," said Samlecia Gaye, one of the first students to use the facilities. She also expressed concern about finding places to study come midterms. "The dorms are really distractive."

Gaye added that, compared to the number of study areas in Orradre, "there's not many options really."

While the interim library and Nobili are the main library spaces, they are not the only places to study on campus.

Smaller study areas are available in the Kennedy Commons and in Casa Italiana, where non-residents can enter until 6 p.m. on weekdays.

A new student computer lab with 15 computers opened Monday in Room 201 of the Benson Memorial Center, according to Matt Cameron, assistant vice provost for student life. A smaller room attached to the lab can also be reserved for group work through the information desk, Cameron said.

Danielson said additional space will be made available in Benson during the last week of the term and finals week. There are no plans to open other full-time spaces.

"We'll be tracking how busy the two spaces are," Danielson said. "If they get too crowded we'll go looking for more space."

Contact Jon McDonald at jmcdonald@scu.edu.