January 2008

Georgia State University Celebrates Transformed Library

After a six-year, $23 million renovation, Georgia State now has a library befitting its status as a leading research university.

With 296 new computers, thousands of additional books and online resources and 1,900 more seats, the two-building library at the heart of campus is better equipped to serve its 1.5 million visitors each year.

Georgia State celebrated the grand re-opening of the transformed library on Thursday, November 15, 2007 on the second floor of Library. President Carl. V. Patton and his wife Gretchen provided a gift for the children’s literature collection.

“The most gratifying reward, apart from the beauty and functionality of our new space, is the response from the students,” Georgia State Dean of Libraries Charlene Hurt said. “Every time I walk through the new library, nearly every seat is filled, which is a dramatic change from the student use of the old library.”

Indeed, students deserve praise for their contribution to the library’s 11,217-square-foot expansion. More than half of the project’s funding came from a $35 per semester fee that students agreed to pay. The rest of the funding was raised from private contributions.

Thanks to the new design, visitors can now efficiently access the library’s resources, including more than 1.5 million volumes, 28,000 electronic journals and 804,000 government documents. Newly expanded glass sky bridges allow visitors to navigate the library with ease, and a fresh décor provides a more welcoming environment.

The new library also boasts a variety of study spaces, such as 53 new group study rooms and a quiet study room on the fifth floor of Library South. Another key feature is the 150-seat Learning Commons, an area on Library North’s first and second floor dedicated to helping undergraduates with research, whether it is organizing ideas for a paper, developing an oral presentation or using software to analyze data.

In addition, the new library is designed to be a one-stop shop, offering expanded services such as classes on research skills and English as a second language. Already, students, faculty, staff and other visitors are raving about the transformation.

While the project’s completion marks the beginning of a new era for the library, it is also Dean Hurt’s swan song. Hurt will retire in June after a decade at Georgia State. During that time, she oversaw the library’s physical transformation and reorganized the library’s administration to be more focused on serving its visitors, among other changes.