By Erica Moser, News Staff
The view upon entering Snell Library has shifted from tables and computers to floor-to-ceiling panels, which emit the ligneous smell of construction. In International Village, the dining hall doors are locked but bear a poster advertising “new and exciting expansions.”
Renovation season has commenced.
“If they were doing the renovations starting Sept. 1, I think it would be a big point of pain for students, but I think that because it’s happening during the summer months … it’s not such a big deal,” Student Government Association (SGA) Vice President for Academic Affairs Kristina Lopez said.
Construction is underway on the first floor of Snell and in the International Village dining hall; both are set to reopen for the fall 2013 semester. Northeastern students vary in their reactions to the renovations and how they are affected, if at all.
At the end of the fall 2012 semester, SGA conducted a technology survey of Snell to gauge student opinion on library technologies and commodities, such as InfoCommons. In January, Lopez moderated a town hall meeting for students to voice suggestions on the future of Snell to library personnel.
The first floor renovation plans include the addition of 19 or 20 study rooms, different- sized tables and more outlets, Lopez said.
Additionally, the classrooms on the second and third floor will be moved to a separate section of the library, and those rooms will become staff offices.
There will be a separate entrance for classrooms on the side of the library that faces the engineering archway, which will “alleviate those crazy lines that they have in Snell, which everyone hates when they’re trying to get to class,” Lopez said, and also create a central location for library staff.
The focus on sustainability involves a push for more e-reading and scanning instead of printing, she added.
According to Northeastern’s Information Services website, the renovation “will introduce a new 3D printing facility, upgrade the existing audio/video stations, and will create a new faculty commons support center.”
“I think the first floor of the library really needed to be repaired and updated,” fourth-year international affairs and political science student Molly Stevens said. “I’m excited that they’re going to redo the first floor and make it look better.”
She added that when a friend visited, her reaction was, “you pay $50,000 a year and this is your library?”
Arjun Reddy, a second-year graduate student in pharmaceutical sciences, said he is looking forward to “new systems for the current technology” and having Windows be up to date.
Many students said they were not bothered or hindered by the temporary closing of the first floor. Some are rarely on campus because of co-op, some prefer the quiet of the third floor and others simply do not feel the need to work in the library.
“I rarely use the library as is,” fourth-year mechanical engineering student Rob Desanti said. “I’ve always had whatever I needed available through either classes or my own room.”
Others saw the blocking-off of the first floor as more of an annoyance.
“I’ve been here two summers in a row now with renovations, and it’s kind of a pain, in terms of where we can be for space,” fourth-year physical therapy student Kate Hickey said. “There’s less space to get work done, and although there are less students, it just is a little cramped.”
Hickey said she usually does work in the Curry Student Center but has recently gotten pushed into the library because of events in Curry.
“It usually ends up being worth it in the fall,” she added.
Several students conveyed limited knowledge of the first-floor plans.
“I don’t really know what’s going on downstairs … so it would be nice if they told us what was going on,” third-year nursing student Julie Patel said as she studied on the second floor. “It was kind of like last year when they were renovating Curry, they didn’t tell us what they were doing. It was just blocked off.”
All she said she heard was that more study rooms were being added.
Library communications officer Thomas Urell and Dean of University Libraries Will Wakeling were not available for comment.
Information about the relocation of library services for the summer is available on the library’s website.
As little as some students said they know about the construction in the library, several expressed being even less aware of the renovations to the International Village dining hall. Some said they had not heard about it at all.
On April 26, Northeastern Dining (@NUDining) tweeted, “INV is closing at 3 p.m. today for the Summer to bring you new and exciting expansions nudining.com/hours.” On May 15, they tweeted an image detailing the expansions: a zone of menu items made without eggs, milk, peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree nuts or gluten; a deli station and deli to go; a kosher station; halal options and seating areas.
Levine Marketplace is still open Monday-Friday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
NU Dining Services and Space, Planning and Design did not respond to calls seeking comment.
