Ohio State University Main Library Renovation/Restoration Project Preliminary Project Description, Request, and Plan Joseph J. Branin Director of Libraries August 25, 2000 Table of Contents Executive Summary Facility Description: History and Significance of Main Library 
General Description and Mission of Main Library
Three Phase History of Main Library Building Construction Need for Renovation/Restoration: Evolution of Facility and Changes in Information Technology
Main Library in Context of Entire Library System Deterioration of Main Library Building Aesthetics and Functionality Changes in Storage and Information Technology Community Reaction and Concern Vision: A Renewed Main Library for the 21st Century Importance of Place to Library and University Creating the Proper Balance For a Multimedia Environment Essential Concepts for a Renewed Main Library Community Support for a Successful Fund Raising Development Campaign Preliminary Plan and Project Schedule: Making It Happen Short Term Renovation Improvements Scope and Schedule of Major Renovation Project Preliminary Program and Space Requirements Other Documentation on the Main Library at Ohio State University
Facility Description: History and Significance of Main Library General Description and Mission of Main Library The Main Library (William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library) at the Ohio State University is a landmark building located at the center of the Columbus campus – at the western head of the historic Oval. Geographically, functionally, and symbolically, the Main Library is the intellectual or knowledge center of Ohio State University. 

The Main Library with 244,433 assignable square feet of interior space provides the largest concentration of research materials, information services, and study and reading space of any place on campus, or for that matter, in the entire State of Ohio. The collections in the Main Library number 2 million print volumes and 3 million microforms, accounting for about forty percent of all the library collections housed at Ohio State. The Main Library is also a major service hub for digital information services, with 250 networked computer workstations in the building for the public and staff use. The Main Library provides high speed electronic access to such digital resources as 215 research databases, online full text of journals from 30 scholarly publishers, 50,000 art and architectural images, and satellite imagery of Ohio, in addition to the full array of Internet resources. 

One hundred and seventy staff members work in the Main Library to acquire, organize, and preserve the collection, and to serve the information support needs of 950,000 users who visit the Main Library every year. University students and faculty, scholars from around the world, and citizens of Columbus and Ohio visit the Main Library every day for purposes as varied as 
finding a book or article for a research assignment; 
using a public computer workstation to search databases or compose a report; 
consulting with a librarian for expert, in-depth reference assistance; 
attending meetings, lectures, seminar, and training on scholarly, cultural, or information literacy topics;
viewing an exhibit on a research topic, the book arts, or new information technology;
meeting classmates or colleagues for discussion and group project work; 
exploring unique, primary research material in rare books, manuscripts, and special collections;
finding a quiet, comfortable spot for individual reading, study, and research. (There are 1,700 public seats in the Main Library.)

The Main Library houses the general knowledge collections and information services of the University as well as the research collections and specialized information services that support history, literature, languages, religion, philosophy, political science, anthropology, sociology, and classical, cultural, ethnic, and international studies. Because of its range of collections and services, its sheer size, its central location, and its concentration of staff support, the Main Library serves as the hub or gateway to all library and information services at Ohio State University. Regardless of the nature, scope, or format of an information support need, a good place to start is the Main Library. The William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library is the “Main” Library, for it belongs to, supports, and affects teaching and research programs that cut across the entire University and scholarly community.


Three Phase History of Main Library Building Construction
The Main Library as it currently exists was built in three phases. The original building (phase 1), at the western head of the Oval, was constructed in 1913. This beautiful, American Beaux Arts style building is three stories high with a Bedford limestone exterior, and grand and carefully crafted interiors with such details as marble casements, terrazzo floors, and oak woodwork. 
In 1952 (phase 2), a seven-story (13 stack level) stack tower was added to the West Side of the Library. The stack tower was designed to be a “closed stack” tower not accessible to the general public. Materials were retrieved from the closed stacks by library staff until 1970 when the Library adapted the general practice of most American research libraries and opened these stacks to public browsing and self service. Also in 1951, two one-story curved pavilions were added to the northeast and southeast corners of the original building. With these 1951 additions, the Library was rededicated and named in honor of William Oxley Thompson, the fifth President of Ohio State University. Finally in 1977 (phase 3), a second, four story addition was constructed on the West Side of the stack tower. At this time other parts of the Main Library were retrofitted with air conditioning and a new interior spiral staircase was added for access to the first three floors of the building. 
 Need for Renovation/Restoration: Evolution of Facility and Changes in Information Technology


Main Library in Context of Entire Library System

In most respects the library system at Ohio State is outstanding. Overall, the University Libraries have increased their national ranking among research libraries in North America from 26th place in 1995 to 21st place in 2000. Among only publicly supported research libraries, OSU Libraries now rank 12th in the nation. The acquisitions budget, which allows the Libraries to build its collection of print and digital resources for communal use, has been very strong and healthy for the last decade. The OSU Libraries have outstanding general and special collections in almost all fields of knowledge. An Anatomy of Knowledge, the Libraries award-winning guide to Special Collections Ohio State is a major partner in OhioLINK, the most effective academic library consortia in the country. Through this statewide consortium, the OSU Libraries are able to share print and digital library resources very effectively and economically across Ohio, greatly benefiting all the citizens of the State. With OhioLINK’s support, the Ohio State University Library offers its faculty and students arguably the most complete array of online resources and the most effective document delivery services of any library in the world. 

The OSU Libraries on the Columbus campus of Ohio State are made up of 16 major library facilities, which include the Main Library, Agriculture Library, Biological Sciences and Pharmacy Library, Business Library, Cartoon Research Library, Education/Human Ecology/Psychology/Social Work Library, Fine Arts Library (EHS), Geology Library, Health Sciences Library, Journalism Library, Law Library, Music/Dance Library, Science and Engineering Library, Theatre Research Institute, University Archives and Book Depository, and Veterinary Medicine Library. (For a research library system of its size and complexity, it is a relatively centralized arrangement.) Almost all of these libraries are in very good physical condition. Some library facilities, like the Health Sciences, Law, and EHS libraries have recently undergone renovation; while others are brand new or relatively new, like the Business Library, which just opened in September of 1999, the Philip Johnson designed Science and Engineering Library , which is seven years old, and Biological Sciences and Pharmacy Library, which is four years old. The Geology Library in Orton Hall is one the University’s oldest libraries, and is a beautiful, functional and well-maintained historical facility.  There is  really only one facility in the library system that is not up to standard. Unfortunately, that is the library system’s largest and most visible facility, the Main Library. Deterioration of Main Library Building Aesthetics and Functionality While the Main Library is a landmark building that has served generations of students and faculty well at Ohio State University, it is now in serious need of restoration and renovation. The building is overcrowded, antiquated, and just pain shabby and run down in many areas. Collections and services have grown, while the space they occupy has not since the late 1970s. As a result, grand spaces in the original 1913 building have been cut up or completely filled up to accommodate more shelving, and seating and space to consult collections have all but disappeared from the stack tower. Sight lines have been lost, shelving often block windows, and a cluttered, maze-like atmosphere permeates the building. The original 1913 building has lost all its grandeur and sense of proportion, and the 1952 stack tower, never designed to be open to the public, is a warren of narrow, low ceiling corridors surrounding miles of shelving. Original Grand Reading Room 1913 Upper Level of Former Grand 
Reading Room 1999 Some aspects of the building’s basic architecture and infrastructure need major attention too. The three parts of the building do not flow together in harmony. The atrium transition from the original 1912 building to the 1951 stack tower is described in the 1998 Library Task Force Report as  “possibly the most depressing sight on the OSU campus.” The central stairs in the original building was removed and replaced in the atrium with an inappropriate spiral stairwell. Elevators and stairs in the Stack Tower are small and narrow. The HVAC system has been unreliable, and staff and users of the building frequently note poor airflow and temperature. Leaks from the roof or the cooling system have stained walls and ceilings and damaged collections in many parts of the building. Most of the building was designed before the age of the computer, and as a result introducing new information technology equipment and services to the Main Library has been a real challenge.
                                                                                     

                                                                                   Original Main Stairway 1913 Circular Stairway in Atrium 1977 Changes in Storage and Information Technology

Since the construction of the Main Library in its three phases beginning almost one hundred year ago, certain aspects of library service have remained remarkably stable while others have changed dramatically. The printed book and journal has retained its central importance as the principal medium for scholarly communications. Despite some predictions that print would disappear in the new digital age, book and journal production remain strong and essential to scholarly communications, particularly in humanities disciplines. Print on paper will be a significant medium of scholarly communications into the foreseeable future. For the Main Library, which must manage the bulk of the library system’s traditional print collections, the challenge has been  --and will continue to be -- the proper shelving, servicing, and preserving of an ever growing and aging physical collection of books, journals, and other paper formats. This will require a full range of shelving options in the Main Library and the Book Depository, ranging from open stacks, to on-site closed stacks, to depository storage and delivery. 

The Main Library stack tower, which was originally designed to be a closed stack facility, simply does not function well as an open stack facility and needs major rethinking and renovation. Over the last fifty years, collection growth in the stacks have crowded both shelving and people space. Adequate and openly browsable stack space in combination with closed storage space for rare and fragile material remain basic requirements for any large research library. The Main Library’s stacks need to be made more open and spacious. There needs to be better access, security, logical order, environmental preservation conditions, and balanced distribution of the open stacks with public areas for consultation and study of the collection.  Main Library will have to continue to incorporate new storage options into its operations. These include compact shelving, more on-site closed storage for aging collections of rare and fragile print material, and more reliance on its book depository program for less frequently used valuable material. 
Library Book Depository, 
                                                                                                               Kinney Road High Density Storage in Book Depository Compact Shelving Option While managing print collections will remain a major responsibility of the Main Library, this facility will also have to be designed to accommodate the new multimedia digital information system that is advancing quickly. Over the last 25 years since the third phase of Main Library construction, the new digital information system has made incredible strides and brought significant changes to many aspects of library and information services. Beginning with the automation of library internal operations, moving to online catalogs and reference tools, and most recently to full text electronic access to articles, documents, and art and satellite images, the Main Library has become more and more dependent on networked computer based services. This means that the Main Library facility must create new space and redesign old space to house and service networked digital information services. Practically all public and staff areas need to be networked with wire or wireless technology, and individual and group spaces need to be equipped and furnished in a flexible way to support and adjust to the changing digital information environment. The Main Library should be a hub, gateway, showplace, and educational center for new information technology as well as for the traditional book arts.
Public Computer Lab in Main Library Community Reaction and Concern The overcrowded and cluttered space, the antiquated carpeting, wall and ceiling treatments, furniture, and signage, and the basic architectural and infrastructure limitations have all conspired to make the Main Library an uninviting place for reading, study, and research. Again, according to the findings of the 1998 Library Task Force Report, “At Ohio State, the Main Library is the last place one would think of taking a student, a parent, an alumnus, or a faculty member. The Main Library is in real danger of becoming an irrelevance; its connection to the campus is on life-support.” The new Library Director’s meetings with students and faculty during the Spring Quarter of 2000 revealed a similar community sentiment towards deteriorating conditions in the Main Library. As one graduate student told the new Director, “When I have to use the collections in the Main Library, I plan a ‘strategic strike:’ I get in and out as fast as I can. I don’t like spending time in that building.” This situation is a shame and must be reversed. The Main Library has the potential, the real estate, the mission, and the tradition to return to its central role as a beautiful and functional gateway and gathering place for information services, research, and the celebration of knowledge at Ohio State. 

Because of its size, location, and diversity of collections and information services, the Main Library serves many constituencies in the University and scholarly community. Its clientele includes undergraduates, graduate students, faculty in many humanities and social science disciplines, international scholars, and citizens from around the State. The Library means different things to different people and is used by different people in different ways. The very concept of what a “library” means is undergoing significant change in the new digital age. For some the Library means marble, grand spaces, the smell and feel of leather and paper, and a refuge for quiet reading and study. For others, the Library has become a computer workstation, a database, a dynamic social and intellectual gathering place, and a showplace for new information technology resources and service. None of these views need be exclusive. The Main Library can and must embrace a multimedia information environment that includes both print and digital resources and that serves the entire university and scholarly community in all its diversity.


Vision: A Renewed Main Library for the 21st Century

Importance of Place to Library and University

While the emerging digital technology system is making “virtual” information services and distance education possible, place is still a fundamental element of any library program or university education.
For the Library, place remains fundamental for many important reasons:
Paper is still the preferred medium for reading and for publishing;
The social aspects of information exchange are an integral part of learning, teaching, and research;
People often want face-to-face contact when they are receiving reference assistance or information literacy instruction;
Libraries are real and symbolic centers of knowledge and intellectual activities in their communities;
People still want and expect grand spaces that inspire and pay tribute to intellectual achievement and that provide comfortable, functional, and attractive places for quiet, individual study, and for more social group work. 


Creating the Proper Balance for a Multimedia Environment

The renewed Main Library of the 21st Century will have to be a multimedia and flexible facility that combines, balances, and adjusts to all the elements of a dynamic scholarly information system. Certainly, traditional media and services will need proper and adequate space. The Main Library’s two million plus print collection must be housed and preserved in the best conditions possible. Face-to-face reference assistance, circulation services, government documents, maps, microforms, and periodicals, and subject reading rooms will still need improved material storage and service areas. Special Collections in the Main Library will need more and better space for the secure housing of material, for controlled reading room space, and for exhibits. Staff offices and work areas should be environmentally and ergonomically as effective as possible for productivity and job satisfaction.

The Main Library should embrace exciting and useful changes in information technology. More public workstations are needed throughout the Main Library. Wireless technology may offer easy, ubiquitous  networking throughout the building. Multimedia resources, that is, resources that combine text with image, sound, and motion are likely to grow popularity and usefulness, and the Library must be able to collect and support this new media. Group study and discussion areas that are supported with learning technologies should be incorporated into the redesign of the building. The Main Library should have a small auditorium and  an adequate number of training and meeting rooms, again equipped with appropriate learning technology. The Main Library should also be a hub, gateway, and showplace for information technology services at the University. There should be places in the Library that students and faculty can go to see, use, and learn about new media and technologies that might enrich their scholarly communications and their learning.

If designed carefully and imaginatively, the Main Library can embrace and achieve a proper balance among all these information media and service requirements. The Library will offer a diverse set of media for use, including books, journals, manuscripts, maps, microforms, videos, CD-ROMs, new forms of multimedia, and increasing networked digital multimedia resources. The Library will also offer a diverse set of people and public spaces, ranging from quiet individual study areas to group work areas to an auditorium. There will be grand spaces and intimate spaces. All this diversity will come together in harmony and balance through the architectural and interior design of the renewed Main Library: through the proper allocation and ordering of program space, through new and unified signage, through the creation of better storage and public spaces.  Clientele of all persuasions will want to use  -- and staff will enjoy working in -- the renewed Main Library.


Essential Concepts for a Renewed Main Library

The renewed Main Library will be a
Gateway to the universe of information services, both print and digital;
Research Center for the humanities and liberal arts;
Showplace for the book arts and for new information technology;
Destination on the Columbus Campus for inviting and inspiring space for reading, learning, and research;
Celebration through its outstanding collections and services and its grand spaces for the record of achievement and accumulation of knowledge


Community Support for a Successful Fund Raising Development Campaign

The University and the Libraries will mount an aggressive fundraising campaign to help finance the restoration and renovation of the Main Library. The University Development Office has already prepared a draft campaign plan and is in the process of recruiting and hiring a senior development officer for this campaign. The new Senior Development Officer will be appointed in the early fall of 2000 and will work closely with the Library Director, the Library’s Junior Development Officer, Library staff, and other University Development staff to raise $10 to $30 million over the next three years in support of the Main Library project. During this time period, the Main Library Campaign will occupy center stage as the most important University priority for fundraising. The University President and Provost as well as other senior leadership staff at the University will devote significant time to campaign activities. 

The Main Library Restoration and Renovation Project is a wonderful target for fundraising development. The landmark character of the building, its prime real estate location at the head of the Oval, and its centrality to the intellectual life of the campus all make it a very appealing target for development. The Main Library belongs to the whole University and surrounding communities. Many students, faculty, alumni, and local citizens have fond memories of using the Main Library for study and research. The building itself is visible from almost all parts of campus and is a familiar sight and place in campus geography and student life. The Main Library presents many naming opportunities to recognize the generous support of community members who help advance the restoration and renovation of this central facility. Preliminary Plan and Project Schedule: Making It Happen

Short Term Renovations and Improvements
Because of the scope and complexity of the major restoration and renovation of the Main Library, this large capital project is likely to take 8 to 10 years to complete. This is too long to wait for any physical improvements to the Main Library. In the short term – over the next two to three years – the University Libraries staff will try to make a series of small improvements that will make the Main Library more attractive and functional and at the same time help prepare the facility for its long term restoration and renovation. The four goals and general strategies for making short term facilities improvements to the Main Library include;

1. Make the Main Library a more inviting facility on campus--a gateway for library services, an intellectual      gathering place, and a pleasant work environment
Improve the appearance, maintenance, and security of the facility
Provide better working conditions for Libraries’ personnel
Create a variety of user space, e.g., group study, individual study, seminar rooms, public workstations
Reduce crowding

2. Improve the organization of collections and services in Main Library
Transfer materials out of Main Library to the Depository
Relocate materials within Main Library
Consolidate and improve reference collections and services
Consolidate current periodical collections and services
Reorganize/relocate selected service points
Arrange stacks more logically and create more user friendly space.

3. Enlist cooperation and support for short term and long term improvements to the Main Library from Libraries’ personnel, University administration, faculty, and students
Engage in open discussion and decision-making in the planning process
Emphasize effective and efficient services to library clientele
Obtain ongoing data on how, when, and by whom the facility and collections are being used

4. Operate within the short-term constraints
Money--$1M, plus any additional funding from the University
Time--Completion by Fall Quarter 2002
 Compatible with long-term renovation

This summer (August 2000) two library task forces were formed to prepare more detailed action plans for short term improvements to the Main Library Stacks and for general facilities improvements to the public areas of the Main Library. Consideration of reorganizing reference, current periodical, and subject reading room collections and services in the Main Library has proved to be more controversial and complicated than other proposed areas of change. Discussions and planning for this part of the Main Library will continue into the 2000-2001 school year, and users and staff will carefully consider all reorganization options and their relative advantages and disadvantages. 


Scope and Schedule of Major Restoration and Renovation Project

The complete restoration and renovation of the Main Library is a major capital project for the University. The project is expected to take 8 to 10 years to complete and cost somewhere between $60 and $90 million. The Library hopes to raise $10 to $30 million through development efforts towards this total estimated cost.
The project can be broken down into six major activities with the following general schedule:
Academic Feasibility Study: Spring 2000 – 2002
The Director of Libraries will prepare a list of the programmatic needs for the Main Library of the 21st Century after systematic consultation with the University Community and review of trends and best practices in information science and research library operation.

Architectural Feasibility Study: Fall 2000 – 2002
An architectural firm will be recruited and hired to prepare a conceptual design for the restoration and renovation of the Main Library. Academic programmatic needs will be translated into spatial  requirements and designs, and architectural options for improving the overall building will be explored. More precise cost estimates for the restoration and renovation will be determined.

Main Library Fundraising Campaign: Fall 2000 – 2005
With the hiring of a senior development officer for the Main Library Campaign, an aggressive fundraising effort will be undertaken to raise somewhere between $10 and $30 million towards the total cost of  this major capital project.

Advocacy and State Funding of Capital Request: 2003 – 2004
Upon completion of the academic and architectural feasibility studies and after several years of effective fundraising efforts, the Main Library project should be ready for University and State support. With a convincing plan and evidence of broad community support, the University and State should give the Main Library Restoration and Renovation the go ahead and financial backing. 

Detailed Architectural Design: 2004 – 2005
An architectural firm will be recruited and hired to carry out the final detailed planning and design for the restoration and renovation of the Main Library

Construction: 2005 –2008
Giving the size and complexity of the Main Library restoration and renovation project, construction is likely to take several years. The phasing of the construction and the disposition of Main Library services and collections during construction will be important planning issues. Preliminary Program and Space Requirements

The academic and architectural feasibility studies that will be conducted over the next two years will carefully and systematically review and establish the program and space requirements for the renewed Main Library. The basic question that must be answered is what will make the Main Library both beautiful and functional in the 21st Century? It is difficult to predict the future, especially in a period of rapid technological change, but we are designing a library for the present and for the next hundred years. What will libraries be like, what will students and faculty expect of libraries ten, twenty, or fifty years from now?

Some preliminary ideas drawn from initial responses of students, faculty, and library staff and from the experiences of other research library undergoing new or renovated building construction are offered below for consideration.
Place remains essential to libraries.
Print will continue to be an important medium for scholarly communications.
Digital, networked, multimedia communication is and will continue to have a profound affect on libraries and scholarly communications.
The library must be able to support a multimedia environment and be open and flexible in responding to changes in technology, which means the need of ubiquitous networking 
The original Main Library building (1912 phase) should be carefully restored and grand spaces should be returned to this part of the building.  The Stack Tower (1952 phase) and 2nd addition (1975 phase) are more problematic architecturally and functionally, and they will require more radical rethinking. The stack areas, in particular, need to be improved and modernized.
There needs to be better and more variety of public study and group work space in the Main Library, including faculty/graduate student carrels, quiet individual study areas, and group study areas, all equipped with technology support
There needs to be more meeting and training space in the library, including a small auditorium and meeting rooms of various sizes, all equipped with technology support
The Main Library restoration and renovation project provides an opportunity to change the libraries’ organization where such changes will improve the effectiveness and economy of operations and services. This might include
The consolidation of Special Collections units in the Main Library.
The merging of the Journalism Library into the Main Library.
The relocation of units from Main Library to Book Depository or other locations: Technical Services, Preservation, Information Technology.
The reorganization of service points, reference collections, and reading rooms within the Main Library.
Improved amenities such as a coffee bar and café, more comfortable seating, and better rest rooms.
Improved security, maintenance and custodial services.