Why renovate the Main Library?

The Thompson (Main) Library was built in 1913, with additions in 1951 and 1977.   Each of these structures, like all campus buildings, requires periodic maintenance and upgrades to protect the buildings, to make them safer, and to improve the facility for teaching and learning.

What will be the improvements when the renovations are completed?

Improvements to life-safety infrastructure:

   •  Fire safety : only the 1977 portion of the building has a fire suppression (sprinkler) system for the protection of people and collections.   For the safety of the users and collections, it is imperative that a fire-suppression system be installed.

   •  Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning:   the building's systems, although connected to the University's chilled-water lines, requires the replacement of its air-handling systems, which have reached the end of their useful lives.

   •  Electrical wiring:   the building's wiring requires replacement to meet current building codes.

   •  Plumbing:   the building's plumbing systems are in need of replacement.   This involves not just an improvement to the woefully inadequate restrooms, but also a replacement of all the building's pipes, which are, in their current state, a hazard to the book collections and to the building.

Enhancements to accessibility:

   •  The building needs to be made accessible to our users with disabilities, following the legislation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  

   •  Networked access:   A research library building should have state-of-the-art wired and wireless access to the Internet    Current Main Library wiring and wireless connections need a big upgrade.

Better environment for teaching and learning:

   •  The building needs upgrades to the systems that help students learn.   These include improved networked systems, and better learning environments and collaborative spaces.  

   •  A renovated Main Library will provide spaces for groups of students to learn together.

   •  With an improved facility, we can improve services to students and faculty by bringing in additional collections and staff.

   •  The renovated Main Library will be a much-improved environment for the care of the Libraries' collections.

How much will the project cost?   Who is paying for it?  

The Thompson Library project is estimated to cost over $100 million.   Seventy percent of the cost -- $70 million - will be from State of Ohio capital funds, which are raised through the sale of long-term bonds, as all capital projects are.   The remaining one-third of the cost -- $30 million - is being raised through gifts to the project.  

Student tuition and fees are not directly funding this project, and will not increase as a direct result of this renovation project.

How long will the renovation take?

The demolition and construction phases of renovation will take about three years' time.   The Library building will close on September 17, 2006, and will reopen in time for Autumn Quarter 2009.  

Why is necessary for the Library to close entirely for three years? Why don't you renovate the building a portion a time to keep it open for use?

The Library project is being scheduled for a "one-phase" renovation project. That is, the building will be vacated during the late Summer of 2006 and will be closed in September 2006 for about three years. From that point, the demolition and construction will be completed during that time, and the renovated Library will re-open in time for Autumn Quarter 2009.

We have planned this one-phase approach for three important reasons :

   •  Removal of the library collections and services during demolition and construction will protect the library's collections and the people who use and work with the collections and facilities.

   •  A one-phase project will be completed more rapidly.

   •  A one-phase project allows us to save a significant amount of money. The project's construction management firm has estimated that this one-phase construction approach will save in excess of $5.1 million, and will shorten the project by more than 12 months.

Will the Library be a "green", environmentally-friendly building after its renovation?

The Library's architects - George Acock Associates and Gund Partnership - have worked within the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system in an effort to make the Thompson Library a LEED-certified building.  Although the Library building will not technically be a LEED-certified building, it will be an energy-efficient structure due to the use of the following approaches:

   •  High-efficiency HVAC and lighting controls

   •  High-performance glazing including

          • Low emissivity coatings

          • Ceramic shading frits

          • Computer-controlled interior shades

   •  High use of renewable finish materials

          •  Local oak wall panels

          • Recycled fabrics

          • Glass partitions

          • Metals

   •  Use of daylight within the building

          • Aids in occupant wellness

          • Is efficient in capturing daylight

   •  Efficiency of use of the existing building, which has maintained a compact footprint design, with less impact on the Oval greenspace.

   •  Roof insulation added to the existing building

   •  Recycling of the limestone from parts of the building being dismantled to new parts of the building.

"SWING SPACE" DURING THE RENOVATION

Where will the book and journal collections be held during the renovation?

Over one million of the Library's general collection of books and journals will be held at the University's facility at 600 Ackerman Road, just north of the Buckeye parking lot north of the Schottenstein Center, near the intersection of S.R. 315 and Ackerman Road.

How do I get to the 600 Ackerman Road facility?

600 Ackerman Road is approximately a 2.25-mile drive from central campus.    It is easily accessible from S.R. 315, Kenny Road and Olentangy River Road. When the Thompson (Main) Library closes in September 2006, a bus service will provide transportation to the 600 Ackerman Road facility, beginning Monday, September 18, 2006. A map of the route is availaable on the Transportation and Parking Web site.

Is there parking there?

Yes.   However, the University's Division of Transportation and Parking requires that a vehicle exhibit a University parking hang-tag.    These lots require the least-expensive parking tags, designated "CX".   The Transportation and Parking map and guidelines can be found at http://tp.osu.edu. There are also parking meters near the Ackerman Library's entrance on the back of the building.

Will there be parking and accessibility for persons with disabilities?

Yes.   Parking for the Library will be on the north, west, and east sides of the 600 Ackerman Road building, with handicap-accessible parking nearest the entrance.

Is there study space at this 600 Ackerman Road facility?

Yes, the 600 Ackerman Road temporary Main Library is expected to seat about 250 students.

Can I take a bus there?

Beginning Fall Quarter 2006, a free campus bus will be available, traveling from central campus (Recreation and Physical Activity Center) to 600 Ackerman Road. The bus route will run every 15 minutes Monday through Friday, and every half hour on weekends, available during hours when the Ackerman Library is open. [See link under "How do I get to the 600 Ackerman Rd. facility?" above.]

COTA links the campus and the nearby University Plaza Shopping Center with bus route numbers 7 (Neil Avenue route), 18 (Kenny Road route) and 81 (Hudson-Ohio route).

What hours of operation will the 600 Ackerman Road facility keep?

The Library will be open each day, with these planned hours of operation:

   •  Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

   •  Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

   •  Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Can I get food and beverages at the 600 facility complex?

Yes. The Medical Center operation at 690 Ackerman offers cafe-style food service. Its hours are now 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Where can I find places to study and read during the renovation?

The University Libraries is made up of many different libraries including these libraries.  

Within close proximity to central campus :

•  Biological Sciences - Pharmacy Library, Riffe Building, 496 W. 12 th Ave.

•  Business Library, Fisher College of Business, Mason Hall, 250 W. Woodruff Avenue

•  Sullivant Library, formerly the Education, Psychology, Human Ecology & Social Work Library (EHS), Sullivant Hall, 1813 N. High Steet. Seating will be increased here by about 200 for a total of ca. 900 seats.

•  Fine Arts Library, Wexner Center, 1871 N. High Street

•  Geology Library, 155 South Oval Mall

•  Journalism Library, 242 W. 18 th Avenue

•  Music & Dance Library, Sullivant Hall, 1813 N. High Street

•  Science & Engineering Library,   175 W. 18 th Avenue

•  The old Long's Bookstore, 1836 N. High Street

On west campus ,

•  Veterinary Medicine Library, Vet. Medicine Academic Building, 1900 Coffey Road

•  Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Library, Agriculture Administration Building, 2120 Fyffe Road.

Other campus libraries

•  Prior Health Sciences Library, 376 West 10 th Avenue

•  School of Law Moritz Library (Please note that users of the Law Library must be engaged in legal research)

Where will the bronze bust of William Oxley Thompson -- now in the Main Library lobby -- be kept during the renovation?

The bust of Thompson will move to the Science & Engineering Library during the Thompson Library's renovation. (The statue of Thompson outside the Library will not move.)

When and how are you going to move all the books and people out of Main Library?

The books, journals, microforms and map collections are being moved during August and September 2006, prior to the beginning of Fall Quarter.

A company that specializes in the relocation of library collections will move the collections during the latter half of August through September. Most material is being moved to 600 Ackerman Road, the "Ackerman Library", and some reference material and current periodicals to Sullivant Hall, the "Sullivant Library".

Most librarians and staff will move to either the Ackerman Library or the Sullivant Library During this same time period.

What exactly will be at the “Ackerman Library”?

General collections of books and bound journals moving from Main Library: 1,023,500 general-stacks-collection volumes will move from the Thompson Library in late summer 2006. This includes oversized (deck 5) and the East Asian (deck 9 & 10) materials. These collections are expected to grow at around 50,000 volumes per year during our stay, which we now expect to be mid-2009.

Reference works at the Ackerman Library: Reference collections at Ackerman Library will include 37,200 reference works in these A-Z arrangements:

   •  9,900 volumes of Government Documents (DOC)
   •  6,400 volumes of East Asian reference works (EAS)
   •  6,800 volumes of East European and Slavic Studies works (EES)
   •  7,200 volumes of Jewish Studies reference works (JDC)
   •  3,100 volumes of Middle Eastern Refernece works (MES)

Microforms Collection (MIC) will be housed in the Ackerman Library

Map Collection (MAP) will be housed in the Ackerman Library during the swing space period. It will return to its current location (room 211) after the completion of the Thompson Library renovation.

Hilandar Research Library (HIL) will reside in its entirety at the Ackerman Library.

Some librarians and staff will be housed at the Ackerman Library for reader assistance and to retrieve materials upon request.

Some library departments such as Cataloging, Monographs Acquisition, and Preservation will move their entire operations to the Ackerman Library.

As usual, to locate the current location of Library materials, please check the Library Catalog (http://library.ohio-state.edu/search).

How can I get access to the book and journal collections at the Ackerman Library (at 600 Ackerman Road)?

1. Document delivery from the Ackerman Library will follow a parallel to the document delivery system we have now from our Book Depository. Volumes will be paged and delivered to the Sullivant Library, where they may be picked up or sent on to a campus location, such as an office location or other campus library, dependent upon the requesters preference. Our Interlibrary Loan operation is planning an "Article Express" service to delivery documents found in Journals, sets and microforms (the planning is underway for microforms) as pdf documents available electronically. See https://www.illiad.osu.edu/illiad/osu/logon.html2.

2. Visiting and browsing the stacks at Ackerman Library.

The Ackerman Library will be a browsing collection and the general collections materials will be available for borrowing. Librarians and staff will be on site for assistance.

As usual, to locate the current location of Library materials, please check the Library Catalog (http://library.ohio-state.edu/search).

What will be housed in Sullivant Hall?

In our Sullivant Library (formerly the EHS Library) we will house reference works, current periodicals, VHS/DVD collections, and a collection of bound journals from the EHS and 1st-2nd floor Main Library, as outlined below:

Combined reference book collection:

   •  43,000 reference books from the collections of Main Reference (ISD), Black Studies Library (BSL), English-Theatre-Communication (ETC), History (HIS), Latin American (LAT); Western European (WEL) and all of Womens Studies (WMN) will be merged and inter-filed with the current EHS reference collection in room 205 Sullivant Hall.

Combined periodicals:

   •  4,200 current periodical subscription issues will be housed in 240 Sullivant Hall, combining the current subscriptions from ISD, BSL, ETC, HIS, WMN, current periodicals (PRR) and portions of LAT and WEL.

   •  18,400 bound periodicals from ISD, BSL, ETC, HIS, and WMN will be merged into the EHS bound periodicals collection, stored in compact shelving in the Sullivant Librarys room 005 (basement).

   •  The VHS and DVD collections will be moved from 140 Main Library (now in MIC area) to 005 Sullivant Hall.

Additional seating is being provided within the Sullivant Library, notably in the new Learning Commons spaces in room 210, 220 and 266 Sullivant.

Many librarians and staff will be housed at the Sullivant Library for reader assistance and collection management.

As usual, to locate the current location of Library materials, please check the Library Catalog (http://library.ohio-state.edu/search).

What is held in our Book Depository (at 2700 Kenny Road)?

Our Book Depository holds the following collections:

   •  University Archives, John Glenn Archives, Byrd Polar Research Center Archives

   •  General book and journal collections, roughly 2.6 million volumes

   •  Rare Books & Manuscripts and the Wm. Charvat Collection of American Fiction.

Where can I consult Rare Books & Manuscripts?

Items in the Rare Books & Manuscripts collection (RAR and CHA) will be housed in the Book Depository during the Library renovation.

After they have been moved, they may be examined at the Archives Reading Room at the Book Depository, 2700 Kenny Road. During reading room hours the Library-Buckeye Village bus route connects readers to the central campus.

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