The source for Oberlin College Libraries staff news and announcements!
Hi Folks,
The red elevator has been taken offline for card reader updates. The technicians have promised me they will put it back online before they leave today (probably around 4pm). They will be here working on it again in the morning (so it will be offline when we come in) and then should be back online sometime during the day tomorrow. After they are finished with the red elevator they will move onto the yellow, and then the green. They should be completely done on Friday.
Hi Folks,
I’ve spoken with the elevator technician about the green elevator and they
have informed me that the issue is the computer panel that times how long
the door is supposed to stay open. Basically, the timing for how long the
door is supposed to stay open sometimes accidentally resets a few times.
This kind of failure, I have been assured, *cannot trap someone inside the
elevator*. It can make them wait with the doors open for more than a
minute, however. What this means is that the elevator is completely safe to
use but it might be very, very slow. There is a part on order that should
be here sometime in the next couple of days, but until then we should
decide if we want to put signage up explaining the delay or leave it ‘out
of order’.
Hi Folks,
Please see attached for AES quarterly reports, the additions and updates of our e-record loads from October to December 2022.
AES Team, Ashley, Justin and Selina
I thought you might find this collection of essays interesting as we go through our own space planning exercise. We own a paper copy in the stacks and it is also available as an open access edition at https://bit.ly/DesigningLibraries.
This brief overview gives you some idea of the content…which I think mirrors that of our own “space exploration” in the present moment:
Designing libraries for the 21st century encompasses many aspects, ranging from conceptualizing a compelling, aesthetically pleasing, and sustainable structure with a striking and functional interior to developing staff positions and expertise that will be commensurate with the capabilities of the facility when it opens. A technology infrastructure that will allow the building to change with a rapidly evolving technical environment and programming spaces to enhance the research and learning mission of the university are also key elements of the 21st-century library. Envisioning ways to highlight the library’s print and digital collections and identifying strategies to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in the library will be integral to the success of the project for its constituencies. Often major building projects focus almost entirely on the physical facility, but in this volume, we make the case for looking at a building project in a more holistic fashion.
Buro Happold, the engineering wing of Brightspot working with Fred Fisher consultants on libraries’ space/facilities will be on campus Dec. 6-7 to look at electrical, plumbing, engineering, sustainability, etc. issues. Joe Comar and Chet will be bringing them through and they don’t have any meetings scheduled with library staff, but I just wanted you to know.
Otherwise, they are still meeting with various groups–faculty library committee last week, friends of the libraries council this week. They will meet with the executive leadership of Oberlin in early January. They would also like to speak with the Libraries’ IDEA committee in a separate conversation about accessibility needs/ideas.
I think I can report that they heard the library staff, the faculty, and the students loud and clear and that they are now layering on information to help them as they put together a proposal for how to improve our spaces.
One thing that came out of the Faculty Library Committee and the larger planning group meeting was the question of whether we think of the libraries as primarily a Study/Learning space, a Forum for events/programming, or a Research institution. It would seem that most lean toward prioritizing them thus: 1. Study/Learning place; 2. Forum; 3) Research institution, but everyone wanted to incorporate all three aspects!
The red elevator is running reliably for now.
After going through the loading dock staff entrance and taking the circuitous but wide open route to the green elevator, it can be used to go up to the main level of Terrell while the red elevator is down for repairs. Please note, it is not possible to use the green elevator to go back down to A level without an elevator key.
The red elevator will be down until Monday. Schindler has parts on order and will return Monday to do the repair.
Hi Folks,
From 2:15-3:00 the main entrance to the library is closed. Please direct yourselves and others to the CELA and/or A-level exit downstairs. Signage is posted.
