March 11, 2021

Packing up our Library for Learning Commons construction

Views and Updates from the Library on the Learning Commons Project

We are packing up our library. Yes, we are. In the hands of library workers, the books are journeying from their shelves, first to book carts, then to sometimes temporary and other times permanent locations for the duration of the Learning Commons construction.

One of the books that we’ve already moved is Illuminations by Walter Benjamin, whose essay “Unpacking My Library” inspired the opening sentences of this post. Along with more than 15,000 titles, this book has travelled from the second floor of Tioga Library Building up to the new location on the fourth floor of this building.

In early January, the UW Tacoma Library received 50 book carts. The arrival of these book carts signaled the start of the many things to be done to get our spaces ready for the Learning Commons construction work, slated to begin on February 16, 2021. 

One of the biggest jobs is shifting our book collection for the new shelf organization. The UW Tacoma Library holds approximately 121,000 volumes contained in 14,000 linear feet of shelving, a distance only 411 feet shy of the great mountain that overshadows and lends its name to Tacoma. Our task is to keep this mountain of books in order while moving it, so that we are ready to find and pull and find particular titles in time for curbside pick up appointments. Keeping our collection organized is essential for uninterrupted services for students, faculty, and staff.

Library staff began the process of shifting the book collection off the shelves in the Tioga Library Building to carts in late January. We are lucky that Access Services Manager, Hannah Wilson, has experience managing a library move at a previous institution. She is working with the staff and student workers in Access Services to move the collection in stages.

Shifting books and removing the shelving on the first and second floor of the Tioga Library Building clears the way for the new, active spaces that will be created as part of the Learning Commons Project. In the new first and second floor spaces in TLB, students will find a variety of soft seating options, technology, and integrated service points. Our existing shelving is being repurposed for use on the fourth floor, where it will be adjacent to a new silent study area and reading room with one of the best views on campus.

This is but one of the many activities that Library staff are engaged in right now for construction. In addition, we’re packing up offices, clearing out services desks, taking down artwork, consolidating technology, and setting up temporary service locations, all while maintaining COVID-19 safety protocols and continuing to support remote services.

This project is taking a lot of work — and it will bring significant changes to the Library and its space — but we are inspired by the many ways that this project will benefit students when we are able to all return to campus. Through this project, a dynamic, technology-rich learning environment will be established across the Snoqualie and Tioga Library Building complex that harnesses the collaboration between the Center for Equity and Inclusion (CEI), the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), and the Library in a new, synergistic way and enables students to better connect to the services, programs, and resources these allied units offer.

It is fantastic to see the clear progress as the spaces begin to resemble how they will appear on the day when we will unpack our library and again provide in-person browsing. Here are photos of the east side of the fourth floor of TLB approximately two weeks apart, followed by the the photos of the second floor of TLB where the shelves came from: