Conservatory Library to Close for Construction on May 22; Limited Services Available through the Summer By Deborah Campana, Conservatory Librarian Photographs by Michael Chipman and Ramon Owens
	RELATED Conservatory Library Virtual Tour Conservatory Library Homepages Deborah Campana: Conservatory Librarian and Cage Scholar		A view from the loft of the (unfinished) second floor archive room. Photo by Michael Chipman Conservatory Librarian Deborah Campana, Photo by Ramon Owens The end of spring semester 2000 will mark the beginning of the Conservatory Library's construction project and efforts to alleviate an age-old space problem. By completing the second floor of the Conservatory Library's 1988 wing, 6,000 additional square feet will be opened to the public, complete with elevator access, compact shelving for the collections, a newly expanded electronic resource center, a new smart classroom and teleconference room. The great benefits of the project will cause a temporary inconvenience this summer, and to a lesser extent during the fall semester, as the entire collection in the 1988 wing must be removed. This means that the Conservatory Library be closed from the end of spring semester to the end of the summer. Breakdown of the project's benefits: Finished Second Floor. The second floor of the 1988 wing will be completed; the new space will provide elevator access, a teleconference room, a mixture of carrels and comfortable seating, compact shelving for the collections, and restrooms. This will open an additional 6,000 square feet to the public. Electronic Resource Center. An expanded area with additional workstations will be located near the Circulation Desk; it will allow access to all our electronic resources including the Internet, OBIS, and electronic reference tools such as the Music Index Online. Sound Recording and Reserve Collection. Compact shelving will provide expanded storage space for our sound recordings and reserve materials. This will make room for more than two decades of collection growth. Smart Classroom and Teleconference Collection. The Library's Seminar Room will be transformed into a "smart" classroom with a screen and projection system that can provide access to the computer network and videoconferencing. Although this room will still be available for larger-scale committee meetings, another, smaller conference room on the second floor will accommodate meetings for groups of up to eight people. To compensate for some of this inconvenience, the Library will offer limited service from a remote site -- Room 34 in the Conservatory -- during the summer institutes. But because most of the collection will be inaccessible, this service will be limited to assistance with reference questions and paging materials as possible from the portion of the collection that remains available. TIMETABLE The Library staff expects the first floor (both the original and newer building) to be "back to normal" by the beginning of the fall semester, but the second floor will most likely not be ready for use until mid-fall semester. Therefore, materials that will eventually be shelved on the second floor will remain inaccessible until that time, including: older materials (scores and books in the Dewey decimal system), all miniature and oversize scores, bound periodicals, music education kits, and long-playing records. Primary Contacts for Assistance Circulation Coordinator, David Bower (david.bower@oberlin.edu) and his staff can assist with Circulation and Reserve requirements. Faculty may also want to anticipate materials needed for teaching and research in the coming months and charge them out before the end of the semester (telephone 440/775-8280 or 8288). Public Services Librarian, Kathleen Abromeit (kathleen.abromeit@oberlin.edu) and her staff can help with reference service and collection accessibility questions (telephone 440/775-8280 or 8203). Contact Conservatory Librarian, Deborah Campana (deborah.campana@oberlin.edu) with any other questions (telephone 440/775-8280, fax 440/775-8203).
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