Undergraduate library gets facelift, new name and expanded facilities and services

May 12, 1995
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  • umichnews@umich.edu

ANN ARBOR—$11 million transformation of the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library has brought with it a new name, a new look and expanded resources, facilities and services. The two-year construction and renovation project will culminate in a dedication ceremony at 11 a.m. May 19 on the north lawn of the Clements Library.

The Undergraduate Library, which opened in 1958, has recently been officially named the Harold T. and Vivian B. Shapiro Library in honor of the former U-M president and his wife. Harold Shapiro now is president of Princeton University.

With its additional 30,000 square feet of interior space, the Shapiro Library now houses both the Undergraduate Library and the newly unified Science Library.

The Shapiro Undergraduate Library includes an array of reference services, a curriculum-integrated instruction program, a research consultation program and an academic outreach program that includes the Peer Information Counseling Program for minority students.

The Shapiro Undergraduate Library now offers workstations providing World Wide Web access to the Internet and a multimedia collection of information resources for undergraduate study. The film and video library offers laser disc and CD-ROM programs for teaching and study, and the Core Journal Project provides undergraduates access to a full-text digital library of key journal literature in the social sciences, sciences and humanities. Instructional microcomputer centers offer access to software for curriculum and student needs, and the Adaptive Technology Site is a computing facility with special technology for students with disabilities.

The new library also includes an Academic Resource Center for instruction and consultation with campus academic support groups, a reading room of required course-related texts or course packs, 13 small group study rooms equipped with ethernet connectivity, individual study seating for 750 with classroom and microcomputer facilities providing 100 additional spaces.

The consolidated science library collections-covering chemistry, geology, math, natural science and physics and astronomy-total more than 300,000 volumes, constituting one of the nation’s largest single collections of publications in the pure sciences. With seating for 472 users, a considerable pool of science librarians and access to various electronic resources and user instruction through the Science Communication Laboratory, the new facility will aid in furthering the library’s goal of supporting the curriculum and personal needs of students and faculty in the sciences.

A connecting bridge from the Shapiro Library to the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library creates a tri-library complex giving student and faculty ready access to one of the world’s finest aggregate collections in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Another connector bridge links the Shapiro Library to West Engineering Building.

For more information about the new features of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library, contact Barbara MacAdam at Shapiro Science Library, contact Daisy Wu at (313) 764-7496.

 

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