In 1976, the UA Main Library was built on a sturdy foundation of mortared brick and was four stories tall.

Twenty-six years after, the Information Commons and a fifth floor was opened. And now, the library is outdated. The chairs are upholstered with ‘70s-looking fabric, and the desks are filled with carvings of phone numbers, initials, and cries for help. After all, the library serves 40,000 students and is also open to the public.

However, renovations are constantly being made to keep the library modern and student-friendly.

Hayri Yildirim, assistant director of library facilities, said the renovations to the library are an ongoing process. If you’re wondering where our student library fees and funds from the state are going, wonder no longer.

Yildirim said one of the biggest renovation requests made over the years is that there aren’t enough power sources to supply students with when the building reaches its capacity around midterms and finals week.

Remember the night preceding your most important final and the frustration you felt after scaling all five floors to find an empty desk near an outlet?

The library’s management team is taking care of its students this summer to prevent this from happening next semester. Yildirim said library facilities created an “under carpet power source.” Outlets will be found at the tops of the desks and the cords will feed into the columns. The wires from the columns will be located under the carpeting.

By fall semester, Yildirim expects to have 12 areas of desks supplied with this energy source, where each area holds six to eight desks. He estimates this improvement has increased the power accessibility of the library in the last six months by 60 to 70 percent.

The library gives students the option to request changes and renovations they see fit for their learning place. Comments and suggestions are displayed on a “report card,” located on the second floor of the library.

This type of communication is what makes library improvements so effective, as they are perfectly tailored to student’s changing needs.

Although most floors of this library don’t have the modernistic look as other school libraries every penny is spent practically.
“We don’t waste your money,” Yildirim said. “We use it very wisely.”

— Casey Knox is a sophomore studying journalism. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @knox_casey.