D.H. Hill Library renovations for the new Academic Success Center have begun. They will cost approximately $15.8 million and take 16 months to complete.
Construction for an entrance to the library from Hillsborough Street has already started and will finish by the end of May 2019. Once completed, the library entrance from the Brickyard will stay closed and remain closed until August 2020. The Brickyard entrance will stay open until the day after spring commencement, according to Mike Mullen, vice chancellor and dean for the division of Academic and Student Affairs, and Greg Raschke, senior vice provost and director of libraries.
The second and third floors of the library are being completely renovated in order to create a new space that provides more services to the students in one location. Both Raschke and Mullen mentioned that this space will include amenities such as a tutoring center, career counseling and group study spaces, among other things.
Mullen described the new renovations as allowing several services to coexist in one location.
“It really turns this into a one-stop shop in the middle of D.H. Hill for academic support,” Mullen said. “Opening this up will essentially make the entire second and third floors a place where students can have amazing spaces to meet, to study and to work individually, plus have access to all these services.”
Raschke emphasized that D.H. Hill has struggled with seating in the past. Last semester, the library did not have a high enough seat-to-student ratio during finals. With the renovations, seating available to students is predicted to expand.
“We are going to gain about 400 seats total, which is really important, because we are low on seating,” Raschke said. “We were full during finals and had some student complaints.”
Mullen said that holes will be blown through the ceiling of the second and third floors of the Bookstacks and that a master staircase will run through the library from the first to the third floor. This addition will open up the space and provide an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere, according to Mullen.
The new Hillsborough Street entrance will be the only accessible way to enter the library once the Brickyard entrance is closed during the 2019-20 school year. Although this entrance might be inconvenient for some, it provides a more convenient entrance for those traveling by bus.
Christopher Tonelli, director of external relations for NCSU Libraries, talked about the convenience of the reopened library entrance.
“The bus stops are located right at the Hillsborough Street entrance,” Tonelli said. “If you are on campus in a classroom building, it will be a bit of a further walk, but if you are traveling by bus, it will be much more convenient.”
According to Raschke, funding for the project does not come from student fees, but by the collaboration of several departments within the university.
“[The project] is funded out of the general budget which is a combination of the provost office, the vice chancellor for finance and administration, and the libraries,” Raschke said.
