BOT Update

Last week I attended the Board of Trustees meeting and there were several things of interest I would like to share. The first is the good news that the Board approved the move of the UConn Hartford Campus Library to the Hartford Public Library. For those of you who attended our last VPC Open Forum, you were able to get a good look at what is coming from Michael’s presentation. If you were unable to attend, a copy of it can be found here. This rather unprecedented partnership between a public and an academic library is not without it challenges nor is it without significant rewards. Our commitment, as well as that of the Hartford Public Library, isn’t to have a simple tenant relationship but to be part of the fabric of the library. We will have a distinct presence, but will be integrating our offices, reference area, and classrooms throughout the building. We will also work to share resources when possible and work together on public programs, which according to Michael they host over 300 events a year. The timeline is aggressive so the library staff will be working to hone the collections we are moving and pack them up. Construction will start in June and will end the following April. The plan is to move the library in May/June of 2017 which will be a few months before the full campus move for the Fall 2017 start.

Also in regards to another of our Regional Campus Libraries, the Board of Trustees heard impassioned pleas from members of the Torrington community to keep the campus open. Guests included the current and former Mayors. The Academic Affairs Committee outlined their data which included decreased enrollment, low graduate rates, difficulty in recruitment despite efforts, and a general loss of the population in the area. The Committee agreed to bring this to the full Board for a vote at the next meeting.

Finally, the Board discussed the process and progress for a new campus bookstore. Both finalists will be bringing in millions of much needed new revenue to the University and the Provost has earmarked those funds to student services and scholarships. The University is currently in confidential negotiations and they did indicate that the discussion includes the desire for strong community outreach (a minimum of 100 events a year), new technologies, and contractual controls on textbook affordability for students. We should hear the recommendation in the next few weeks.

Master Plan Update

Thanks to Holly for giving an update on the Master Plan at last weeks Open Forum. If you missed it the presentation is here. Things are in fact moving fast, as we have been given $1 million in capital funding to use by the end of the year. We will begin work on a few areas this summer:

• Upgrading the electrical compact shelving and adding new manual shelving on Level A. This is already in process and will result in the addition of approximately 50,000 linear feet of shelving.

• The Humanities Institute will be moving to the new 5th Floor.

• The Scholarly Design Studio (Scholars’ Collaborative) will be moving to the space recently vacated by the Roper Center.

• Upgrading the lobby furniture and North Entrance (old Newsstand).

There are also some staffing moves:

• The Q,W, & L Centers will move up to the new 4th Floor.

• HuskyTech will be relocating next to ITS on the newly named 2nd Floor.

• Library staff will be consolidated on the 2nd Floor.

We will be working quickly to get plans and time tables and will communicate frequently. For the public we will utilize our social media accounts as well as revive the Babbidge Building Blog. I will also be updating you here in Martha’s Message as well as regular email communications. From what I understand there was some suggestions about the process for renaming the floors and I thank you for those. We will put that into the mix for changing this summer.

Coalition for Networked Information

For the beginning of this week I am attending the CNI Conference. This is always a plethora of briefings from libraries such as ours doing cutting edge work and using or developing new technologies. It is a great opportunity for getting ideas, networking, and building relationships. Some of the highlights I see of interest include starting a textbook revolution, scaling maker spaces, and transforming online reference.