Library Chair Updates
Drumroll……..We have our winners! Over three days from January 28 – 30, more than 450 students, faculty, and staff stopped by the library lobby to test out four different task chair options and vote for their favorite. This event was designed to gather student input as the Libraries begins a multi-year project to update furnishings in the public spaces of the Dolph Briscoe Jr. Library.
Students definitely had favorites – 468 of our students provided feedback! The Series 1 Chair was the winner with 231 votes, followed closely by the Karman Chair with 201 votes.
"Due to the closeness of the vote the Libraries will be purchasing a mix of both chairs. Orders for 100 Series 1 chairs and 15 Karman chairs have been placed last week", said Pat Hawthorne, Executive Director of Libraries. Over the next two to three years, we plan to update all the task chairs on the open floors and in the study rooms.
The Series 1 chair will come with black finishes and a black mesh back complemented by navy and dark red leather seats to fit in with the current color scheme of the Briscoe Library. The Karman chair, which is the more expensive model, will be in all black. We chose these models for their durability and ease of maintenance.
In addition to the purchase of these new task chairs, the café-height seating near the front entrance of the Briscoe Library will be updated in the coming weeks, and three ottomans on the 5th Floor have been reupholstered and repaired.
The Library has also ordered three new mobile whiteboards of varying sizes – and will be asking students to tell which is their favorite size.
The new chairs should be here in April, so watch follow our social media for updates!
We thank all the enthusiastic students who stopped by the library to test out the chairs and cast their vote and offer suggestions to enhance the library’s public spaces!
Contributed by Pat Hawthorne, Executive Director of Libraries