Message from the Executive Director – March 2025
Happy Spring! As Spring Break week comes to a close, I hope it was a much-needed slow period or a nice break for you and that you’re refreshed for the remainder of the semester.
By the end of March, it’ll look like we’ve been spring cleaning in the Dolph Briscoe Jr. Library. If you come in, you’ll notice several exciting updates: new task chairs, additional cafe-height seating, newly reupholstered ottomans and new blinds in the 5th floor individual study rooms. In February, the upgrade of the fire sprinkler system was completed on the 5th floor which completes the work on the upgrade of this system for the entire library building.
In January and February, we hosted a three-day event to gather student input – more than 460 students showed up and voted for their favorite task chairs. Based on student input, we ordered 115 new task chairs for the library’s public areas. We selected the top two winners as our new task chairs – and ordered 100 Series 1 chairs to be delivered on March 24 and 15 Karman chairs delivered on March 14.
Over the next two years, we plan to order more chairs, eventually replacing the nearly 400 chairs in 17 different styles with chairs in these two styles. We also enhanced the cafe-height seating area near the 3rd Floor entrance, a favorite lunch and coffee spot for our students. Two additional chairs were added to the larger table, and the seats on the other 12 stools were replaced with more durable vinyl coverings.
Another need we’ve identified is to increase the number of rolling whiteboards – these are essential to long and productive study sessions. We’ve ordered three new rolling whiteboards – in three different sizes – that will be placed in public spaces on March 27. Each board will feature a QR code survey – we want students to let us know which of the three sizes works best for their needs. Based on the feedback, we plan to order more in the preferred size.
The Valentine’s Day Drop-In Feedback Event gave us some additional insight into student needs. More than 130 students told us what they liked about the library spaces. Students appreciate both quiet study and collaborative study spaces. Many of our students love the windows and the ability to socialize in the library as well as study. Students also let us know what additional needs they have – more study tables, standing desks, additional microwaves. We will begin investigating costs for these types of furnishings
Libraries have changed a lot over my 37-year career in academic librarianship – but our purpose has remained essentially the same. We are here to support teaching, learning, and research by providing both information resources AND a welcoming, comfortable, and safe environment for students to learn, study, collaborate, and socialize. Students learn from faculty and fellow students in classrooms, labs, and clinical settings – the library is their workspace when outside those settings. Spaces and furnishing in the library are critical to providing students with the environment that supports their academic endeavors. I have always loved projects that focus on building renovations, enhancing furnishings and improving spaces because it demonstrates to our students that the library cares about their needs and their success.
We always welcome input and feedback! If you have suggestions or comments about library spaces and furnishings, please contact me at hawthorne@uthscsa.edu, call 210-567-2410, or stop by to chat.
Pat Hawthorne
Executive Director for Libraries