USD Library Renovation: Support

The campus master planning process that began in early 2013 has focused on I.D. Weeks among other areas of campus. The consulting firm, JBA Inc., is proposing the following changes in I.D. Weeks:

· Expanding the Academic Commons on the 1st Floor

· Locating the Center for Teaching and Learning on the 2nd Floor

· Using the 2nd floor to increase and improve space dedicated to Archives and Special Collections and the South Dakota Oral History Center.

The proposed changes will build on the current momentum of making I.D. Weeks and the Muenster University Center a central gathering place for the campus. The plans call for further developing I.D. Weeks as a place where students can receive research assistance and instruction from librarians, receive help from ITS, meet with an advisor, study for exam, and much more. As I.D. Weeks approaches 50 years of serving the campus, the proposed plans will ensure a bright future for its role at USD.

Central to the proposed plans is re-envisioning the use of the 2nd floor in I.D. Weeks. Today, the 2nd floor is home to over 150,000 bound volumes containing issue upon issue of journals and magazines. Over a decade ago, the University Libraries began shifting from print subscriptions to e-journals and databases. Today, the USD community has 24/7/365 access to e-journals and other scholarly literature from almost anywhere in the world. Student and faculty use of the e-journals continues to increase. On the other hand, use of the print journals is declining. While declining use does not dictate withdrawing all the journals on the 2nd floor, good stewardship of university facilities and resources requires a close review our journal holdings.

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