Library renovations to continue through Oct.

Just a few years ago, Hillman Library replaced its roof. Then, last semester it reopened its… Just a few years ago, Hillman Library replaced its roof. Then, last semester it reopened its first-floor entrance for the first time in years.

With so many new improvements, Joseph Fink, the associate vice chancellor of Facilities Management, figured, why stop now?

“We wanted to continue to improve,” Fink said.

Currently, blue barriers line the plaza near the newly reopened entryway where about 30 construction workers are completing repairs. This is the latest stage of renovations, which began in May and are expected to be finished by mid-October.

The plaza was slowly deteriorating, and it needed to be fixed, Fink said. Now, workers are constructing the plaza’s floor to look like the one outside of the Towers.

But the plaza repair is just the latest in Hillman’s laundry list of updates.

Internal renovations to the library began in September 2006 and were completed in March 2007, Fink said. Workers repainted the walls and replaced the lighting in the hallways and stairwells with more energy-efficient lights. They also recycled 71,000 pounds of old carpeting.

“I think it has made a dramatic improvement,” Fink said of the renovations. “The plaza will make a nice place to sit.”

Despite all the construction, Fink hasn’t heard any complaints from students or faculty members.

“Everybody has been very cooperative while we are in the midst of these various projects,” Fink said.

Fern Brody, the associate University librarian, thinks that the plaza will make the library more inviting. She said the outside space will give students another place to study.

“I think it will help make the library a more welcoming place,” Brody said.