| > Home > University
Advancement > Newsroom
- 2007 Press Releases > DH 07 ABS14
Newsroom
Archive | Experts Online
Aug. 21, 2007
New Library for a New Century
at Cal State Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA – California
State University, Dominguez Hills will put the first shovel
in the ground for a $51 million expansion of its library
during a groundbreaking ceremony Monday, Aug. 27, beginning
at 3 p.m. at South Hill, south of the existing library. The
public is invited to attend.
This is the first significant capital improvement of the
Leo F. Cain Library since it was built in 1970. When completed
in 2009, the project will create a two-building complex poised
to meet the needs of the entire campus, as well as ever-evolving
technological demands, well into the 21st century.
“The CSUDH new library addition is a tremendous gift
from the citizens of California,” said Library Dean
Sandra Parham. “It will be a technologically advanced
building that greatly enhances the library staff’s
ability to improve the learning and research capabilities
of Dominguez Hills’ students and faculty, as well as
those of the community.”
The existing library building, for
decades the most prominent structure on campus, outgrew
its walls several years ago.
Bookshelf space is at a premium and storage is limited. Study
areas for students are cramped and there is no space for
additional — and much needed — computer labs.
Expansion into a second building
will more than double the current library space, which,
Parham said, will greatly improve
access to the library’s nearly half a million volumes
and extensive offering of reference materials and provide
for continued growth of the library’s technological
resources.
“New modes of student learning will be supported by
an extensive computer lab, computer classrooms and new group
study rooms and individual carrels fully equipped with both
wired and wireless network connections for personal computers,” Parham
said of some of the features of the new building.
To be located between the current
library and the campus gymnasium, the five-story, 140,000
square-foot building will
afford additional room for book stacks, periodicals and other
references, both physical and digital, expanded study/reading
areas and “smart” classrooms, and 250 more computer
workstations, as well as dedicated space for a gallery and
event center, conference rooms and administrative offices.
It will also become the new home of the university’s
Center for Teaching and Learning and the Department of Archives
and Special Collections, whose collection comprises not only
the university’s archives but also the archives for
the California State University system, several local history
collections, the Glenn Anderson Congressional Collection,
and, in the coming months, the Juanita Millender-McDonald
Congressional Collection.
Project architect Carrier Johnson,
the firm that also designed libraries for San José State, University of California,
San Diego, and California State University, San Marcos, has
fashioned an energy-efficient building that makes use of
natural light—windows will dominate the north façade.
Open-air glass bridges will connect the two buildings on
the third and fourth floors, and a courtyard/garden patio
on the second floor will offer students a natural, yet wireless,
setting in which to study and socialize. S.J. Amoroso Construction
Co., which built James L. Welch Hall and the Donald P. and
Katherine B. Loker Student Union, will be contractor for
this project, and O’Connor Construction Management
Inc., which oversaw the Loker project, will be handling construction
management once again.
The new library construction is being completely paid for
by voter-approved bond initiatives. Those bonds could not
be used toward the refurbishment and retrofitting of the
existing library, something library officials will turn their
focus on once this project is complete. The ongoing CSUDH
Library Enhancement Campaign aims to raise enough money to
renovate the old library and create a book and technology
endowment.
For more information about the library
expansion project, visit www.library.csudh.edu/capitalfund/campaign/index.htm.
For a map of the campus, go to http://www.csudh.edu/site/VisitUs/Maps.asp
High-resolution renderings of the new building are available
upon request.
# # #
----------------------------------------------
California State University, Dominguez Hills is a highly diverse,
urban university located in the South Bay, primarily serving the
Los Angeles metropolitan area. The university prides itself on
its outstanding faculty and friendly, student-centered environment.
Known for excellence in teacher education, nursing, psychology,
business administration, and digital media arts, new degree programs
include computer science, criminal justice, recreation and leisure
studies, social work, and communication disorders. On campus is
the Home Depot Center, a multi-purpose sports complex that hosts
world-class soccer, tennis, track and field, lacrosse, and cycling.
|
