By Nico MachlittSTAFF WRITER
Students have expressed the frustration of trying to find study space on the second floor of Axinn Library and difficulty in Hammer Lab during finals week.
As a result, the library committee is working to make the library a space that better fits the needs of students. Peter Goodman, associate professor of Journalism, Media Studies and Public Relations and chair of the library committee, has been on the library committee for five years and witnessed this library go through many transformations.
“The proposal that we are now discussing is: Should there be changes made to the third floor and what should those changes be?” said Goodman.
Some committee members have talked about the idea of moving the writing center and the math tutoring center to the third floor, according to Goodman. The problem with the move is determining where to relocate the materials currently on the third floor.
“One of the things that some people are concerned about is the loss of books. If the space is converted to space for the writing center and space for the math center then what happens to the books that are on that floor?” said Goodman. “Something like 20 percent of the library book collection is on that floor. Where does it go? What happens to it? How is it handled? That is something that we’re concerned about.”
Many of these books cannot be found in online databases and are important research materials for students.
“Certainly we want there to be study space [in the library], but we also want to make sure that the library has a significant collection of books and research to study,” said Goodman. “The collection books take up physical space and there needs to be a place for them.”
The committee talked extensively about how to allocate space, but so far, there has been little communication with students, according to Goodman.
During the fall of 2013, the Axinn Library basement received a makeover. The shelves and piles of newspapers and periodicals were transformed into a student-friendly lounge. Since then, Axinn Library’s second floor and the Hammer Lab has also been renovated.
“There have been changes made to the second floor. The area is now a study area. The second floor had been a place where they kept government documents, and now that has been moved out. It’s now a study area and its being used a lot by students,” said Goodman.
Graduate student pursuring his M.S. in taxation, Dan Lewitt, has been a Hofstra student for five years and has seen firsthand the transformations of Axinn and Hammer Lab. However, he has not found the changes to be entirely beneficial and hoped that the spaces might be used more effectively going forward.
“The one thing that I want to make sure is that when we’re doing all of these renovations that we’re doing so with an eye to the future, that we’re building up these facilities so that everyone can use them,” said Lewitt.
One of the problems Lewitt has with the renovation of Hammer Lab is that it took away seating and computer space for students.
“The configuration that Hammer Lab used to be in was all rows and desks going so you could fit a very large amount of people in there,” said Lewitt. “It’s the only 24-hour workspace that is available to students. So I think that that is a great asset to us, but then what happens is we renovate it and spend a lot of money on it and we cut down on the ability of students that it is able to serve.”
One of the problems is that administration is unaware of how students are using the library. Dan first spoke about his issues with the library renovations during a town hall meeting.
“What really disappointed me a lot in the [town hall] meeting is when [The Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs] Berliner talked about the 10th floor being an under utilized space in the library,” said Lewitt. “It’s an extremely utilized space in the library. So hearing from such an upper-level administrator say that was kind of disheartening and to see that disconnect from faculty and students.”
The weeks of midterms and finals are curcial study periods and are fast approaching.
“I study in the library occasionally, mostly during finals week,” said Raven Takach, sophomore accounting major. “Almost every time I go to the library for finals week, I like to utilize the private study rooms they have. If I’m just going to the library to pass time between classes, I almost always go right to the computers.”
The lack of knowledge of the committee has caused there to be little input from students.
“I’m not aware of problems that students have needing to find places to study. I know that when we open space it’s filled,” said Goodman. “When space is open for study, people use it.”
