The third floor of Axinn Library is undergoing a massive renovation, from a floor filled with books to another lounge, allowing for more study space for students.

Towards the end of the semester, Hofstra’s student body often finds itself crowded in the limited study spaces available in Axinn Library and Hammer Lab. With over 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students across the campus, the strain on available study space has been increasingly inconvenient.

With the addition of a new student lounge on the third floor of Axinn Library, Student Services and the Center for Academic Excellence are hoping to address these issues in the future.

“The Center for Academic Excellence, including the Undergraduate Tutorial Program, will be housed on the third floor of the library and will connect to the success of the collaborative learning and study spaces on the ground and second floors,” said Jean Peden Christodoulou, the assistant vice president for Student Affairs.

In addition to individual and group tutoring rooms, there will also be flexible spaces that faculty and students can reserve for meetings and group work.

“There was an interest in creating a central location that would easily connect students to people and services that will help them thrive in their academic lives,” Peden Christodoulou said. “What better location than the library to help students make connections between their learning inside the classroom and strategies to be successful when they are outside of class?”

Work is currently underway and will continue through the spring semester. Previously, the contents of the third floor were relocated to make way for future construction.

“The library faculty weeded over 50,000 books from the collection to open up the third floor for the Center for Academic Excellence,” said Howard E. Graves, director of Axinn Library. “The process took over a year, was data-driven and relied on the subject knowledge of library faculty. It was very carefully done.”

While the Axinn Library and labs do offer sitting space for studying or group collaboration, many feel they don’t provide enough space for Hofstra’s students. Although the third floor will most likely still be under construction during spring finals week, incoming students from the class of 2021 and onward can look forward to the increased space for students in the third floor lounge.

Student response to the renovation has been positive, citing the increased traffic flow during finals and the necessity of an additional space to clear up congestion.

Mikayla Roberts, a freshman physician’s assistant studies major and library employee, said, “They’re renovating. They’re taking out the book stacks that used to be on the third floor and they’re putting in more tables for students to study, and I think that’s really good because I know during finals week last semester people were unable to find seats in the library when they really needed time to study.”