News-Letter

With the construction on Gilman ending this summer, Hopkins will then start a new project: the building of the Brody Learning Commons. This $30 million project will begin in June.

The administration came to the conclusion that the Milton S. Eisenhower Library (MSE) was not sufficient as the main study area of Hopkins.

Winston Tabb, the Sheridan Dean of University Libraries and Museums pinpointed some of the shortcomings of MSE.

"We need more space. We don't have a way to divide people from those who want to be noisy and those that want to be quiet. We also have no good place for people to work with our rare books and manuscripts," he said.

The Brody Learning Commons will function as a study area, and not simply a holding area for books. It will be conducive to different ways people study and have a large reading room, in addition to private study rooms of different sizes. There will also be a larger café.

Despite the state of the economy, the building of the Brody Learning Commons is still on schedule.

"Everything is on track, no setbacks," Tabb said.

Brian Shields, Communications and Marketing Manager for the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins, confirmed this.

"We have not encountered any setbacks and are moving along as planned. We will break ground on June 6, 2010, and we expect the building to be completed by July 2012."

Shields explained that since all support for the building is coming from private gifts, the economic downturn has not been an issue.

Tabb and Shields are pleased with the response they have gotten to date from alumni and donors regarding the project. Tabb also meets regularly with the architects and project managers to ensure that construction remains on time and within budget.

Shields explained why they chose to break ground in June.

"Beginning construction in June was a deliberate choice as it would allow some of the noisier aspects of the construction to occur after commencement (and more importantly, finals) and at a time when there will be fewer users in the library."

Student input has been an important part of this large project.

"Dean Tabb is very interested in hearing from students, and we have sought student feedback from the earliest stages of this project," Shields said.

Senior Zach Epstein-Peterson, a member of the Library Student Advisory Committee, agreed.

"It is important to have feedback from all students. Even though I'm a senior, I still have a lot to offer. People like me and my colleagues have opinions that are different from the freshman. Every student has a perspective and it is necessary to use them all."

Continued...

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