Why build a new library at the College?
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In 1963, the 16,000 square-foot Banks Library opened to a student population of nearly 500 with 42 faculty members. More than 40 years later, in 2006, the College enrolled 1,137 students with 126 full- and part-time faculty.
A 2002 feasibility study revealed that its physical condition, space limitations and inadequate study environment rendered Banks unsuitable for meeting the academic needs of the College’s rapidly growing student body. In fact, the feasibility study concluded that the College needs a facility more than three times the size of Banks.
Over the past 10 years, books and other sources have been added to the library’s collection; however, making new volumes available to students requires moving other resources to off-site storage. Circulation at the library has increased by 242 percent in just four years, but the collection size of 111,714 volumes remains the same. Experts believe an institution with more than 1,100 students should maintain a collection of more than 200,000 volumes.
If you were to tour Banks Library, here is a sample of what you would find: inadequate primary sources for executing research, no video- or audio-conferencing capability, no dedicated space for multi-media
my defining moment …Though Presidential Scholar Matt Peek graduates in 2008, before the new library listening or viewing, just 32 computer workstations, no 24-hour study space, and only one group-study area.
“Learning, at its best, occurs with an emphasis on collaborative approaches,” says Dr. Jay Simmons, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean. “While at many colleges group-study has become the most successful tool for learning, there are no facilities here that promote collaborative approaches.
”Preparing students for global citizenship demands an academic environment that provides opportunities for discovery and research, for communication with peers half a world away, and for visionary collaboration so that learning occurs in and away from the classroom.
The library is the heart of any academic institution. The decision to build a new LaGrange library supports all that the College stands for—and its mission to challenge the minds and inspire the souls of students.
