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The Ingram Library has already begun the preparations for an $8 million construction project that will renovate the ground and main floors and recreate the state capitol office of Georgia House Speaker Thomas B. Murphy.
Parrish Construction of Perry, Georgia will begin the first phase of the construction project in early March, starting with the renovation of the ground floor and the installation of a new elevator shaft, according to the library website.
Demolition will begin during spring break. Phase Two, which will begin renovations on the main floor, is scheduled to start before the fall semester.
However, some students think this is a bad time to be spending money on unnecessary changes to the library when some departmental majors and faculty and staff positions are on the line.
“We don't need a new library, the one we have now is just fine,” said freshman Cherie Simmons.
“We should use that money to go towards all of these budget cuts, if not to help the students, and then to help the professors keep their jobs,” said Nicole Hercules, a freshman.
According to the Library website, during the 2008 Georgia State Legislative session, $8 million was appropriated in the 2009 state budget to fund the renovation of the 1968 library structure at the University of West Georgia as a tribute to the late Speaker Murphy.
Money that goes towards the library cannot be used for other things for the university.
Planning for the renovation has been a collaborative project, involving the Ingram Library faculty, staff, administrators, and other campus personnel, as well as student focus groups.
Once the renovations are done, the library will be a more comfortable study environment for students to utilize, with furniture that allows each student to personalize their study space to fit their needs.
Students also had a say in what will be added to the library. Additions include more computer stations, a café, and an additional library entrance that will face the Campus Center. There will also be changes made to the State Capitol Office of the late Speaker Murphy.
In 2003, the University of West Georgia acquired the papers and office contents of Speaker Murphy, so it could be included in the Library’s Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections. Several of these items will be used in a recreation of Speaker Murphy’s Capitol Office.
As part of the Capitol Office renovation, the Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, the Center for Public History, the Thomas B. Murphy Center for Public Service and Georgia’s Political Heritage Program will be located near the Murphy Office, which will be part of the future Center for Civic Engagement.
The library renovation should be completed by 2011.
For more information, email askal@westga.edu or visit the Ingram Library website at
http://uwglibrary.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/ingram-library-initiates-8-million-renovation/.
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