STETSON / SAWYER

Composite Student Feedback from Open Meeting on Library Space
and Facilities, November 15, 2000

Attendees: 13 students, including Clare Murphy from the
Stetson/Sawyer Planning Committee, Eric Beattie, Wayne Hammond
and Dave Pilachowski

Dave Pilachowski began by thanking Clare Murphy for contacting
students and encouraging them to attend the session. The discussion
was loosely organized around the following talking points:

What do you like most about Sawyer Library?
--Like the interior courtyards, which bring natural light into the
building.
--Keep the monkey carrels: they're fun and are memorable to
any visitor.
--Outside sheltered walkway is appreciated.

What things would you like to see improved?
--Most present did not like the facade of Sawyer
--Building hard to navigate and find what you are looking for
--The entrance to the building makes no sense - go down and
then face a stairway and have to go up.
--Upon reaching the main floor, there are no clear signals about
what is or should take place - studying, conversation,
browsing, etc. Everything is jammed together and different
activities are poorly defined.
--Similarly, the main floor is not attractive and should be
opened up.
--Need restrooms on the main floor.
--Building has an industrial feel. Carpet disliked
--Furniture is not comfortable; it is hard to relax and to stay
and concentrate for the kind of time (4+) hours that students
need to put in. Green chairs are noisy and not that
comfortable; ugly.
--Better variety of seating needed and group rooms were
desired by all attending.
--Most seating is adjacent to main traffic routes, making it hard
for people studying to maintain concentration.
--Update computers.
--Stacks are claustrophobic and lighting to read call numbers is
poor.
--There is no place to sit down and browse books when
selecting them. [DP mentioned the more customary stack
layout of interspersing seating and stacks.]
--Add a computer lab. Jesup is a relatively long way for
students and they would prefer a lab (beyond what we have
now) in Sawyer. One with 24 hour access would be ideal.

If given totally free hand, what would you like to see in
expanded library?
--Do a better job of fitting the building in with the landscape --
it looks like Sawyer and some other buildings are dropped
onto the campus without adequate attention to exterior
plantings.
--Pay more attention to aesthetics inside and outside of
Sawyer.

Ideas from other libraries?
--Like the meeting rooms in Schow; they always seem in high
demand
--Put lounge and table seating in attractive areas with views so
as to bring the outside into the library.
--Arrange collections more logically, like the newly expanded
--Los Angeles public library (public libraries seem to be better
at this kind of grouping of materials than academic libraries).
--Have dense collections of books downstairs and keep upstairs
more open and available for readers.
--More attractive floor coverings; had used a library with
wooden floors.
--Many of the students' remarks compared Sawyer unfavorably
with Schow, in terms of space, arrangement, comfort, and
facilities.

Use Chapin and Archives? General Comments? How should they
interact with Sawyer?
--Several of the students use both collections and appreciate
them.
--Like the ambience of Chapin and the original part of Stetson.
--Preserve the character of this section of the building. Eric
commented that we would work hard to do so.
--Liked the vision of shared spaces for readers, with less
confusion about where to go for what kind of collection.
--Wayne and Dave both commented on trying to bring the
collections more to the attention of users, including using the
--Lounge as a joint reading room for Chapin and Archives IF we
can relocated the stacks and put offices and other facilities in
the right configuration.

Other things that came up …
--OCC -- move it to Baxter. It makes more sense to the
students to be there than in Stetson.
--Ecologically friendly project -- several students
recommended that the project use good recycling practice and
energy efficient materials.
--Building Committee -- want students to remain involved with
the project when it goes beyond planning into the design
phase.
--Back of Stetson -- tear down all but the 1923 building. Build
office space that is new and dynamic.
--Stetson Lobby -- dead space; put in comfortable, attractive
seating.
--Parking -- do away with the small parking lots all over
campus and make the center of campus more pedestrian
friendly.

Submitted by Dave Pilachowski and Wayne Hammond

Summary Statement and Key Issues
Faculty & Admin Comments
Student Focus Group Comments Nov. 13