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Hale Library Blog

Building update: A new normal

It’s exciting to have people back in Hale Library! With the opening of the second floor, we are working to adjust to a new sort of normal on campus and at the Libraries, while keeping visitors safe.

A picture of the loggia entrance of Hale Library, with COVID-19 related signs.
Visitors to the second floor of Hale Library enter through the loggia entrance, where there are signs to help inform them about safety guidelines.

Our staff have many safety features in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, including required use of masks, extra cleaning supplies available to patrons and limited seating areas and computer stations. It has been very exciting to see people come into the space to walk around and explore the new floor.

A picture of the help desks in the center of the second floor of the library.
The IT and Library Help Desks on the second floor have floor signs to help encourage social distancing.
Two students are pictured sitting and studying in the library.
On July 1, students came by the library to check out the new space and take some time to study. It’s great to see students back in Hale Library!
A picture of Kim Bugbee with her mask on, sitting in the loggia entrance.
Kim Bugbee, user services specialist, helped greet visitors to the library in the loggia entrance. The entire library user services team helped make sure that visitors knew where to go and how to follow safety precautions.
A picture of Libraries IT staff at a computer.
Our Libraries IT staff have also been working hard to make sure our technology is up and running.

In the Great Room, crew members are primarily focused on stripping and varnishing the bookshelves in the alcoves, as well as sanding the windowsills and completing any outstanding plaster work.

A picture of Brian Hawk varnishing wood near a Great Room window.
Bryan Hauck, a Riley Construction crew member, works on varnishing wood in the Great Room. Hawk was excited to work in the space and told us that his mother used to work in the basement of Hale Library. What a neat connection!
A picture of stripped bookshelves in the Great Room.
Before being varnished, the bookshelves are repaired and stripped.
A picture of varnished wood laid out along the length of the Great Room.
The varnished pieces of the bookshelves are laid out along the length of the Great Room to dry.
A picture of a Great Room window and construction workbench.
Even under construction, there is so much beauty in the Great Room.

We are particularly excited about Joyce and Joe’s Cornerstone Café located in the Dave and Ellie Everitt Learning Commons on the first floor. The café is close to completion and the temporary walls separating the café from the rest of the floor have been taken down. The first floor will be open during the fall semester, but plans are still being finalized for the opening of the café, which will be run by K-State Housing and Dining Services.

A picture of the new cafe on the first floor of the library.
We can’t wait for students and the community to have a cozy place to study and grab a cup of coffee!
2 thoughts on “Building update: A new normal
  1. Dear K-State Library Staff and Project Workers: So proud of what you have accomplished since “the Fire”. You are dong an exceptional job in communicating the rebuilding, the conservation, and the beauty of completed work to date. THANK YOU.

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