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Hale Library Blog

Month: February 2021

Time to explore the new Hale Library!

It’s a big week for Hale Library and K-State! On Monday we opened several new spaces including the third and fourth floors and two floors of Historic Farrell Library. This means nearly all of the first through fourth floors are now open to the public.

Despite the recent freezing temperatures and a campus closure on Tuesday due to rolling blackouts, students braved the Kansas tundra on Wednesday to explore the new spaces Hale Library has to offer. Beautiful, historic spaces such as the Great Room seem to be very popular so far of course, but many students have taken to exploring the more hidden nooks and crannies of the upper floors in search of the perfect, quiet study spot.

A picture of the first floor café area, filled with students.
The seating area near Joyce and Joe’s Cornerstone Café on the first floor has become a popular meeting spot for students to catch up and grab a coffee or some snacks.

While construction is complete on most of the building, some spaces, including the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab and the fifth floor, are currently closed to the public. The Innovation Lab will open in phases later this spring.

This semester, visitors and students will have a variety of new spaces to explore in the building.

A picture of Remas Alzubaidi, a sophomore studying architectural engineering.
Remas Alzubaidi, a sophomore studying architectural engineering, found a quiet study space on the second floor. The second floor has more than 99 computer workstations and study spots.

On the second floor of Historic Farrell Library, a new reading room with lots of natural light includes study space and will house the current periodicals collection. At the opposite end of the space is the new home for the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies. The Virginia Carlson Family Reading Room will open soon on the first floor of Historic Farrell Library. The room will include study space and house the juvenile literature and curriculum materials collections.

A picture of the second floor reading room.
A view from the future home of the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies looks into the second floor reading room.

On the third floor, visitors and students can marvel at the beautiful, restored Great Room or Harry Potter Room. A meditation space and Wudu wash station are available to all patrons. Additional study spaces on the third floor allow for a quieter atmosphere than the floors below.

A picture of freshmen Julia Smith, open option, and Lauren Dornbush, food science, studying together in the Great Room.
Freshmen Julia Smith, open option, and Lauren Dornbush, food science, studied together in the Great Room. Julia said she saw the original Great Room when she was little but that it’s very special seeing it as a K-Stater.
A picture of junior Josh Jones studying in the Great Room.
Junior Josh Jones, organizational management, enjoys the peacefulness of the newly renovated Great Room.

Libraries staff and Belfor crews have been busy processing, organizing and returning books to the shelves. So far, over 25,000 boxes have been returned to Hale Library for reshelving. Stacks A through C are filled in addition to most of stack D. The music and art collection has also been reshelved on the third floor.

A picture of the filled shelves on the third floor.
The music and art collections have been reshelved on the third floor of Hale Library. Currently, most items from the main collection with call number ranges A to PN 684 and the music and art collections have been reshelved.

The fourth floor, as the quiet floor, provides study space for those who prefer a quiet space to concentrate on their work. More collaboration rooms, computers, printers and scanners are available in the newly opened spaces as well as four additional family and gender-neutral restrooms.

A picture of student Max Nease studying near a window on the fourth floor.
Max Nease, a freshman in mechanical engineering, said that he loves seeing the books in the library and getting to explore to find the perfect study spot. Looks like he found a good one!

We can’t wait to see the building fill up more as more folks come to visit the new building and explore what Hale Library has to offer them. In the coming weeks, we hope to share more photos of the spaces being used, as well as updates on spaces like the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab.

The only question left to ask is, when are you going to come check out Hale Library?