If you’ve been on Indiana St. this semester, you may have noticed the construction signs and the missing bricks in the back of Roy O. West. The $30 million renovation of DePauw’s library is currently underway.
President Lori White assisted in raising funds for the project, which is now fully funded and moving forward. “An outstanding library, equipped with resources, collaborative space and technology as a 21st-century learning environment, is the academic heart of a campus,” President White said.
The renovation, which originally was supposed to start in March of 2020, got postponed because of COVID-19 and resumed in June 2021. As of now, construction is currently set to be finished by late fall 2022 and open officially for students in the spring of 2023.
However, that reopening date is tentative, according to Mike Boyles, director of the Tenzer Technology Center.
Because Roy’s last renovation was in 1986, the technology wasn’t up to date. According to Rick Provine, dean of libraries, this is one of the main reasons for the renovation. “It was designed well before we thought about everybody having computers and their own devices and all that kind of stuff plus just worn out,” Provine said.
The new library will also come with an updated Café Roy, a grand reading room, teaching spaces with better technology, a meditation room on the third floor, as well as new carpeting and furniture.
There will be a new and improved space for the Tenzer Center increasing from 1,500 to over 10,000 square feet. It will also occupy both the first and second floor of the building with the main offices and labs on the second floor.
“Tenzer is also running a video wall and open collaboration area on the first floor. The video wall on the first floor will be one of the first things you’re gonna see, it’s premiere,” Boyle said.
Although the Tenzer Center has been around, with the new space that it will occupy in Roy next year, it may be more of a prominent feature on campus.
“We want our liberal arts graduates to go out into the world more confident with technology skills called digital literacy, to be more digitally literate, to be less anxious with technology,” Boyle said. “Even if you all aren't going to use it yourself, right, you don't have to be a programmer to appreciate and recognize that technology is going to be in your workplace, right, in one way or another.”
In addition to the newly updated Tenzer Center, each floor of the library will have more study rooms and quiet spaces.
The renovation of the library will create an updated, functional space not just for students, but for faculty and staff alike.
“This gives us the chance to really go in and build a building built for the 21st century, so to speak, everywhere you sit, there’s a place to plug in. You’ve got ubiquitous connectivity throughout,” Provine said.
More information and pictures of the renovation can be found on the library renovation page on DePauw’s website.
