The Mulford Library on Health Science Campus recently completed the second phase of a renovation project to increase the number and diversity of study options for students and to make the library more accessible.
The renovations, totaling $1 million and funded by a capital request from the state, added 38 height-adjustable study carrels, increasing accessibility and allowing students to stand while they study; 44 new booth seating options, which provide reduced distraction; and new chairs for all of the existing study tables.
Robert Morl, an M2 medical student, uses one of the new height-adjustable study carrels in the Mulford Library on Health Science Campus.
Additionally, each of the library’s computer labs received a face-lift, new furniture and technology, and nearly all new study booths have electrical access.
In response to a recommendation in the medical students’ Independent Student Analysis in 2021, the library’s small study rooms were reconfigured to seat groups of six to eight with new furniture, additional whiteboards and technology. In addition, two new seminar rooms that seat 10-12 people were created. The remaining individual study rooms have new height-adjustable tables.
The fifth-floor bathrooms were demolished and rebuilt for increased accessibility and capacity.
“Phase two of the renovations focused on improving accessibility and responding to student requests: additional height-adjustable study spaces, additional study carrels and study rooms that support larger study groups,” said Jolene Miller, director of the Mulford Library. “Underneath the specifics of the renovation is the message that the University cares for our students and their success. The renovations have made the Mulford Health Science Library better able to support student study in a clean, comfortable and well-designed environment.”
Phase one of the renovations began in 2018 and was completed in 2019 adding collaborative study spaces on the sixth floor as well as replacing 50-year-old inaccessible study carrels with new study tables. Well-worn carpeting also was replaced throughout the library. The now-completed phase two began in August 2021 with an initial completion date of December, but due to supply chain issues and COVID delays, the renovations were finally completed in February.
