Covering the Land of Lincoln

UI Undergraduate Library gutted as renovation work underway | University-illinois

CHAMPAIGN — The Undergraduate Library has quietly begun its transformation into the University of Illinois’ new home for archives and special collections.

In the last few weeks, Facilities and Services workers have removed most of the underground library’s furniture, along with its shelves, lighting, carpets and ceiling tiles to ready it for renovation.

“When people are seeing dumpsters and a crane, they’re going to wonder what’s going on at the library,” said Tim Newman, assistant dean of libraries for facilities. “There’s a lot happening below the surface.”

The library, a longtime study hub and gathering spot for UI students, closed in May as its services were dispersed to other libraries on campus.

The University Library chose the facility as the new repository for the University Archives, Illinois History and Lincoln Collections and Rare Book and Manuscript Library, which were imperiled by their old locations in the vaults and stacks of the adjacent Main Library.

The main floor of the Undergraduate Library is now completely gutted — all its seats and tables, carpet squares and ceiling tiles have been evacuated. Most of the furniture on the lower level is out, too.

The majority of items have been relocated across campus. Half of the seats and tables have moved to the Main Library, while other items will be sent to individual units, like the departments of physics and psychology, the Collage of ACES and the ROTC programs on campus.

The shelving was donated to Evans Public Library in Vandalia. Leftover metal shelves, carpet and other materials will be recycled.

“We’re trying to donate or recycle or reuse as much as we can,” Newman said.

Some of the “bigger-ticket items,” like the air handlers in its HVAC system, will need to wait until a general contractor arrives for the project next summer, Newman said. A fence will line the area once the external construction begins.

“The contract for the construction manager is in the process of being finalized,” said Tom Teper, associate dean of libraries. “Construction still appears to be on schedule at this point.”

The $47 million conversion of the Undergraduate Library into a special collections area is expected to be finished in 2024.

After this, attention will turn to the Main Library, where five of its six “main stacks” will be demolished and replaced by a modern, five-story hub for faculty and students.

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