Before planning renovations, the College’s librarians put up flipcharts for student requests in Frost, so all renovations are in direct response to student suggestions. “It’s exciting to be able to respond to what students told us they wanted,” said Bryn Geffert, Librarian of the College.
Through the project, the librarians found that most students thought Frost lacked appealing spaces for group study. “I really do love studying in Frost, but those upper levels are really not welcoming. To me they seem too dull for a studying environment,” said Dresdiana Mavindidze, a first-year who often studies in Frost.
There are currently small, isolated study areas in the stacks on the second and third levels. The renovators plan to consolidate some of these spaces by moving shelves into the isolated areas and moving the study areas near windows to create bright, open areas to study. They also plan to replace the old furniture with new, more comfortable, “lounge-type” furniture, add more outlets for laptops and carpet both levels.
“The primary goal is to create better study spaces in Frost; we want to make it comfortable and inviting,” said Geffert.
The renovators also plan to add an art gallery on the second level. The gallery will feature student artwork as well as artwork from outside artists with travelling exhibitions. The point of the art gallery is not just to get students to enjoy art. “We’re not trying to challenge the Mead in any way,” said Geffert. “The main goal is to make aesthetically-pleasing study areas.” The renovation project’s organizers have already started to feature student artwork in the area of the future gallery.
The first level will also undergo major changes to make Frost’s assets more apparent to students. Renovators plan to install display cases containing samples from Archives and Special Collections to “show off what [they] have.” The project also calls for the installation of flat-screen monitors on pillars to present information about Frost’s upcoming exhibitions, as well as a calendar of events. In the periodicals section of the first level, they hope to install a large display screen for use in presentations and possible campus events such as watching election results or State of the Union addresses.
The largest change to the first level will be the addition of a café where students will be able to drink coffee and relax while studying. Facilities is hoping to contract with an architect to design the layout of the café.
Renovations have already begun with the moving of shelves on the second and third levels, but many of the renovations are set to take place this summer. Renovators plan to carpet Levels A, one, two and three this summer, as well as repaint much of Frost’s interior. The construction of the café will also tentatively take place this summer. New furniture will probably be added sometime during the fall semester.
However, the changes that are set to occur in Frost, along with their timeline for completion, have not been finalized.
“I’m describing the best-case scenario, but if the budget runs out we’ll have to scale back on some things,” said Geffert.