A monthly look at life in the UK Libraries

March/April 2008
Science Library Update
The first phase of the Science/Engineering Library
Project, the Science Library, is on schedule. In August of
2007, UK Libraries received money to renovate the King
Addition. The renovation project was put on an
aggressive time table. Fall 2007 was spent working with
architect Maureen Peters and the faculty constituency on
the design of the library. The project was put out to bid
over the Christmas break. The successful contractors are
Woodford Builders and they, along with Maureen Peters,
have worked in both King buildings and Little Library.
They are confident that they can keep the aggressive
timeline. The Science Library is slated to open for Fall
Semester of 2008.

Third floor of King Building renovation.

Project construction began in early March with the construction of a room on the first floor to store the
newspapers located in Room 211 and 211A on the second floor. The new room was completed and the
newspapers have been moved. The work has begun on the third floor with the removal of the ceiling and
floor tiles. The floor is now a wide open space and the framing for the walls of the offices, work area and
study rooms is complete.
Serious work will begin soon on the second floor. The south entrance to the King Building will be closed
and the east entrance (facing Maxwell Place) will become the primary entrance to the building. Rooms 209,
211, and 211A will be demolished to make way for a lobby and a combined service desk for both the library
and the student computing lab. The elevator will be removed in May and a new elevator will be in service by
the end of August.
The construction project is only part of the activity surrounding this endeavor. The staff from the three
branch libraries involved in the merger and staff from the CTS division have been working diligently on
combining their respective collections into the building. The facilities group from Access and Delivery have
been dealing with facilities issues since last summer. These include clearing the third floor, rounding up
shelving and moving the newspaper room. The work continues with items being processed for storage, and
the measuring of collections to work out the best arrangement. A group has been formed to work on the
“Request €or Proposal” necessary to hire library movers for moving the collections; {s with most of our
library projects, many people from many divisions are working together to get the job done.
If the project remains on the current timetable, the collections will be moved
and merged over the summer. Central Kentucky Radio Eye (CKRE) will move
from the third floor of the King Addition to their new quarters in the Northside
Branch of Lexington Public Library late summer or early fall. Once CKRE
moves out, their former space will be renovated and the first phase of the
renovation will be complete. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in
November of 2008. Stay tuned for more developments.
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