AUM’s 10-Story Library Tower
Exploring the tallest building on campus and biggest library in the area
The AUM library tower is a 10-story tall building that serves as the on-campus library that is open to the public. The library has frequent high school and community visitors throughout the semester.
In 1982, construction of the building commenced. The building was designed to expand the available shelf space for the library and to create space for offices and classrooms. In 1984, Governor George Wallace was a part of the dedication ceremony.
Our library is similar locally/nationally to most universities libraries because it is located on campus and besides updating the HVAC system, there are no future plans for the building.
Head of Public Services, AUM librarian, Jessica Hayes says she does have a goal for some change that she would like to see occur at the library, “The goal is to become a place people know that they can be helped and seen as relevant not just because of books but because of how products prepare students to be good citizens for the community. She would also like to partner more with individual departments so students see the library as more than a tower of books but as human beings that really want to help them.”
Interlibrary loan and Access Services Librarian, Karen Williams says, “Weekly visitors average between 4,000–6,000. The number of daily visitors also fluctuates with the academic calendar. Mondays through Thursdays have a higher number of visitors (anywhere between 900–1200) then Fridays (around 400), Saturdays, and Sundays have the lowest number (around 200 for each day).”
Administration Building to Library Tower
The library tower was completed in 1984 and it was originally three stories. Those original three stories of the library now makes up the current administration building. The library has 10 floors, floor eight is a catalog and archives special collections floor. There have been frequent landscaping changes outside of the library tower that has incorporated the use of more flowers.
(The original AUM library now known as the current administration building that is attached to the library tower)
The current chancellor at the time, Funderburk, did some extensive research and visited other universities to get an idea of how he wanted the new library building to look. He finally came to the decision of the library being a 10-story tower that would be adjoined to the current administration building. The first two buildings on our campus were the library (current administration building) and Goodwyn Hall. Our campus used to be a cotton plantation.
Even though the library has been and continues to be a popular location on campus for students to study, the usage of the library has gone up in recent years. The library has added more study spaces and comfortable seating areas for student as well as more computers for students and the public's use. There are over 50 study rooms (individuals) they are on the third, fourth and fifth floors, they line the walls of the books. Individual study rooms are open for people but can only hold one to two people at most and they have a door to them. If you would like to access a group room you would have to reserve them through the website under library links or call the circulation desk or you could reserve a room in person.
The library also offers a multitude of valuable resources to students, faculty and staff such as: WASC, AUMazing workshops, 1 on 1 library consultations, and you can schedule an appointment if you are stuck on research or picking through an annotated bibliography, the librarians will sit down and go over it with you and research specific topics to help give you more clarity. The library also offers virtual reference services and inter library loans. Inter library loans are when they don’t have an item, you can place a request and they will find the library or institution and they will send it back for you.
Location
The library tower is located next to Goodwyn Hall. The location of the library was chosen because the old library (current administration building) was already on campus and Chancellor Funderburk wanted to expand that building.
You can also read about the library in an article written by my classmate.
What Makes AUM’s library Special
We have a partnership with WSFA weather because of our weather radar on the rooftop. The 10th floor of the library tower has 10,000 sq. ft. of conference space and can be rearranged by movable walls that will turn the space into four meeting areas.
And, we offer the SGA book program. SGA purchases all entry level textbooks, updated each semester and they are all on reserve in the circulation department. Students get two hours to use the book; they must be in the library to use it. Some people scan the required reading for the week because the library does not allow you to scan the whole book. This comes in handy if you do not want to buy the book right away.
Photo Gallery
