With final exams looming less than two weeks away and student demand for study space escalating, the Robert W. Woodruff Library has opened six new conference rooms on Level 1 behind the microfilms.
These rooms, with available 24-hour access, feature dry-erase whiteboards, conference tables seating up to eight, Wi-Fi access, glass windows and multiple power outlets. Students can reserve them for up to four hours at a time for groups of three or more by checking out a key at the security desk on Level 2 of Woodruff Library.
According to Charles Forrest, director of library facilities for Emory Libraries, the library had formerly provided many under-used individual rooms for graduated students.
"We took eight little rooms and two group study rooms and made six rooms for group study," Forrest said.
Surrounding a table littered with spiral notebooks, textbooks, laptops and a box of Cheese Nips, four friends occupied one conference room late Saturday night.
"I like them," College junior Sarah Chang said in reference to the new, brightly-painted conference rooms, which she and her friends had reserved. "They're just as convenient to get as the other study rooms."
She added, however, that the tables are smaller than other commonly used Woodruff study rooms.
College senior Andrew Yun agreed, noting that the "tables were a downgrade."
He added that "the glass wall is far from soundproof."
He said his expectations were high as he recalled that the new rooms "were under construction for a while." Still, he also cited the benefit of the rooms' dry-erase boards and fully-functioning Wi-Fi access.
Forrest said the library plans to equip all of its 20 conference rooms with "computers and big screen displays," and create more group study rooms by the end of this summer.
"Eventually, the idea is for every group study to be identical," said Forrest. "There are different shapes and sizes, but the technology will be the same."
Such decisions follow yearly focus group findings, which were conducted in March 2011, during which 13 randomly selected undergraduate students – whose majors ranged from math and German to biology and history – were asked a series of questions in 60-minute sessions.
Some of the questions pertained to the ways in which students use the library as well as study space preferences. Undergraduate students prefer to conduct research and both group and individual studying in the library, according to the Woodruff Library Focus Group's website.
The focus group also found that undergraduate students desired "much less noise" and "more comfortable places to sit." Forrest described renovations in neighboring Candler Library last fall that meet these needs.
To the right of the third floor bridge entrance to the Matheson Reading Room, where a lobby once stood isolated from the rest of the floor, now rests a lounge abundant with leather couches and loveseats.
Woodruff Library will also remain open for 24 hours through Tuesday, Dec. 18 and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19 before closing for winter break on Monday, Dec. 24.
– By Lydia O'Neal
