{"id":1120,"date":"2019-04-11T15:18:39","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T15:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2019-09-16T15:27:11","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T15:27:11","slug":"the-fifth-floor-library-is-closed-with-no-date-of-completion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/2019\/04\/the-fifth-floor-library-is-closed-with-no-date-of-completion\/","title":{"rendered":"Library update: Fifth floor has no date of completion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Hunter East – Library entrance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the fifth floor of the library has been closed to students since the beginning of this year, the CUNY Board of Trustees has yet to vote on the design plans and only the demolition has begun.<\/p>\n

Construction won\u2019t start in earnest until this fall at the earliest. That means students are without one of the few common spaces on campus, and the only place in the library that allows food, with no completion date set.<\/p>\n

The other floors of the college library have been under construction for about two years and the updates include new couches, more outlets, interactive TVs and more space for students to study or hang out. From new, private rooms with tables to extra outlets for chargers, the third, sixth and seventh floor are cutting-edge additions to the Hunter campus. While the plan for the fifth floor is even more extensive, the college is just starting the process. It has, however, started demolition even though the budget is not approved, said a spokesman for the college.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Library 5th Floor design is complete and will now go to the CUNY Board of Trustees on April 15th for approval to begin construction,\u201d said a Hunter spokesperson. \u201cThe project will go through a public bidding process and then construction is expected to start in the Fall of 2019. The design of the 4th Floor is to begin next.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many welcome the improvements, students are finding the delay a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe library was already always crowded but since the fifth floor closed, other areas like the cafeteria are overcrowded,\u201d said James Lee, 20, a junior. \u201cI\u2019m forced to find an off-campus spot where I can sit down and eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spatial Discipline, the architectural company revamping the library, has designed conference rooms, group study rooms, and even a refueling\/coffee station.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Floor Plan via Spatial Discipline<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe vision for this floor was developed in conjunction with Hunter College students, faculty and administrators in a series of workshops, interviews, feedback sessions, discussions, tours,\u00a0and presentations,\u201d explained the Spatial Discipline website. \u201cOne of the primary features of the fifth floor will be the single largest reading room in the library with open seating for over 150 students.\u201d\u00a0This space will \u201ctake advantage of natural daylight and feature campus views from windows on the west, north and east side of the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students have some mixed feelings about the project, however. While they say it is nice to see the school being updated, it is difficult to find somewhere to study between classes.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to find somewhere to sit and be able to open all of my books,\u201d said Jose Suarez, 20, a junior. \u201cI could sit on the skywalk but it\u2019s hard to use my books. I\u2019d prefer a table, which is hard to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

The floor plan shows more study coves, rooms, and tables for students to study, the lack of which is a complaint students often have at Hunter.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther universities have libraries that actually have enough space for people to sit at their own desks,\u201d said Hailey Rozenberg, a senior.<\/p>\n

Some students notice that the over-crowding situation at Hunter has worsened since the construction began.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The “floor closed” sign in the library, 3rd floor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA lot of people are hanging out in spots that generally weren\u2019t crowded before,\u201d said Kylie Ionescu, 20, a junior. \u201cLike the sky bridge on the seventh floor used to be completely empty and now when you go up, it\u2019s filled with people sitting there eating or on the floor because there\u2019s nowhere else to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some students grab a table in the mornings and have a strategy in place to keep their spot for the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only reason I have a seat is because, my friends take a table and we keep it for the entire day,\u201d said Angela Lauria, 22, a senior. \u201cAt least one person is always at the table so we don\u2019t lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other students, however, are unbothered by the renovations. Some simply use the amenities, like the printers, which are still available on the other floors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t go to the library unless I need to print stuff out,\u201d said Kate Nakamura, 22, a senior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the fifth floor is closed to students since the beginning of this year, the Board of Trustees has yet to vote on the design plans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":1133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,89,13,88,90],"class_list":["post-1120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-construction","tag-fifth-floor","tag-hunter","tag-library","tag-renovations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1120"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1573,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions\/1573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}