As recommended by the preliminary report of the Future of Libraries Task Force, Director Chris Bourg has convened an MIT Libraries Space Planning Group. The group, charged with making specific programmatic recommendations for the renovations of the Libraries’ physical spaces across the Institute, is chaired by Bourg and J. Meejin Yoon, professor and head of the Department of Architecture.
“The task force conceived of libraries as not just containers for books, but as platforms for the innovative use, exchange, and creation of knowledge,” says Yoon. “I’m pleased to help the Institute reimagine its library spaces to fit this vision.”
Space recommendations will reflect the themes of the Future of Libraries preliminary report: “Library spaces serve a unique and valued function across campus, providing physical spaces for a full range of activities, including quiet contemplative study, noisy collaborative work, departmental and community events, and informal, unplanned conversations with colleagues. Further, conversations across the community suggested an emerging role for library spaces to support new modes of instruction and collaboration.”
The group will develop an overall vision for MIT’s library spaces as well as specific programmatic recommendations for renovations to Building 14 (currently home to Hayden Library, Lewis Music Library, the Institute Archives and Special Collections, Killian Hall, and offices and classrooms for the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) and Building 7 (Rotch Library). Some renovations to Barker Library in Building 10 also might be required to realize the overall vision.
The members of the group are:
Chris Bourg, Co-chair, Director, MIT Libraries
Meejin Yoon, Co-chair, Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture, School of Architecture and Planning
Stephanie Frampton, Associate Professor of Classical Literature, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Tracy Gabridge, Associate Director for Academic and Community Engagement, MIT Libraries
Robert Jaffe, Jane and Otto Morningstar Professor of Physics, School of Science
Melissa Nobles, ex-officio, Dean, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Greg Raposa, Space Administrator, Office of the Provost
Jeff Ravel, Professor of History and Head, History Faculty, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Rafi Segal, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urbanism, School of Architecture and Planning
The Space Planning Group expects to develop an overall vision for library spaces and programmatic recommendations for Building 14 by March 2017. The programmatic vision for Rotch Library and Building 7 should be completed by early 2018.
