Next Thursday, July 15, contractors will begin work on a substantial construction project that will reallocate space and upgrade facilities in the Law Library. In the first phase, scheduled to last about 3 weeks, interior walls between our current (and dysfunctional) bibliographic instruction room and adjoining storage and office space will be removed. The resulting space, with direct access to the 4th floor elevator lobby as well as the interior freight elevator, will be the new home of our Technical Services Department. At the same time, the current library staff lounge will be reconfigured, and a new office for the Assistant Director of Information Technology created.

The second stage takes place on the 3rd floor, after what we hope will be a speedy relocation of Technical Services to their new space. A new and improved bibliographic instruction area will be created with "smart classroom" technology. This room and its technology will be available for law student groups when not in use for instruction. Space will also be created for a reference alcove-- the new location of the Information Desk, and an office for the Assistant Director for Public Services. This phase should also take about 3 weeks.

Timing for this project is not, and cannot be, ideal. Regrettably, it will start in the days just before the bar exam. Although all the work in phase one will be behind existing walls, there will probably be some noise audible in at least parts of the library. We will check with the contractor and post work hours daily. Delaying the construction would create problems fitting in to the contractor's schedule. Also, the messiest and most disruptive portion of the work will be at the end when the reference alcove is built. By starting earlier, we hope to have the worst of it completed before the start of Fall classes.

Our thanks to the Dean and his staff for securing financing for the construction, and to the Physical Plant department for coordinating with the contractor to expedite the work. We look forward to welcoming you to our reconfigured facilities in the Fall.

Will Tress
Library Director