Hello and welcome to the University Library! Over the last several years, mastering the digital age and fostering a student-centric environment has continued to drive the Library’s perpetual transformation. Maintaining the status quo is simply not an option in the realm of today’s academic library, where user needs have dramatically changed. Electronic resources, online databases, and collaborative work spaces are rapidly taking center stage. The CSUN University Library is at the forefront of reinventing a sustainable 21st century academic library that connects, engages, and innovates. In the wake of annual budget deficits and rising costs, it’s a critical time to consider the imminent need for obtaining viable resources to continue to reach our ultimate goal: effectively supporting student learning and research on the path to graduation.
Through generous donor support, many major renovations have come to fruition at the University Library to facilitate a leading-edge learning experience for students and visiting scholars alike. One of our most recent upgrades was made in Special Collections and Archives, which houses over 50,000 cataloged items, including rare books, art, manuscripts and archives, historical periodicals, photographs, audio and video recordings, prints, and maps housed in the department’s new temperature and humidity controlled high-density storage facility. The renovated department provides twice the space for storage and processing, as well as a new instructional space. The remodel includes a warm and welcoming wood-paneled reading room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a service desk and a scanning machine. This new room offers abundant seating and multiple areas for students, faculty, staff and visiting scholars to engage in research.
In addition, the Learning Commons on the main floor of the Library integrates the new skillsets of librarians with 21st century technologies and provides students with ergonomic, portable, and flexible furniture with power outlets. This light, open space is food friendly and facilitates a teaching and learning dynamic. An extension of the Learning Commons is the Creative Maker Studio, which opened in the fall of 2014 and allows students to use 3D printers and edit digital images. It also utilizes a sound-proof recording work area to create videos, podcasts, digitally recorded interviews, and other types of presentations for their course work. Group study rooms and computer workstations throughout the Library are equipped with fundamental technology to achieve maximum connectivity and accessibility.
The next phase of Library development requires a substantial investment. Planning has begun for the expansion of the Creative Maker Studio into an integrated Makerspace to advance the University Library as a student innovation hub. As you will see on this web page, there are many opportunities to support the Library, all of which are worthy investments that will benefit the hardworking students at CSUN.
If you haven’t visited the University Library lately, I encourage you to come see us in action. Even though we’re evolving from year to year, our commitment to the tenets of universal library access and dedicated spaces for quiet study comfort is honored and respected. Don’t miss the Robert and Maureen Gohstand Leisure Reading Room on the 2nd floor West Wing, which nurtures a love of reading in a serene, cozy environment.
Thank you for considering a gift to the University Library, fondly known as “the heart of the CSUN campus.”
Sincerely,
Mark Stover, Ph.D.
Dean, University Library