Thank you to all who attended the building dedication April 22, 2006! 
    view the program
     read Jo Ellen Parker's Keynote Address, "Re-Placing the Library"

The Kalamazoo College Library Renovation and Expansion Project has provided a state-of-the-art facility for students, staff and faculty. The new addition increased the total building space by 37,450 square feet, a 72% increase. Much of this added space is be used for books, library users, and offices. The addition allows growth in the collection from the current 300,000 volumes to about 500,000.

Features

Visitors enter the building through a two story glass atrium on Thompson Street.  On the first floor, you will find the Library’s Circulation and Reference departments, Media Services and the Computer Help Desk. Other popular centers and services include our Video Production Studio, open to all trained students during our library hours, a video-editing suite, audio studio, and the Center for New Media Design for multimedia projects. Create a TV show with your friends!

The Upjohn Library Commons has a café! Come visit with a prof over a cup of joe or chat with a new friend with a cool smoothie. The Book Club café is a Beaner’s coffee shop franchise.

Our beautiful two story Yehle Reading Room provides comfortable seating with plenty of natural light and is where many students hang out. Sit by the fire and warm your toes with a book, or hookup your laptop and write a paper overlooking the campus. Speaking of your computer, wireless access service is available throughout the building.

The Writing Center is located in the Library Commons and open in the evenings. Student peers are available to assist with papers.

The Library Commons also offers many individual and collaborative computer workstations and media viewing stations. 24 computer workstations are available for research in the Reference Area, and 54 computer workstations were added on upper floors. The project includes a Training Room for instruction in computer software as well as library research. The third floor features nine classrooms, including a videoconferencing facility and small seminar rooms.

Project Timeline

Excavation began on the west addition in March 2004. Renovation was completed in the fall of 2005 and the building opened to the public in January 2006.

Cost
The final cost of the project was  $17.8 million, coming in well below the estimated $19.5 million.

One of the specific objectives of the College's Enlightened Leadership comprehensive campaign is to build and endow the maintenance of the Upjohn Library Commons. Alumni, friends, corporations and foundations are contributing toward the renovation and expansion project.

The renovated and expanded Upjohn Library Commons has quickly become the academic heart of our campus. This beautiful facility combines the best of the library traditions with the newest forms of information technology. There are warm spaces that allow the heart and mind to roam, high tech classrooms that support innovative pedagogy, and excellent resources to sustain the academic enterprise.

We are deeply indebted to all who made this possible.  

— Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran