Copley Library gets Completely Remodeled

The new Copley Library features additional spaces for student collaboration, faculty reading, and air conditioning

Karisa Kampbell / News Editor / The USD Vista

As part of USD’s Renaissance Plan, Copley Library reopened at the beginning of the fall semester with new additions aimed to foster student learning. The renovation includes new spaces and furniture that will allow for student collaboration and success.

Copley Library is a resource to students that offers study spaces, research assistance, and academic support. Workshops and courses are offered through Copley Library to help educate students on the research process and to provide them with any additional support they may need along the way. 

Christopher Marcum, Access and Outreach Services Librarian, summarized the services offered by Copley Library.

“We are here to support teaching, research, and learning at USD,” Marcum said. “For students in particular, we do a lot of things to support their studies.”

The support includes working with ASG to offer free textbooks, loan laptops, chargers, headphones, and calculators for student use, 24/7 research assistance, and subject research specialists. 

Access to these resources can be found on the ground floor of Copley Library, one of the newly renovated aspects of the library. The ground floor received new, comfortable seating, specifically created for collaboration. Collaborative rooms, study booths, and study nooks make up this space. Additionally, on the first floor is the Copley Lounge –  a space designed for students to to hang out, socialize, and study with their friends. 

“Copley’s new ground floor is really meant to be a collaborative space. It’s a chill out, talk to your friends kind of space,” Marcum shared. “It’s the space where students can feel free to talk, and not worry about being too loud.”

The second floor of Copley Library also got an upgrade. Informally known as the “Scholarly Living Room,” the second floor of Copley acts as a more quiet, serious, and scholarly space to study. New additions to the second floor include the faculty reading room and group study rooms.

Exciting new updates were  made to the beloved Mother Hill Reading Room as well, informally known as The Harry Potter Room, the completely quiet study space in Copley Library. 

“The Mother Hill Reading Room is the original library from 1949, San Diego College for Women. It has been touched up along with the Camino renovation,” Macrum said. “It has new windows and air conditioning which is something that it never had before. So all the students who have studied in Mother Hill over the years, they’re pretty jealous of all the new students now who won’t know what it’s like to sweat in there in the summer.”

Along with the new spaces also comes a new policy: all group study rooms must be reserved online beforehand. These spaces are not intended for individual studying or friendly socialization, but rather a productive student collaboration on schoolwork or other projects. Reservations for study rooms can be made through the online reservation system.

While the new renovation to Copley Library is exciting, Marcum wanted to emphasize that these spaces were intentionally designed for students. 

“The renovation really was student-centered in its focus. We had a lot of stakeholders from across campus. We had student representatives on our committee, faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, and faculty from other departments around campus,” Macrum emphasized. “It was a broad group of stakeholders to redesign and renovate this library for students. I think students will see that when they come to visit us in the new space.”

Students are already starting to appreciate the new library. USD sophomore, Parker Tweedly, shared his enthusiasm for this new study space on campus. 

“The new library renovations, I think, have really brought USD’s peaceful characteristics to life. The space offers a place for personal and group study to get everything that we need to get done completed,” Tweedly shared. “The wide variety of study spaces offer students a nice area to crack down on work with limited distractions. I’m excited to utilize the library to read and to get work done away from my room.”

These renovations will be used and appreciated for many years to come. With a space for every type of studying, Copley Library is able to cater to every student’s study needs, whether that be to study in silence, individual study, or to laugh and engage with fellow students in a collaborative environment.