Often when people think of a library, they immediately imagine a storehouse of books. And while the ACU Library does have a strong collection of 24,000 titles in print, students more often benefit from the ACU Library’s clean, comfortable study environment with a variety of spaces to support individual and group work.
Our 35,000-square-foot facility seats up to 321 people (excluding the Academic Center for Excellence, launched in fall 2023) and is divided into three study zones. Color-coded, traffic-light signs guide students on expectations for each space: green “Collab Zone” signs, yellow “Low Volume Zone” signs, and red “Quiet Study Zone” signs. The Collab Zone offers students large tables and lounge seating for collaboration. Students may talk at a moderate volume and work on projects together at computers with plenty of room around them. The Low Volume Zone provides a wide range of seating options for students to study by themselves or in a small group: study carrels in the stacks, spacious cubicles, lounge seating, and tables bathed in natural light. Finally, the Quiet Study Zone gives students a nearly silent space with individual seating only and few distractions. In addition to these study spaces, there are four group-study rooms, a media viewing room, and glass corridors for cell-phone conversations, online meetings, or collaboration. Lastly, two library classrooms sometimes double as group-study rooms when classes are not meeting. To connect the new building with ACU’s past, the walls are decorated with enlarged archival photographs of past students and faculty from the old campus. Students can easily find their space for learning at the ACU Library.
After more than six years of use by ACU students at the new campus, the ACU Library is ready for facilities improvements. Within the last year, the building received a new roof and a fresh coat of paint outside for a more modern look. The next projects include switching most lights to LEDs for more consistent lighting and significant energy savings and upgrading some furniture.
After reviewing years of student surveys, Head Librarian Rob Oliverio is eager to replace worn tabletops and add a few study-pod desks as a solution for students’ frequent requests for more individual study rooms. If you would like to support these projects to enhance the ACU Library’s study spaces, please consider designating a financial gift to the ACU Library. Your gift will support student success for many years to come by enabling the ACU Library to continue providing a clean, comfortable study environment on campus.
Phone:
Email: