By Rae Arnett
Eastern New Mexico University is seeking support for a new General Obligation Bond that would renovate the Golden Library.
The G.O. Bond would have two parts, each consisting of $11 million, in order to expand the services and technology in the library. Another $4 million would be provided by ENMU to complete the $26 million project.
The G.O. Bonds will be on the ballot in November 2014 and November 2016.
The project will repurpose 49 percent of Golden Library for more services, which should be extremely helpful to STEM majors (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mechanics, and Health) because it will provide a research center, career assistance, and research opportunities, according to Melveta Walker, director of Library Services.
Tutoring, graduate research services, and the Writing Center also will be expanded for all ENMU students.
The Graduate Commons would be moved from the basement of the Campus Union Building to Golden Library so that graduate students could be closer to the resources they need.
There also will be a Distance Education classroom, which Walker hopes will be a “room that can be divided into various sizes so that there is an area dedicated to the Distance Education students, which make up about 30 percent of Eastern’s student body.”
Walker hopes that these renovations will attract more students to ENMU because Golden Library is used as a recruiting tool.
“Student satisfaction survey for the Golden Library is one of the highest I have seen,” Walker said. “It is about 97 percent.”
Senior Daniel Strong agrees that the library does serve the “basic functions students need” very well. However he said “there is definitely room for improvement.”
Strong would like to see more computers and printers, but he would most like to see the restrooms improved.
Junior Ashlee Muncy is also happy that ENMU is trying to improve the library.
“If we are going to improve everything else, we need to improve the most important piece of student success” she said.
Walker hopes that the G.O. Bond will pass so students are “at the forefront of the career field and not in the back” when they graduate.
Golden Library is one of only two academic libraries in the state of New Mexico. While “the original architects left space for expansion, they did not know how to prepare for the technology that would come,” Walker said.
“Library lovers should not worry,” Walker said. “We are not losing library space, just expanding services that are already here.”