The renovated first floor of the Science & Engineering Library.
The fourth in a series exploring the many USC Libraries. The previous post looked inside the Gerontology Library.
Patrons returning to the USC Science & Engineering Library after the summer break will find a comfortable new space for quiet study on the library’s first floor. Workers spent all of July renovating the area, installing compact reference shelving and updating the floor's furnishings. The new compact shelving freed up space for instruction and study; the renovated area now offers twice as much seating as before, larger information kiosks, and a dual-use study and instruction room.
The changes reinforce the Science & Engineering Library’s emphasis on spaces optimized for student use. In addition to the refreshed study area on the first floor, the library also offers two innovative spaces designed for group use. On the second floor, the Multi-Group Study Space accommodates several groups at the same time. Groups are encouraged to rearrange the furniture in the room, which was renovated in 2009 thanks to a grant from the Anton Burg Foundation. Next door, the Video-Conference Room is equipped for videoconferencing over IP (Internet Protocol).
Formed in 1970 by the merger of USC’s existing science and engineering libraries, the Science & Engineering Library today provides essential support to student, faculty, and staff researchers in the life sciences, physical sciences, earth sciences, mathematics, and engineering.
In addition to 5,000 reference books on the library’s renovated first floor, the library holds 70,000 bound journals on the second floor and approximately 80,000 books on its third floor. (The library keeps bound copies of journals that are not accessible online. Bound copies of those that are available online can be paged from the Grand Depository.)
Bound journals on the Science & Engineering Library's second floor.
New compact reference shelving on the Science & Engineering Library's first floor.