Planning the UNLV Lied Library
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830210420654 |
| Pages | 12-20 |
| Date | 01 March 2002 |
| Published date | 01 March 2002 |
| Author | Shelley Heaton,Kenneth E. Marks |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Planning the UNLV Lied
Library
Shelley Heaton and
Kenneth E. Marks
Introduction
The need for a new library at the University of
Nevada, Las Vegas was officially established
by the Evaluation Committee of the
Northwest Association of Schools and
Colleges (NASC) in April 1990. They
recommended that the library begin planning
a new facility as soon as possible. This
recommendation, of course, resulted from
many interviews with library staff who all saw
the need for a new facility.
TheDickinsonLibrary(seePlate1)
building presented staff and users with many
challenges, all of which affected its usability.
It consisted of two buildings, one of which
was round and the other rectangular,
connected only on the second and third
floors. The entire monographic collection was
in the three floors of the round building, the
shape of which did not lend itself well to book
stacks. In addition, the stack areas were
already running out of room for new
materials. Over the years, more and more user
seating had to give way to book stacks, until
only 700 seats for users were available. While
technology needs were only in their infancy, it
was already evident that this building
arrangement was not workable because of the
lack of needed infrastructure.
Long-range planning process
In January 1990, the library started a long-
range planning process in conjunction with a
campus-wide planning process. Five
committees were formed to establish the five
major goals to be accomplished, and then an
umbrella committee consisting of one
member from each of those committees was
formed to establish objectives and an
implementation plan. Under the goal
``Provide appropriate facilities, furniture,
equipment, and systems which will create an
environment for independent study and
learning,'' the first objective was ``Begin
planning for a new library building.''
Implementation for this objective included
forming a Library Planning Committee to
coordinate all planning efforts for the new
facility. This committee was established at the
The authors
Shelley Heaton (sheaton@ccmail.nevada.edu) is Head of
Research and Information and Kenneth E. Marks
(kmarks@ccmail.nevada.edu) is Dean of Libraries, both at
the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Keywords
Planning, Academic libraries
Abstract
The Lied Library was planned and constructed over a ten-
year period. During this process, the library staff tried to plan
for new technology by making the building as flexible as
possible. Although the staff had very little technological or
planning experience in the early years, they were able to
successfully plan a technologically advanced building. Much
of the success of this venture came by researching
technology, and constant revision of plans to incorporate
changes. Through careful infrastructure planning, no major
changes were needed to accommodate technological
upgrades.
Electronic access
The research register for this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
Theme articles
12
Library Hi Tech
Volume 20 .Number 1 .2002 .pp. 12±20
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830210420654
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