“The space is out of date,” university librarian Svetlana Kochkina said as she toured The Guardian around UPEI’s Robertson Library recently. The 52-year-old building is in the beginning stages of a significant renovation project.

The renovation will include new flooring throughout the lobby, fresh paint, updated furniture, new signage, redesigned washrooms and additional seating areas. While there are no major structural changes planned, the university says the project is about much more than improving the building’s appearance.

Kochkina said the goal is to create a space that reflects how students use libraries today.

“It doesn’t correspond to the learning and study needs of the students,” she said about Robertson Library’s current state. “Library needs to be the beating heart of the campus.”

Flexible learning spaces

The redesigned lobby will feature a variety of seating options and study areas intended to support different learning styles. Students will find spaces for socializing and group work, as well as quieter areas designed to reduce distractions.

Kochkina said the changes are especially important as universities see increasing demand for flexible learning environments.

“You need quiet study spaces, you need group study spaces,” she said. “About 25 per cent of our students require some sort of accommodations.”

As part of the redesign, the library plans to create sensory-friendly spaces with reduced noise and visual distractions for students who are neurodivergent or who benefit from calmer study environments.

Library officials will also pilot study pods and other features aimed at making the space more student-centred.

“It’s basically moving the library from being collection-centric to becoming people-centric,” Kochkina said.

The project will also bring fully accessible, gender-neutral washrooms and replace traditional paper notices with digital signage that can be updated more easily and used interactively.

Public lectures and events

In addition to providing study space, the renovated lobby will highlight the library’s role as a cultural and educational space. Plans include permanent displays recognizing the history of St. Dunstan’s University as well as acknowledging the Island’s role in residential schools.

“There will be a permanent display dedicated to survivors of residential schools,” Kochkina said. “Students who are coming here, if they haven’t learned yet about the history of residential schools, they will have an opportunity to learn.”

The updated lobby will also be designed to host public lectures, presentations and other campus events.

The current renovation represents only part of a larger vision for the library.

The original goal of the Love Our Library campaign was to raise $15 million. To date, the campaign has raised approximately $6.2 million, all from private donors.

“This is how much was raised up until this minute, and there is nothing from the university or from the government,” Kochkina said. “It’s all donors’ money.”

The money raised so far is funding what the university considers Phase 1 of the project.

First reno since 1990s

Alongside the lobby renovation, the university plans to build a new addition next to the library to house special collections and archives.

The expansion is expected to be completed in fall 2027 and will provide climate-controlled storage for rare materials, including records related to Island history and the library’s Lucy Maud Montgomery collection.

Kochkina said the current archive space is running out of room and does not provide the ideal conditions needed to preserve fragile materials long-term.

Future phases of the project will depend on additional fundraising. Those plans could include renovations to learning commons spaces and the second floor of the library, where tentative plans are to add more individual and group study areas.

The library, which opened more than five decades ago, has seen only limited updates since the 1990s. The university says the current project is the first major renovation in the building’s history.

For now, the focus is on delivering a transformed lobby before students return to campus this fall.

Project manager Peter Doiron said students can expect more than just cosmetic improvements.

“I would say for students, a lot more areas for them to congregate, sit down and study,” he said. “We’ll have specific zones for seating.”

Kochkina hopes the changes will encourage students to make greater use of the library and help build support for future phases of the project.

“This is for them,” she said. “I hope they will appreciate what we do and help us raise more money to do more.”

Source: The Guardian