Brady C. Mallory

SDSU students who spend much of their time studying in Briggs Library have by now noticed the loud noises.

Students must study even with the voices that echo through the bookshelves, the cacophony of clanking pipes and the ever-present sounds of tools being dropped. The noises have not been well received, especially with midterms approaching.

“The dropping of the pipes and stuff are really annoying,” said sophomore Ashlea Richmond. “When I was here last week, it was so disruptive.”

The noises are part of the renovation Briggs Library is undergoing.

Starting the first week in October, the main level of the library started receiving a facelift. Many ideas for the new room of the library were considered, including a coffee house.

“It was conceived for replacement for the existing room that we turn it into a coffee house,” said Dean of Libraries Steve Marquardt.

With the coffee houses in the Student Union and in the SNF building an additional coffee house may not have been financially feasible. Instead, the plan is to build four new rooms to convenience students during their study time. The largest room will serve as a classroom for instructional sessions on how to use library resources and databases. The second room, which will be able to accommodate 10 to 12 people, will be used for graduate seminars and research projects. The two smaller rooms will be reserved for group studies.

The construction on the new rooms, which cost nearly $122,700, will last until December. Summer construction was not possible due to scheduling conflicts with the construction company.

“We tried for that, but Physical Plant had too many projects,” said Marquardt. “I have not had any complaints directly. Students are just heading off to different floors.”

Briggs Library has received a very low number of complaints, according to Katie Dreiling who works as a student assistant at the front desk. Despite the inconvenience to the students, Marquardt said the sacrifice will benefit students greatly.

“We did this because there has been an ever-increasing demand for group study rooms,” because more professors require study groups said Marquardt.

“The end product will be better,” he said.

SDSU junior Janel DelRosario agrees.

“I think the study group rooms will be worth it. Now a lot of people just sit at tables, which is disruptive,” she said.