by Tucked in a corner on the third floor of Vincent Hall, the Math Library is home to a wide selection of mathematics and statistics collections –– from journals to math fiction books. But in January, the University Library Administration announced the library’s closure.
Beginning this summer, some materials will be temporarily placed in Walter library’s sub-basement. However, the final destination of most of the books and journals will be the almost $63 million dollar offsite collections facility, currently under construction across from the ReUse Program warehouse on Como avenue in Minneapolis.
The facility was approved by the Board of Regents in 2022, and is expected to open in January 2025.
After interviewing stakeholders and studying user patterns at four branch libraries across campus, the University Libraries found that people have changed the way they are using libraries. The Math Library is not the only branch library to close in the near future, the Natural Resources Library on the St. Paul campus is also set to close.
With digital access to libraries becoming more popular, particularly among students, the university is adapting to the changing times.
“One of the main goals was to, in recognizing this change in user behavior, is to move the low-use materials to a collections facility and return this critical space on campus –– central campus to users for other uses besides storing books,” Mark Engebretson, the University Libraries director of advancement, said.
But for those who regularly use the library, concerns about the future of the space are paramount.
Dennis Hejhal has been a mathematics professor at the University of Minnesota for over 45 years. He said the math department wasn’t told about the closure of the library until January of this year.
“If a library is going to do something that’s going to affect the educational operations of that department, I think there is some obligation to seek the consultation of the faculty, the leadership of the department. That wasn’t done, and I thought that was highly improper,” he said.
Hejhal, and others in the math department, developed and advertised 7 surveys geared toward various library patron demographics –– from undergraduate students to math faculty. The surveys asked for feedback about the library’s closure.
In survey results, students were overwhelmingly concerned about the loss of quiet study space and access to research sources. One graduate student wrote: “I can already imagine myself digging through the book dungeon in Walter basement for hours just to find books that are usually inches away from each other in our math library.”
The concerns outlined by students are shared by Hejhal.
“I think one of the big pushes is, certainly from the mathematics department and I would hope from CSE, uh, from the Dean’s office, is to have some way of retaining this quiet study space. Because in my opinion, the students need it,” he said.
After materials are transferred out of the current Math Library location, it is up to the College of Science & Engineering to decide how the space will be utilized. But they won’t have to go far to find inspiration.
The basement of neighboring Murphy Hall, which adjoins Vincent, was renovated recently to accommodate more gathering and study space. It once held a more expansive version of the School of Journalism’s Eric Sevareid Library.
While it is still unclear how the math library will be reimagined, CSE said it is, “getting closer to sharing exciting plans of how the space will be used in the future”.
