The books are coming home!

Some exciting changes are coming to the Ambler Campus Library in fall 2023, including new compact/moveable library shelves and the return of a significant portion of the Ambler Campus collection from the Charles Library where they were housed, and remained available for use, after the 2021 tornado.

The significant updates to the Library’s shared space with the Ambler Campus Technology Center on the Ambler Learning Center first floor will require closing the physical space from Monday, May 15 through Friday, August 11. That won’t, however, effect the availability of Library staff assistance or access to intra-campus and interlibrary loan.

“Library staff will be available for assistance the entire time the library space is closed. Students, faculty and staff may find us in Learning Center rooms 107 and 107a and our auxiliary space in Learning Center Room 201,” said Sandi Thompson, Head of the Ambler Campus Library. “Patrons will be able to order books from downtown and pick them up in our spaces. The significant outcome of this construction will be a better space for all to study and conduct research and access any of their computing and printing needs.”

Thompson is urging students, staff and faculty to visit the Ambler Campus Library during the week of May 8 “and pick up books they think they would like to use or read during the closure period and check them out.” 

According to Dr. Vicki Lewis McGarvey, Director of Temple University Ambler and Vice Provost for University College, there will additionally be updates to the ITS portion of the first floor Learning Center space “that will reduce the number of fixed desktops and add comfortable, moveable furniture that will allow for more student collaboration following in the model of the TECH Center at Main Campus.” 

“The new space will be called the Information Commons and will be the shared home of both the Ambler Campus Library and the Ambler Campus Technology Center,” she said. "While this will allow for more library materials to be available to students, it will also allow us to offer students a more integrated, beneficial model of our services. It will provide a dynamic space on campus for learning, study and collaboration."