Past, present and future intersect at TFDL

It took many alumni to make the Taylor Family Digital Library a reality.

By Jen Allford

It may be the library of the future, but with extensive archives, special collections, a museum as well as a number of alumni helping create the building, the Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL) has a significant amount of U of C history built right in. The alumni working on the project all brought their own student experiences at U of C to the job of building the unique library.

When U of C project manager Jackie Bell BA’83, BA’86, was an undergraduate, she didn’t even know the university had archives or special collections, and she only popped into the Nickle Arts Museum once or twice.

But now, the TFDL brings all of that smack dab into the middle of campus for every student to see. “You walk into the library and if you go up on the second floor of the Learning Commons, there’s a great big glass wall and you’re going to be looking down into the Nickel Arts Museum so you’ll see the exhibits,” says Bell. “It’s a great learning opportunity for a student.”

The 42,000 square metre, six storey library is equipped with the latest research tools and greatest technology; high-resolution imagery, multimedia presentations and a plethora of computers, all designed to give U of C students an edge, says U of C’s TFDL technology officer, Shawna Sadler BA’00.

"As an undergrad student, I could see all kinds of ways of improving the libraries, and it was fun to end up working here and trying to put some of those ideas in place," says Sadler. "The big thing for me, being an alumni and staff person, was helping to develop an outstanding building that improves the student experience."

CANA Construction project manager Jason North BSC’00 – one of the several engineering graduates who worked on TFDL for the construction company – says being alumni and knowing their way around the institution was a definite plus.

“We knew all the different departments that we had to work with, like campus security and parking services. I even knew some of those people from before,” he says. “(Building on campus) is different than building a box store in a brand new suburb where there’s nobody around. I think just to know how campus works helped a lot.”

Jonathan Low, BSc ‘08, another CANA engineer, had barely graduated when he was back at U of C working on the library. “Basically, I finished my classes one day, and the following week I was back on campus working on the project,” he says. “It was a fun project to be on. I ran into a few of my professors and it was nice to say that I am a part of this.”

When TFDL opened, Low started getting Facebook messages from friends at U of C telling him how much they like the new space (some of which may well have been sent from the banks of computers in the Learning Commons).

Low says he would have made good use of the TFDL and all its collaborative work spaces in his student days. “We had some classes where we would do group work and such, and didn’t have places to work on that. These new group rooms are definitely necessary,” he says.

Design decisions were made with students in mind, says Steve Ardell BSc’09, another CANA engineer on the project, and he was thrilled to be able to add his opinion. “It’s a pretty cool building and I am pretty proud to have been a part of it,” says Ardell. “The technology infrastructure in that building is going to make learning more fun.”

So will the colourful bean bag chairs. “I fought really hard for the bean bags,” says Sadler. “I am really happy to see the students using them, reading and using their laptops and mobile technologies. We’re created a variety of spaces for the students so they can do different types of work.”

The bean bags are in, and so is much of the technology, but more computers, as well as all the archives, books and special collections will be moved into the TFDL over the next year.

“We haven’t seen a building like this before,” says Bell. “We’ve brought together a museum, library, archives, a press and special collections all into one building, and now access to information in many different forms is much easier for students and faculty and community members.”

And alumni.

An alumni office on the first floor of the TFDL--a fitting tribute to the university’s past, as well as its future – was allocated long before it was known that so many alumni were involved in building the TFDL.

As the project proceeded from vision to blueprints to building, Bell and other U of C grads who helped create the library enjoyed discovering the other alumni on the project. “It was kind of neat to know that there were so many people who had come home to work on something like this,” she says.

“There is something really nice about that.”

The new alumni service office is located in TFDL 153A. Hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you the next time you're on campus.The official opening of TFDL will take place in fall 2011 and in the meantime, the first two floors are currently in use by U of C students, staff and researchers. The following alumni played a vital role in making TFDL a reality and their contributions will make a lasting legacy on campus:

Steve Ardell, BSc’09
Jackie Bell, BA’83, BA’86
Michael Chomik, BComm’06
Mark Hames, BSc’74
Tyler Loewenhardt, MARCH’07
Jonathan Low, BSc’08
Jason North, BSC’00
Rosemary Phan, BA’06
Shawna Sadler, BA’00
Patrick Skogman, BComm’96
Tim St. Louis, BA’90
Philip Vandermey, MARCH’06
Sam Wong, BSc’05