Music Library to relocate, Davis to extend weekend hours this fall

By the end of the summer, Davis Library and the Undergraduate Library will be home to two relocated spaces at UNC, the Music Library and a Makerspace, respectively. The Music Library is currently located on the bottom floor of Wilson Library and the Makerspace is located in Kenan Science Library. 

Students will also be able to take advantage of extended hours at Davis on Fridays and Saturdays. The specific closing times will be posted on the library's website in August.

Nerea Llamas, the associate University Librarian for collections strategy and services, said Davis and the Undergraduate Library are the two most popular libraries at the University and she believes these moves will give the Makerspace and Music Library more exposure and allow for both spaces to have longer operating hours.

“Bringing them into those very visible spaces already gives the Makerspace and the Music Library a wider audience,” she said.

The Music Library hosts collections of books, scores, audio and video recordings, rare materials and research databases. Students will have to contact the Music Library to access resources that will be unavailable during the period of relocation.

Andrea Bohlman, associate professor in the music department, said in an email statement that the library is both a space and community. There are various resources, expert librarians and staff to aid students and anyone researching sound and music.

The move of the Music Library to the third floor of Davis is partly a result of the planned renovation of Wilson Library, though the closure of the building for construction has been delayed.

Andrea Brown, a senior at UNC, said she found a safe space in the Music Library, particularly in the Fishbowl.

Located in the library’s labyrinth-like stacks, the Fishbowl is a small, well-lit room with a direct view of the Bell Tower. Brown said she was disappointed when she found out that the Fishbowl’s location would no longer be publicly accessible after May. 

“This environment, this area, could not be replicated in the same sense, and it will be much busier,” Brown said. “I guess that's great for those that need to be introduced to the stacks and all the amazing musical [resources]."

Llamas said the relocation will prioritize moving essential resources such as the library’s collections, equipment and carrels, before beginning to improve the spaces through carpeting, furniture or lighting. Bohlman said the space in Davis, over time, will keep the “cozy and personal atmosphere” of the Music Library.

The Makerspace will also transition from its current location in the Kenan Science Library within Venable Hall. It houses equipment for 3D printing and imaging, electronics, soldering and more. It will be relocated to the main floor of the Undergraduate Library, where it will be under the same roof as the Media and Design Center.

Geneva Collins, director of communications for the College of Arts and Sciences, said in an email that the move freed up space for two more teaching labs in Venable Hall, owing to the growing need of “engineering-type instruction” at the University.

“This is a win all around because the two new teaching lab spaces will help us address expanding student enrollment and new engineering curricula,” Jaye Cable, senior associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences, said in an email statement. “And the Library Makerspace’s new home in the Undergraduate Library will not only be larger, it will have longer hours.”

In the fall semester, Davis will be extending its weekend hours, which have not yet been finalized. Llamas said the decision came from an evaluation of student feedback from several sources, including social media.

Gerald Akwuole, a physics major at UNC, said he has mixed feelings about the extended hours.

“I also sympathize with other library workers, cause I'm also a library worker,” he said. “I know staying in Davis Library past 5 p.m. on a Friday doesn't always seem like the greatest use of time for a library worker."

The exact extended hours will be announced this summer or in the early fall, Llamas said.

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