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I worked in Jerome my entire undergraduate career. The place is partial to me personally. Not simply as a library, but as an icon of the campus.

I'm curious what thoughts there are on long-term renovations, upgrades, etc. In particular, I know the two "upper floors" are actually mechanical systems and such. Could those floors be gutted and made usable? Could the second floors be built-out, over the otherwise empty decks to the north and south. Perhaps with a "green roof." Certainly design trends long ago moved from towers, so building the envisioned north and south towers isn't going to happen.

The BG library is partial to you? Why you and not all the other students who passed through? What did you do to deserve favored status by the library? Wait- I don't want to know.

The library could be partial to him if he only sees the lower floors while maintaining an awareness that the upper floors exist....I suppose it would be more accurate to say that the library appears to be partial to him under those circumstances

There was a library at BG?

BGorDeath wrote:There was a library at BG?

They are by the tree.

I think Jerome is an eye sore and one of, if not the worst looking libraries on any college campus. The mural on the side is bad, the concrete around it is unused and full of weeds.

Sorry one of the few things on campus I find really, really ugly.

Yeah I'm not a huge fan of the library. Favorite building is still Hayes Hall, and University Hall is pretty close behind.

MarkL wrote:Yeah I'm not a huge fan of the library. Favorite building is still Hayes Hall, and University Hall is pretty close behind.

I agree...I like the old halls like University and the whole setting running down to West Hall, over to MAC and back up the back side of Business Building. Love that part of campus.

I tried not to spend too much time in the Library.

NWLB wrote:I'm curious what thoughts there are on long-term renovations, upgrades, etc. In particular, I know the two "upper floors" are actually mechanical systems and such. Could those floors be gutted and made usable? Could the second floors be built-out, over the otherwise empty decks to the north and south. Perhaps with a "green roof." Certainly design trends long ago moved from towers, so building the envisioned north and south towers isn't going to happen.

You could take over the former mechanical spaces for other uses, but you have to still find space for the mechanical equipment. Technology improvements may have made some of the equipment smaller and more efficient, so you might get some of the space back.

There is a chance you could do something over the roof deck plaza. The real issue is programming events or activities on/in the space. Whether we can add floors or enclosed space would be dependent on the existing structure. I have heard the desire to capture the plaza for indoor space.

As far as the haters...... Jerome is an excellent example of late Modern architecture. I think its fitting that one of the tallest buildings is the library - it is an excellent symbol of the educational priorities at BGSU. The design parti of a series of books on a shelf is thoughtful. (See Photo) The plaza expresses this is a gathering place.... for studying and fellowship. The mural is "of its time" and is an excellent use of blank facade. Libraries essentially need to be black boxes as to protect their holdings. Light is permitted, but needs to be controlled. There is some pretty crappy buildings on campus, this isn't one of them. This is a pretty good piece.

Seriously..... does every building need to have a pitched roof and be made of brick or vinyl siding for people to appreciate it? If so...... everything will look like this......

or Miami's 1970's version of Georgian....
Let me assure you..... King Library was a real piece of crap.... its been heavily renovated inside.

That being said, would it be what I would design.... probably not... but I'm not practicing in the 1960's.

The problem with the area surrounding the library, is no one uses it. My 4 years on campus I saw 3 skateboarders and a bike rider on it. No one was ever up there studying / hanging out. It's just a big slab of concrete around the library, lots of wasted space.

If they want to renovate the library, make it so you can access the library from the concrete jungle, not peer through the windows. Put some picnic tables up there. Something, anything.

Falcon137 wrote:The problem with the area surrounding the library, is no one uses it. My 4 years on campus I saw 3 skateboarders and a bike rider on it. No one was ever up there studying / hanging out. It's just a big slab of concrete around the library, lots of wasted space.

If they want to renovate the library, make it so you can access the library from the concrete jungle, not peer through the windows. Put some picnic tables up there. Something, anything.

Picnic Tables? ugh...... how pedestrian. There was seating areas there originally.

No one will disagree that the concrete plaza fails to be an attractive area for users. Would you rather sit in the grass under a tree in the quad.... or on the hot exposed concrete deck. Its a no-brainer. I personally would like to see the plaza enclosed as a study area with lots of glass.

But the plaza does not make the entire building a failure. The issue will be whether the structure can take the additional roof load.... we already know is can hold the "floor" load.

Linda Dobb did a lot to get the art and murals restored. Though the sculpture on the deck was not designed to last. She managed to get them to take the lights that used to illuminate the sides of the Admin Building to restore light to the murals.

The deck space is a waste, but then they had originally intended there to be towers on each, connecting the large mechanical space on the 9th/10th floors to each. Which, and I'm only guessing, was why they dumped all of that stuff up in that area. As conceived, the two towers would have boxed-in the 9th/10th floors. Thus, the space was logically used for things that would have taken more desirable areas of the north/south towers. Of course, that was part of the plans for BGSU when enrollment was projected as to reach 30,000 or more. Of course, that sucking void up in Toledo got absorbed into the state system and so it goes.

Tech: Could the new central chiller system near the art building, and perhaps more modern equipment built into an deck plaza expansion do the trick? Might they have "over-built" on the mechanical side, in anticipation of two more towers, therefore the need for the hardware isn't as great?

Renovating it will be tricky. Massive collections needing to be cared for, climate control needing to be kept operational, etc. Seems to me, that doing it in stages would be required. Unless you want to move a lot of it into Memorial Hall for a few years....hmmmmmm.

NWLB wrote:The deck space is a waste, but then they had originally intended there to be towers on each, connecting the large mechanical space on the 9th/10th floors to each. Which, and I'm only guessing, was why they dumped all of that stuff up in that area. As conceived, the two towers would have boxed-in the 9th/10th floors. Thus, the space was logically used for things that would have taken more desirable areas of the north/south towers.

That's neat, I never knew that.

NWLB wrote: Tech: Could the new central chiller system near the art building, and perhaps more modern equipment built into an deck plaza expansion do the trick? Might they have "over-built" on the mechanical side, in anticipation of two more towers, therefore the need for the hardware isn't as great?

It is possible, I just don't know enough about the system. You would probable still need some mechanical space in the building. Top floors are best for this as the HVAC systems have interior and exterior components.

The early 60s master plan has some illustrations. I've not found anything in the way of concept drawings for Jerome, as there were the football stadium. However, working there for 5 years, and spending untold hours there, I learned a few things. A lot of the original staff was still there when I was a student, learned a lot about the last days in McFall, the move over, etc.

Working there was my first job of any kind. Twice a year, the staff would treat the students to an end-of-semester pot-luck. Good lord those people can bake. Then there were the late-night shelving pizza parties. Being able to intercept books you needed, before they ever got back to the stacks. Pushing book trucks past the same person, uncomfortably trying to "read" books in the HQ or old 820/720 range upstairs. The knife fights with the periodical workers. Never having to buy a copier card after finding dozens around the library. Seeing the last of the old card catalog removed. The rise of BGlink, start of the Pony Express and Ohiolink. Making jokes about the strange and odd people in the late Math-Science library. Being given a (surplus) copy of the 1918 Year-book as a gift because the CAC director knew how much I loved and lived BGSU history. Seeing student pilots flying WAY too low past the library. The click and clunk of the old time-clock. Stacking books, then taking tours around campus, then back to the library. Memories.