Following work to repair and restore the exterior envelope of the historic Knight Library building in 2022-2026, the Libraries will pursue repair and restoration of internal building systems and a redesign of programmatic spaces across the library to respond to the needs of a contemporary research university and advance the Libraries’ and the University’s mission into the middle of the 21st Century. This brief has been prepared to provide an outline of current challenges and goals for the purposes of undertaking a more thorough design study.
BACKGROUND AND CURRENT STATUS:
The UO’s historic Knight Library, along with the memorial quad it faces, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Library is one of the most iconic buildings on the University of Oregon’s Eugene campus and serves every college, center, and department at the UO, as well as the public and independent scholars from around the world. Instantly recognizable, this building was constructed in1937 and has been renovated several times, with the most recent substantial renovation completed in 1994.
In recent years, deterioration of the building’s exterior envelope has been prioritized as a capital improvement need, and restorative work is already planned and budgeted for the years ahead. Beyond the immediate needs of the building’s exterior, there are three key challenges with the Knight Library facility: first, the building’s interior building systems are failing; second, its general design and space allocation is outdated for the scholarly and creative work of students, scholars, and library personnel in the middle part of the 21st Century; third, as a major public and historic space on campus, it is not being leveraged as a public exhibit space to present the compelling impact story of the University of Oregon.
1. Building Systems
A campus vulnerability assessment (CVAT) conducted by the University of Oregon’s Safety & Risk unit in late 2021 identified several critical building systems issues in the Knight facility, including an obsolete fire alarm and suppression system that cannot be repaired as parts deteriorate and malfunction, since parts are no longer manufactured; a need for major seismic remediation of the building as a whole; a malfunctioning elevator which is the public’s only accessible entrance to the Library’s Special Collections and Archives areas; and several other issues that pose risks to the collections housed in the building such as leaky plumbing. The deteriorating physical state of the building and its systems must be addressed in the years to come and the cost of addressing these issues will amount to a minimum of millions of dollars.
2. Enabling the scholarly work of current and future students, faculty, and library personnel
Since the building’s last full renovation, information and scholarly work has evolved substantially. High-speed internet has become widespread. Our library's general collections have shifted to mostly digital while physical special collections and archives have significantly expanded. Our non-collections services have expanded, and our workforce has evolved. The current building design and layout, well-suited for a 1993 research library, does not effectively support the users and functions of a modern research library. The building allocates too little space to special collections and exhibits, too much space to declining functions such as physical book circulation and microforms, lacks support for the discovery or utilization of our significant digital collections and tools, and offers inadequate spaces for users to discover and access a robust new suite of consulting services. The building, collections and services spaces are not technology-forward, having been designed for an analog, print-based scholarly environment. Office and workspace for libraries personnel must support the work of a newly hybrid workforce and appropriately optimize and outfit individual and shared workspaces for different kinds of employees. There is a need to comprehensively evaluate the current footprint of the building against known programmatic needs to inform planning for the years ahead.
3. Exhibit and Communications Space
As one of the largest buildings on UO’s campus, with tens of thousands of visitors each year, the extraordinary, public-facing space available in the Library represents a missed opportunity to tell the story of the UO’s legacy and impact on society, past and present, through effective utilization of space. Huge spaces within the library sit virtually empty –with large walls, hallways and vestibules that could be better leveraged for exhibits and installations that highlight the University’s current research and academic initiatives, and bring the story of the UO out of hidden archives and special collection stacks to educate, inspire, and inform visitors of all backgrounds and better communicate the institution’s profile and legacy.
THE NEXT ITERATION OF THE KNIGHT LIBRARY:
Out of these challenges comes the distinct potential to tackle building functional safety and systems as well as teaching and research design challenges in are design that will result in a leading, global exemplar of what a modern, 21st-century research library can be.
A museum-quality discovery experience Visitors to the Library – including prospective students and their families, visiting scholars, prospective employees and faculty, current students, friends, donors, and alumni, could encounter a museum-quality experience in the Libraries, where a casual visit or walk through primary public spaces would include exposure to professionally-curated exhibits of UO history, contributions to the development of academic fields such as environmental sciences, and human performance, current research and innovations, and more – through state-of-the-art, technology-enhanced exhibits.
Technology-integrated discovery – In a modern, functional Library space, UO students, faculty and researchers would find that both virtual and physical resources and services are easily discoverable through both accidental and intentional encounters. The physical space can be leveraged as a discovery experience, to explore themes, connect with potential collaborators, foster curiosity, and inspire new questions.
Serendipitous encounters across formats and collections - By using the physical space to present more integrated access to virtual and physical resources, including general, special, and archival materials and research data, the UO Library becomes a place where students who come seeking information about climate might encounter funding and fellowship opportunities about climate; projects and papers from other students and faculty with similar interests; even archival photographs and letters related to climate studies that they never would have thought to look or ask for.
Access to evolving information services and experts -Through more effective design and placement of virtual and physical service points and people, such a design also ensures that users can discover and access modern research library services alongside content. Imagine a place where the discovery of a climate data repository came alongside the discovery of a data consulting service within libraries, where a scholar’s questions about cleaning and mining datasets could be immediately supported. The modern campus Library should offer an immersive experience that fosters synergy, connection, discovery, and inspiration.
Harness the synergy of campus in the Library building - The merits of an on-site, campus-based education are truly exemplified by an institution’s primary non-classroom academic space, its Library. In a well-designed Library space, students, staff, and faculty will come together across disciplines, to explore new ideas and access creative equipment in a neutral space where everyone belongs, and no department or discipline has home court advantage. The way that a physical Library space can foster the development of collaborations, serendipitous interactions, and unexpected discoveries has yet to be replicated in virtual space.
The next iteration of the Knight Library will marry its past and legacy with the future of research and innovation. A ground-breaking model, serving the needs of tomorrow’s scholars and students in a new type of library designed around accessing services, equipment, research tools and professional consulting; and less around housing and circulating physical collections. A library purpose-built for interdisciplinary exploration, more than strict disciplinary organization. One that recaptures and recreates the browsing and discovery experience, when so much of what we want to browse and discover has moved to the digital realm.
IMPACT & VALUE
These possibilities are under-realized across the world of research Libraries in the United States and abroad. The current opportunity the UO has with the Knight Library space is a leapfrog opportunity – a chance to innovate well beyond what has been done another major research Libraries to date and to achieve national and international recognition. The more fundamental impact of such innovation, however, is not simply recognition; it is impact. It is the likelihood of inspiring questions, discoveries, and collaborations that accelerate the teaching and research enterprise at the University of Oregon, help to unleash the potential of its scholars across all disciplines, foster greater interdisciplinary collaboration and ultimately generate the knowledge and innovation that has a positive impact on quality of life and society broadly.