Library

When the University of Pittsburgh set out to renovate Hillman Library, the project began with a relatively modest goal: Remove asbestos from the plenum space above the ceilings. What followed over the next decade was something far more ambitious—a four-phase transformation that reimagined what a 21st-century academic library could be, and in doing so, reshaped the university’s relationship with its campus, its students, and its surrounding neighborhood.

The new Library and Learning Center at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) has transformed the school’s former library from a quiet place filled primarily with stacks of books into a welcoming and dynamic environment focused on providing students access to the resources needed to succeed academically. In addition to the library, the renovated facility includes the learning lab, which brings together tutoring support previously housed in three different locations, a student academic computing center, nine group study rooms, two academic classrooms, and a One-Button studio for video production. The number of computers available for student use throughout the entire facility has increased from 30 to 300, an important advantage for the many CCP students who do not own personal computers.