Editorial

A tale of two libraries

Sarah Bruce - Campus Editor

For the past four years I have been paying a fee every semester called the library levy, so all this time I was expecting a brand new library. When the new building started to go up I got really excited. TRU is moving into the future, so it deserves a library that accommodates the growth and diversity of the student population. Instead, the new House of Learning (HOL) is offering one half of the third floor to the librarians to do with it what they choose, and keeping the existing library operational. The bottom line is TRU is getting an addition to the current library, which is separated by a five minute walk, not a new library. It seems to me that when plans were first announced everyone was excited about the new library that would take TRU to the next level. The sign in front of all that construction even says “upgrades and new library.” In reality, TRU will have an unjoined addition to the library that will share a home temporarily with the law school and permanently with student seating and a fire place, Tim Hortons, a plethora of much needed faculty offices, the Omega’s new home, an assembly hall and an aboriginal centre. James Hoffman, a concerned professor, said it best. “It seems that the library has been squeezed out. The sign up front says ‘upgrades and new library’ so I think people are expecting a new library.” The new House of Learning seems to be a dumping ground—albeit a state-of-the-art dumping ground—for anything that needs a new home. The HOL does have many benefits for students, such as the fireplace and study areas for long cold days and a new café, but the expectation was that there would be an entirely new library. The last time the library was expanded was in the 90s. Since then the student population has doubled. A new library was a must to transform the college into a university, and yet it wasn’t until two decades after the library was first established as a college facility that it upgrades were planned. With this background information, a new library was proposed. However, if I’m searching for books in the existing library and the last one I need to begin my research is in the new library addition, I’ll have to walk off campus on my scavenger hunt for research. Furthermore, if I’m studying in one library and find out the book I need is in another, I’ll have to pack up and move. It’s an inconvenience. TRU students deserve something that sets their library apart and when I learned of all the archives I could have possible access to I felt like I was missing out on an opportunity: original manuscripts from local playwrights and authors, images from the BC Penitentiary, TRU archives and more. I’m excited to see TRU move forward, but I’m not sure that it is moving in a direction students anticipated.