New Vision for the Academic Library Opens at Purdue

Last Friday, Purdue University celebrated the dedication and grand opening of the Thomas S. & Harvey D. Wilmeth Active Learning Center.

The 163,091 sq. ft. facility, located in the heart of campus and open 24 hours per day, is a blend of academic library (with traditional stacks and a grand reading room), and active learning classroom building, with 27 collaborative  classrooms of various sizes and formats.

Home to the new Library of Engineering and Science (comprising learning and technology resources from Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences; Engineering; Life Sciences; Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences; and Physics libraries), the Active Learning Center is a model of effective use of study and learning space for campuses across the country.

The consolidation of these six libraries is logical for several reasons: with the advent of digital access to information, the need to have printed materials such as indexes and journals is no longer critical to research in the sciences and engineering. In addition, this facility creates synergies provided by the integration of classroom and study space, where instruction extends into the study space before and after class, and study and learning extends into the classroom space when it is not in use.

As a result, every inch of occupiable space (other than faculty office space) is given to solo and group study space when classes are not in session, changing the paradigm for efficient use of these types of buildings and responding to the “rhythm of campus” throughout the day.

Now officially open, the WALC will be a daily academic destination for approximately 5,000 Purdue students and faculty.

RATIO as Library Planner/Programmer in association with BSA LifeStructures.