UC Merced Magazine | Commemorative Chronicle

Building Collections

Designing Space, Investing in Students

Due to the rapid growth of the public internet and the promise of increasing online access to information resources, Miller and team embraced the concept of a “library without walls.” As a result, the library’s collection has been, and continues to be, more than 90% electronic. Academic program o erings and faculty research needs drove both print and electronic acquisitions. From its earliest days, the library provided extensive digital resources through licensing agreements with UC’s California Digital Library (CDL) and membership in cooperatives—notably HathiTrust and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL). For items not in the local collection, interlibrary loan (ILL) services bridged that gap with the delivery of scanned articles to faculty inboxes and physical items delivered from other libraries for local check out. e print collection was initially processed and stored at the library’s facilities at the former Castle Air Force base before being moved to the permanent campus location in August 2005.

While building the collection, founding sta thoughtfully planned for spaces to support students’ varied study practices and anticipated technology changes. eir ideas included large tables for group collaboration, furniture designed for quiet individual work, and study rooms tailored for teamwork. Study carrels were made larger than those in traditional libraries, allowing for the use of personal devices and evolving study habits. In 2005, smartphones and tablets had not arrived yet, but laptops certainly had. Library supporters made important contributions to create spaces for student study and learning. Christine McFadden established the MSSM Memorial Fund honoring her children Melanie, Stanley, Stuart, and Michelle with funding to create a special reading room on the fourth oor, while a gi from Doris Gonella in honor of her late husband Louis out tted a dedicated library instruction space named the Louis P. and Doris M. Gonella Discovery Room. While the physical space was and remains an important resource for students, the UC Merced