The Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State University has been undergoing renovations that have temporarily closed the sidewalk on its north side.
Additionally, the reading rooms and offices in the Archives and Special Collections section are temporarily closed. The Archives and Special Collections section in the library has been the home of MSU-related rare books, handwritten manuscripts and letters dating back to the early 1500s.
Director of Facilities Management Tommy Verdell said the maintenance on the air conditioning system caused the closures. The current system, which was installed in the 1980s, has shown signs of failure, and MSU has opted for a preemptive replacement to protect documents.
“We think this renovation will give us extended life on mechanical systems, which should improve the atmosphere in the facility for its occupants,” Verdell said.
Verdell said the project was meant to occur earlier but was delayed due to nationwide supply chain issues.
With the assumption that no more delays will occur, Verdell said the sidewalk and the Special Collections reading room should be open to the public in a few weeks.
The temporary reading room is in the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library.
The northwest location of the reading rooms and archives were previously used as open library space.
Walking east towards the Maxxsouth Digital Media Center, students cross seams in the floor that mark the transition from the original building to an expansion made in the early 1970s. Compared to the original layout from its opening in 1954, the expansion doubled the size of the library.
What is now the Digital Media Center was formerly a music listening area full of CDs and cassette tapes.
Stephen Cunetto, associate dean for Community Relations and Strategic Initiatives, has seen over 35 years of change at the Michell Memorial Library. Cunetto admired the library’s ability to adapt to students’ interests.
“We are going to continue to try to be user-centered and student-focused,” Cunetto said.
Constructed in the 1990s, the addition of the atrium and space south of the main entrance quadrupled the library’s size compared to its original layout. With the rise of the internet in the 1990s, the library shifted from the use of floppy disks to CDs to servers.
Cunetto said the library will continue to adapt to meet the needs of student research.
MSU Library Archivist Jessica Perkins-Smith said the library has been through many changes since she joined the staff in 2016. She said the most significant change was the construction of the fourth floor and the improved Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library in 2017.
“Having that world-class exhibit space— that’s the biggest change because it’s brought a lot of attention to campus,” Perkins-Smith said. “It’s brought all kinds of researchers from all over the place to the library.”
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the library had to change the structure of certain offered services by establishing resources virtually. Although campus has largely returned to normalcy, the library will maintain its new virtual resources.
Recently, within the Research, Instruction and Outreach section on the second floor of the library, the reference desk was removed. Along with floppy disks and the card catalog, the reference desk was removed because it had no use.
Cunetto, who has helped direct the library’s technological changes for decades, called for students to voice what they need from the library. He said he felt that students would be responsible for deciding what the Mitchell Memorial Library will become.
“We want to continue to evolve and become better and meet the needs of the students,” Cunetto said. “So, if we don’t hear from them, we can’t adjust and can’t adapt to what they want.”