News From the Director: Plans for Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons Move Forward

I am pleased to report that plans for the renovation of the first and second floor of the west wing of the library continue on schedule. This was made possible by the wonderful gift of $1.75 million this spring from the Daniel M. Soref Charitable Trust supporting the new learning commons, as well as gifts from many other donors.

Over the summer, we finished the transfer of rarely used books on the second floor to an off-campus site, and we moved the Multimedia Library (now renamed Media Library) to the lower level, west wing, where it merged with the Current Periodicals/Microforms Department.

Construction, pending contractor selection, is tentatively scheduled to begin in November on the second floor.

First floor west wing staff and services move temporarily to the east wing at the end of December, with construction of the Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons beginning in January. Getting a head start, Interlibrary Loan transferred its office in August to E156 in the east wing.

The east wing entrance will be our main and only entrance from January to August 2009. Let me assure you that the Libraries will continue to provide all of our services during the renovation.

Looking ahead, when you enter the finished Learning Commons next fall, you will find:

• A 32,500 square foot public space, with an open, flexible design, and seating for over 400 users (up from current 132 seats).
• Over 200 computers, including laptops.
• Main desk that integrates Circulation, Interlibrary Loan, and information technology support services.
• Upgraded and expanded caf� (moved from east wing).
• New group study rooms with the latest technology facilitating collaborative learning and projects.
• Additional classrooms to meet the growing need for student instruction in information literacy (locating, evaluating, and using online information).

This critically-needed project will support UWM's efforts to ensure student retention and success in a number of ways. The library as place has become an important factor in academic achievement. There is a recent emphasis in universities on collaborative learning and class projects. And, of course, access to increasingly sophisticated technology is a paramount concern.

Our new learning commons will address these issues, remaking the traditional research and study spaces into a flexible, adaptable, connected environment, facilitating the changing needs of our students.

I want to emphasize that we are not phasing out our paper books; rather, we are offering a better integration of traditional and electronic information sources with technology.

For the latest information on this project visit www.uwm.edu/Libraries/renovation/

Ewa Barczyk
Director of Libraries

Project Timeline

July-December 2007
Focus groups and architectural planning.

April-June 2008
Libraries transfer rarely used materials to off-site storage in preparation for renovation.

August 2008
Multimedia Library moves to lower level west, merges with Current Periodicals/Microforms Dept., and changes name to Media Library. Interlibrary Loan Services and Document Delivery office moves temporarily to first floor east wing.

October 2008
Contractor for renovation chosen.

November 2008
Construction of Technical Services and Business staff offices begins on second floor west wing.

December 21, 2008
West wing entrance closes for construction. First floor west wing staff and services move temporarily to east wing.

January-August 2009
Construction on first floor west wing .

Fall Semester 2009
Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons opens.

UWM Libraries Staff Open Georgian Exhibition, Then Escape As War Erupts

It was an extraordinary trip to the Republic of Georgia even before UWM Libraries Director Ewa Barczyk and American Geographical Society Library Curator Christopher Baruth had to abruptly flee the nation suddenly at war.

Barczyk, her husband UWM Associate Prof. Neal Pease, Baruth, and his wife, former UW-Parkside Library Director Barbara Baruth, traveled to the remote Caucusus Mountain town of Mestia in early August to attend the opening of an exhibit of digitized historic photographs of the Svanetia region.

The original images, taken by geographer and glaciologist William O. Field in 1929, are part of the collection of the AGS Library and can be found in the UWM Libraries digital collection Images of Russia and Caucusus Region 1929-1933 located at www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/georgia/index.html

Dr. Irakli Iakobashvili, Archivist of the Georgian Parliament, had studied the photographs at UWM with an AGS Library McColl research fellowship in 2006. Virtually unknown in Georgia, the images were regarded as a treasure-trove by Iakobashvili, who was anxious to introduce them to the Svanetians as vital documentation of their history, showing how their parents and grandparents had lived and worked.

He arranged and curated the exhibition, and invited the two UWM Libraries administrators to Mestia. Their trip was underwritten by the U.S. Embassy in Georgia.

"The UWM Libraries are honored to be able to contribute to this exhibit that highlights the fascinating history and culture of Georgia," Barczyk said, "all the more so in this dramatic moment when that nation's welfare and heritage are under attack from outside forces."

Baruth said that the photographs "depict traditional, and in many respects, enduring Georgian landscapes. They were made on the cusp of Sovietization, still within the memory of some of the oldest inhabitants."

He said that while clothing styles have changed and cell phone towers have appeared, the unique architecture, harvest by scythe, and animal power are still dominant elements in a landscape framed by majestic glacier-capped mountains, the highest in Europe.

The Milwaukee group first toured Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, and its environs and then journeyed by car to Mestia on roads that narrowed vertiginously, with evidence of recent landslides, as they ascended the mountain range.

Before the opening, they accompanied Iakobashvili as he drove to a nearby village with a laptop and showed the images to local inhabitants, who were able to provide information about individuals pictured.

The opening on August 7 in the assembly hall of Mestia's modern museum attracted a capacity audience, including the Archbishop of Svanetia, the region's Governor, and Georgia's National Museums director.

Following speeches and presentations, a film made by Field in Svanetia was screened. "Although everyone was standing and the room was warm, all were rapt, even the children," Baruth said. "The overall response to the film and photographs was clearly emotional."

Plans to return to Tbilisi and fly back to Milwaukee were disrupted by the outbreak of war. Instead, the group was escorted by US Embassy personnel on an anxious journey that zig-zagged south through Georgia.

Frequently calling ahead and sometimes changing routes to avoid potential danger, they eventually reached the Turkish border and, after several more adventures, arrived home safely.