The fourth floor entrance to Cravens Library will be temporarily closed starting Monday for renovations for a commons area on that floor.

“We hope that by the time we return in January the vast majority of the project will be complete,” Connie Foster, Interim Dean of Libraries,  said. 

In order to access floors five through nine of Cravens, Foster said students will have to enter at Java City in Helm Library, go to the second floor and walk across. 

“It should not in any way limit their ability to use the print resources they need,” she said. 

Some library services have moved due to the renovations. 

Circulation services and the writing center have been moved the first floor of Helm Library next to the reference area for the duration of the renovation, Foster said. 

The new commons area will feature a new service desk which will now include IT support available for students. 

“The main thrust of a commons area is to have a single point of service or services for the students,” Foster said.

Other new features of the commons area include 28 computers, four laptop charging stations, varied seating for group and individual study, two email kiosks, a print release station and four dry erase boards on wheels that students can use.  

“We hope the students like this a lot,” Foster said. 

Foster said she hopes the WKU community will share the excitement the library has for the new commons area.

“We like to say the commons and the library is a place where knowledge unfolds,” she said. “If you think about where, W, knowledge, K, unfolds, U, we’re kind of playing on the WKU identity with the idea of the library being a virtual and physical place where students can find and gain knowledge.”