The Lydia M. Olson Library on Northern Michigan University’s campus is preparing for an upcoming renovation project that will transform the main floor of the library. Library and Instructional Support Dean Leslie Warren said updated electrical and lighting systems will be some of the new features patrons will see. (Journal photo by Alexandria Bournonville)

EDITORS NOTE:This is part of a six-part series on local libraries in Marquette County for Library Appreciation Week.

By DREYMA BERONJA

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — The Lydia M. Olson Library at Northern Michigan University is committed to being an intellectual hub for scholarship, creativity, diversity and community.

According to the library’s webpage, the Lydia M. Olson Library exists in part to partner with NMU’s community as teachers and curators of information.

“Our primary focus for Olson Library is the university, primarily supporting the curriculum,” Library and Instructional Support Dean Leslie Warren said. “Beyond that, we are open to the community and because we have a collection that’s more academic, our collection complements what you would find at the public libraries.”

Warren said whether someone is going to Peter White Public Library or the Negaunee Public Library, those collections are weighed more toward popular reading and children’s books, whereas the Lydia M. Olson Library has materials for those looking for more academic and going more in depth on a subject.

“They could also use their home libraries and request things through interlibrary loan and we (Lydia M. Olson Library) would have them sent to their home library,” Warren said. “Community members, including teenagers over the age of 14, are able to use our library.”

She said anyone over the age of 14 with a community borrowing card is able to check books out from the library.

“Generally the community borrowing cards are $25 a year but we waive that fee for NMU alumni, teachers in the Upper Peninsula and high school-aged students,” she said.

High school students need permission from their guardians to check out books from the library but are able to come in and use the library in any circumstance.

“Beyond that, connected to our library is the NMU and Central Upper Peninsula Archives,” Warren said. “So community members are also welcome to use our archives to find original documents that support the history of the Upper Peninsula.”

Those looking to use NMU Archives can do research on various subjects, including genealogy, northern Michigan history, mining history and labor history in the U.P.

Warren said the NMU Archives reading room will soon be moved to the main floor of the library as part of the upcoming renovation project.

“We’re moving the archives reading room up onto this floor so that we can highlight it,” Warren said. “This will make it more accessible to students and increase the visibility because we have some cool stuff in the archives.”

She said the archives have handwritten letters from Teddy Roosevelt to George Shiras III about the first environmental legislation that went through Congress, blueprints of the Lower Harbor Ore Dock in Marquette, railroad maps from the 1800s and letters from women from the U.P. who were nurses during one of the world wars.

“They wrote letters home from Europe where they were stationed during the war on the front lines as nurses and we have those letters,” Warren said.

She said renovations will begin during the next winter break and take up to two years to complete. During that time, the library staff and services will be moved to Gries Hall, the former location of the Ada B. Vielmetti Health Center.

“Right now we are finalizing the floor layouts. Construction costs have gone up dramatically in the last couple of years. Those dramatic increases have forced the university to rethink some of our projects,” Warren said. “There’s a lot that the university needs to accomplish as far as space, so we are rethinking how we will use Harden Hall.”

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center, which is in the same division as the library and NMU Archives, will be moved over to the main floor of the library.

“We will have the Beaumier gallery, archives reading room and the library colocated so that we can really build on those three and highlight the visibility for students,” Warren said.

In addition to the renovation planning, Warren said the library is going to use the upstairs space of the library differently.

“We will leave about 120,000 books here but we will take part of the collection to off-site storage where we can retrieve it for people,” Warren said. “The regular 120,000-130,000 books will continue to be available here for people to browse after renovation but we will take the other part of that space and use it for some other university offices.”

Warren said the main floor of the library will have the most changes.

“With this main floor, we are going to do some things to really enhance the ability of students to find the support that they need for studying to find better space, better electric and better lighting,” she said

Due to popular demand of study rooms, more will be added during the project.

The west side of the library will also become a student learning commons, according to Warren. All of the tutoring areas will be colocated on the main floor of the library.

“If there’s a big math test coming up, the math tutoring can take up lots of space and they can adjust based on where their surges are without having to say math is in this area, writing is in this area,” Warren said.

Warren said the library can provide support for every student who needs it. One of her favorite parts about the library is being able to work with every office on campus.

“In my role, I get to work with lots of people and that’s pretty exciting, that the library can have those connections,” Warren said. “It’s really that interdisciplinary hub (from the library’s mission statement) that I really enjoy the most.”

The library can also help the community accomplish goals and provide the resources to do that, Warren said.

“We’re here for our students, faculty and staff,” Warren said. “Sometimes that is books, sometimes that’s virtual reality.”

For more information about Lydia M. Olson Library, visit its website at lib.nmu.edu.

Dreyma Beronja can be reached at 906-228-2500 ext. 248. Their email address is dberonj@miningjournal.net.