Team Ground Zero: Arseleena Ali, Anas Ashraf, Josue Flores, Grace McGrath
Adam Bubrow
English 21007
April 2, 2019
Archival Studies: Fixing the NAC Library
Introduction
The students of City College deserve better in every sense of the word. As such, one situation that is in dire need of amelioration would be the quality and quantity of study space for college students within the confines of the NAC library. Initially, our group investigated the library scene at CCNY and determined that the Cohen library within the NAC needed a few modifications on the behalf of all City College students. In general, the Cohen library contains a surfeit of unnecessary elements such as unoccupied bookshelves, printing release stations, etc. These components, as “insignificant” as they may seem, tend to detract from the library’s efficacy when complying with the nuanced needs of their campus. In some cases, these detractions are so cumbersome that some students become utterly disgruntled with the facility and decide to find a new study space that can actually meet their academic necessities.
If the quantity and quality of the study space were improved, many more CCNY students would be inclined to study at this library, as demonstrated in Figure 1. As such, we plan to rectify these academic obstructions by incorporating a few changes to the library. These alterations consist of altering the primary function of print release stations to replicate a standard CCNY desktop with a circumscribed window of time and the addition/implementation of large-scale printers, charging outlets within cubicles, group study desks, and QR codes within the library’s parameters. In addition, while researching these additions, we sat down with Charles Stewart, the Associate Dean and Chief Librarian, at City College. He discussed the current plans of the Library and Tech Center for renovations to accommodate more students. These plans fortunately aligned well with our proposal, and we have integrated those ideas with our very own. Nearly everybody wants more space in the library, and as such, our proposal merits consideration and by enacting these changes, we hope to observe an overall increase in the efficiency of the library and a proliferated usage of this facility by its students, especially during critical study periods such as Midterms and Finals.
Figure 1: Student Survey Results
Fig. 1 demonstrates the overwhelming student response to the lack of space in the library. The previous question asked students where they studied, and Fig. 1 reveals that those who currently don’t study in the library would if there was more space.
Action Plan
Table 1: Action Plans, Reasoning, & Priority Level
| Action | Reasoning | Priority |
| Survey the library to see if it can support compact shelving. | Compact shelving (See Appendix A for an example) can minimize the space books take up by about half the original area. Though it is costly, and the building must be inspected by structural engineers to see if it can support such additions, it is extremely worthwhile. | High |
| Begin the construction of compact shelving, if the building is structurally sound, and remove the clutter, or just reorganize the unused space (see Appendix B). | Before adding any of the new features to the library, such as tables, desks, and potentially classrooms, we need to clear the space for it. The first floor can support the shelving regardless, but, in the worst case, if the other floors cannot, we can still consolidate some of the clutter of the library and revise the scale of our additions to fit the potential limitations. | High |
| Replace computers that are reserved only as release stations with computers that are reserved for printing only. | Computers reserved as release stations are redundant as this can be done online through Papercut on any machine, as long as it is connected to CCNY wifi. We recommend changing the functions of those stations to standard computers that have a set time limit of 10 minutes per login. Within those 10 minutes, one can print and queue any document one desires. This is an improved version of the release station. | High |
| Add printers for large scale printing | Black and white industrial laser printers should be added to floors 1 and 2 that are reserved for large scale consecutive printing. You cannot print any pages less than 20 and any number of pages more than 70 consecutively. You can still queue a document of larger page size by breaking it up into 70 pages. These printers should only be reserved for those who want to print a large document to minimize interference with students who have small print requests. | Medium |
| Add individual charging outlets close to every cubicle | Students who study/work at a cubicle usually use their laptop or need to charge their phone, and since there is only one charging station on the first floor and few outlets, there is a need for more charging outlets. | High |
| Add QR codes on every floor where students can submit complaints to the library | If there are any machines that are broken, outlets that are not working, desks that are not stable/broken, books that are incorrectly shelved, or doors that are broken, then students should be able to tell the scan the QR code and write a complaint about their concerns so it can be kept for archival purposes and its progress tracked. In addition, non-functioning computer stations should be labelled clearly, so it is easier to report them. | Medium |
Costs & Benefits
Table 2: Direct Cost Breakdown
| Item | Cost/Unit | # of Units | Estimated Total Cost |
| Structural Engineer Inspection | *According to Mr. Stewart, CCNY Associate Dean of Library, this cost is roughly equal to the cost of installing compact shelving | $3.075 Million | |
| Compact Shelving | $41/linear foot | ~75,000 ft | $3.075 Million |
| Group Study Desks | $614.15 | ~50 desks | $3,849.00 |
| Chairs | $99.75 | ~250 chairs | $24,937.50 |
| Outlets | $200.00 | 500 | $100,000.00 |
| Industrial Laser-Printers | $424.35 | 2 | $848.70 |
= $6,279,635.20
Table 3: Cost & Benefit Analysis
| Benefits | Costs |
| In a preliminary study of library space, Linda Bedwell and Caitlin Banks, of Dalhousie University, noted “individuals selecting a group study table (a large table) to work at, spreading out books, papers, laptops and supplies.” They noted that often friends might join them, and individuals would complete their own work in a group setting. (Banks, 2013, 9)
In a 2010 survey conducted at University of Dayton published in 2008 showed a preference for large tables, with 30.5% of the furniture used being used. (See Appendix C for full table) This points to the advantages of having more tables for studying, serving a dual purpose of facilitating group discussions and allowing more space for individual work. |
Roughly $6.45M for the costs of adding compact shelving and new desks/tables to fill some of the new space. This includes the cost of moving the books into the new shelves. |
| One survey result said, “There are not enough spaces with outlets for students to charge their laptops…”
This reflects the observations from a paper presented by Virginia Young at an American Library Association Conference. She noted that areas with outlets were popular (Young, 6). Bedwell and Banks noted the same occurrence (9). To allow students to spread out and take advantage of newly cleared space, there must be an adequate number of outlets so they can use their laptops anywhere in the library. |
Roughly $100,000 to add more outlets to each floor. |
| We can counteract the temporary lack of space, resulting from construction/renovation/book moving, by doing the upgrades in rounds. It’s not a full benefit, but it’s a potential solution: better to have some floors available for us than none, and as the floors are completed more space will open up. | The library floors will be out of use for as long as the construction takes place. |
Experience
Josue Flores is a Sophomore majoring in Computer Engineering at the Grove School of Engineering within The City College of New York. Josue was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and became infatuated with the functions of computer ever since he was young. At the moment, he is currently learning about the programming aspects of computers through the programming language of C++. In addition, he is well versed in the fundamentals of computer programs such as Microsoft Excel, Word, MatLab. He hopes to learn several more programming languages along with other Computer Engineering skills during the remainder of his time at CCNY.
Anas Ashraf is an aspiring Electrical Engineer at the City College of New York. He has adept knowledge in organizing payroll in bespoke software for a large company, setting up a dynamic server message to share files through, and modifying existing software so it can run faster on terminals with no processing through his internship with A.F. Enterprises. He is currently interested more in the metaphysical aspects of his field and is hoping to publish a paper on the journal Noûs on the question of whether two bodies can be identified not only in form and matter but also in its properties. He hopes to be able to cause a burgeoning in the field of metaphysics through his work both in philosophy and in engineering in verifying and proving the universality of his claims that have been made prior to experience and on pure reason alone.
Grace McGrath is a freshman majoring in Electrical Engineering at the Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York. Grace was born and raised in the Bronx, and studies engineering to combine her passions for technology and creative problem-solving. Since coming to college, she has joined Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York (WiTNY) and Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Through WiTNY, Grace participated in a winter internship at Credit Suisse in January 2019, working on the Java back-end development for a tool that sends buy/sell signals to credit traders. She has also joined the CCNY Aerospace Club, Harlem Launch Alliance, as Engineering Secretary and a member of the Recovery System Team for one of the two rockets. She loves the applications of Electrical Engineering that she has already discovered, and is looking forward to all the opportunities that her major will provide.
Arseleena Ali is currently a freshman at CCNY focused on pursuing engineering. Born and raised in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, she was always very fascinated by how the things around her were created. Although she does not know what type of engineer she wants to become, she is open to exploring her options. All throughout middle school and high school, she loved math and science and has always received excelling grades in them. Additionally, she’s done a ton of volunteer and fund-raising work, which not only helped the community around her but also contributed greatly in bettering her social skills, which she currently uses at her job as a receptionist at a daycare center. She is very good with technology so she can easily operate windows and mac, in addition to all word processors. She is very organized, responsible and cooperative, as she easily adapts to different environments.
Conclusion
As Mr. Stewart said in our meeting, “CCNY isn’t admitting any more students than before, it’s just that the students are becoming more studious.” As the preparers of this proposal, and in talking about our colleagues here at City College, we wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. Everybody we have spoken to wants more space in the library for students to get work done. Another element of this issue is that many students are commuters and must fill the time between their classes; many choose to relax or study in the library. Given all of these, as students, we deserve to have a library that works for us and accommodates our needs as our academic standards are ever-increasing. The bright minds of City College require the library as major support for future success. The library resources are certainly plentiful, but we cannot let the lack of space to use those resources deter students from success. Our ideas have not fallen on deaf ears; the library is eager to create the space that we want, and we vehemently urge them to consider our proposal as complementary to the ideas that they are already brewing.
References
Bedwell, L., & Banks, C. (2013). Seeing Through the Eyes of Students: Participant
Observation in an Academic Library. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library
and Information Practice and Research, 8(1).
Webb, K. M. & Schaller, M. A. & Hunley, S. A. (2008). Measuring Library Space Use and
Preferences: Charting a Path Toward Increased Engagement. portal: Libraries and the
Academy 8(4), 407-422. Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved April 1, 2019,
from Project MUSE database.
Young, V. E. (2003). Can We Encourage Learning by Shaping Environment? Patterns of
Seating Behavior in Undergraduates. 11th National Conference Papers, American
Library Association. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/pdf/young.PDF
Appendix A
Compact Shelving
http://www.spacesaver.com/portfolio-posts/compact-shelving-library-makerspace/
Appendix B
Wasted Library Space
Appendix C
2008 University of Dayton Findings
https://muse-jhu-edu.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/article/251356
