By Tala Alsharif
Renovations at Youngstown State University are making their way to campus. The Resch Academic Success Center and Accessibility Services will be relocated from Kilcawley Center to the William F. Maag, Jr. Library.
Director of Planning and Construction, Richard White, explained remodeling for Kilcawley is what prompted the decision for the relocation project.
“It’s going to be a very big project coming up in the next couple of years,” White said. “We’re going to reduce the square footage of [Kilcawley Center]. So, we’re going to relocate a couple of departments out of that building.”
The firm Bostwick Architects was recently brought on board for the project and a timeline is being put together. Relocations are expected to begin in August 2024 and end in that month.
Funding for the renovation project is between $1.1 to $1.5 million and comes from capital money allocated by the state of Ohio every two years.
“We have some capital money every biennium … we get a capital allocation from the state and we’re going to reuse some of that money for this project,” White said.
Co-director of Maag Library, Christine Adams, explained that the library has been preparing for the relocation for almost a year.
“We figured out a space [in the library] that will give them enough space,” Adams said. “We’ve been preparing because we have to condense our collection and review it to clear a lot of space.”
The Resch Center will be moved into level 3 and 3A, located in the north end of the library, and Accessibility Services will be moved to the fourth level.
The renovation project will have minimal impact on student access to Maag Library. However, some areas could be temporarily limited.
“It might be those areas where we’re doing some work that might be cut off, but students should have access to the rest of the building,” White said.
Adams explained that the renovations will not put any limitations on study space and will have minimal disruptions.
Ana Torres, co-director of Maag Library, said that Resch Academic Services and Accessibility Services have discussed the idea of partnering with the library since, in most academic libraries, these services are located together.
Torres explained that this relocation will open doors to students by providing opportunities for staff collaboration across different services. Since the Writing Center and Testing Center are also located at the library, the new addition will serve to make the library a one-stop service.
“It’s been very successful when those services move over to libraries, because then they’re very handy for students. They’re in the same location,” Torres said. “We can collaborate and assist the students better in all respects.”
