Biomedical library to reduce hours during seismic proofing process
The Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library is currently undergoing construction and will reduce its hours until April. (Miriam Bribiesca/Photo editor)
By Kuhelika Ghosh
Sept. 22, 2016 2:36 a.m.
The Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library at UCLA will reduce its hours until April due to construction.
The Biomedical Library began construction Aug. 29 to make the building more resistant to earthquakes. The library will close at 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and will not have extended hours through 10th week and finals. It was previously open till 11 p.m. during the quarter and 12 a.m. during finals week.
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Associate university librarian Judy Consales, said the project is sponsored by UCLA Capital Programs. The project will cost around 52 million dollars.
“When Reagan first opened, the entire area was seismically unsafe,” Consales said. “This is an attempt to make the different towers in the Center for Health Sciences complex safer.”
The Biomedical Library is located in the Center for the Health Sciences building and serves as the Regional Medical Library for the Pacific Southwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, according to the library website. It also serves the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Schools of Dentistry and Nursing.
The seismic retrofit project will include construction of shear walls, and fiber wrapping and bolting of certain structures. It will also include additional fire alarm systems, fire safety and accessibility upgrades.
The project will impact all levels of the Biomedical Library and other areas of the Center for Health Sciences building as well.
Later this year, the Graduate Reading Room on the third floor of the library, which usually stays open 24/7, will close at 9 p.m. with no after-hours access. The Biomed History and Special Collections Cage Stacks will also be unavailable during the construction period.
Consales said she thinks graduate students might feel slightly inconvenienced due to the reduced hours, but they will be referred to other library spaces on campus available for later studying, such as the Young Research Library and Night Powell.
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UCLA Vice Chancellor Steve Olsen presented plans to upgrade parts of the Center for Health Sciences to comply with UC Seismic Safety Policy at the University of California Regents’ September meeting.
