Library opens arts expansion

The first floor Sara Miller McCune Arts Library reopened on Dec. 2 after renovations that modernized the space and added more seats and media tools. Philanthropist and longtime UC Santa Barbara donor Sara Miller McCune funded the renovation through a $5 million donation from 2015. The UCSB Library announced the project in April 2023, and the space closed from Aug. 5 to Dec. 2, 2024 for construction.

The space features fixed and flexible study tables for individual and group study with more than 100 seats. The library is open to the general public, while other features, such as the multimedia studio, two listening rooms, media lab and listening and viewing station, are available only to UCSB students and faculty. The seminar room is available for UCSB faculty, instructors and library staff only.

McCune’s $5 million donation in 2015 was the main source of funding for the new Arts Library. Half of the donation went toward humanities programs while the other portion went toward establishing the Sara Miller McCune University Library Innovation Fund, which is “used to plan and implement programs, spaces, and experiences that meet the evolving requirements shaping academic research libraries,” according to the library website.

The Music and Art & Architecture print collections were temporarily unavailable for public browsing until the new Arts Library opened. However, the library’s staff made sure users could still request the materials through their UC Library Search. The staff also notified the faculty of the history of art & architecture and music departments about the print collections’ limited accessibility to give them enough time to plan out their coursework.

The Music and Art & Architecture collections are now combined in the new space. It took five staff and managers and an estimated 10 or 20 students to relocate books to make space for the music collection in the main library, according to Building Operations Manager Dave Kujan.

Stack Services, a department that organizes materials and manages printers and photocopiers in the library, helped relocate the materials from the soon-to-be Arts Library on the first floor to a temporary space on the second floor until construction was completed. Once it was, an outside company was paid to move all of the materials back to the first floor. While relocating everything from their original Art & Architecture space and Music Library, users and faculty faced a problem where certain materials were stuck in the original space during construction, making them inaccessible for several months.

“Some of the art department lecture materials remained in the space on the first floor during construction, and so, public users couldn’t access those for a couple of months,” Director of Communications and External Relations Johannes Steffens said. 

“But we wanted to make sure that people could still use those books. Users could request those books and other materials through our library catalog, and then library staff would go into the construction area, I believe, once a day to retrieve the books.”

The exhibit “Creative Currents,” features works of art UCSB students have made over the past decades and is on display in the Arts Library until June 20. The exhibit includes art books created by the Book Arts program, student compositions composed by the music department and materials from the theatre and dance department. The items in the exhibition were selected from university archives in UCSB’s Special Research Collections. 

Students felt positively about the new study space, citing the ambiance and the set up of the space.

“I think the cubbies are really nice. I like the ambiance of it, the lighting is really good. And the chairs are actually really comfortable — they have this padding on them. I really like how these tables are kind of secluded, so it gives me study room vibes without actually being completely closed off,” third-year biological sciences major Solaya Han said.

Students also noted an improvement compared to the previous layout and arrangement, mentioning improved lighting and study features.

“Honestly, I didn’t really go here in the past a lot, because I didn’t really like the layout. I would say, I feel like it was very, kind of closed off and kind of dark. But now I really like how open it is, and I think that the layout is really nice. I really love the cubbies and how they all have outlets,” third-year biological sciences and communication double major Kadie Kong said.

Members of the library’s staff also had their own remarks about its current status.

“I think it’s been a great and very rewarding project,” Steffens said. “I’ve only been with the library and UCSB for just over two years, so this is the first bigger construction project that I’ve been a part of here.”

“It shows others what the library can do with a generous donation. We have other spaces in the library that we would love to be able to do something similar. Seeing all those students in there regularly all the time is a testament to what a great space it is,” Kujan said.

“For me, there’s a lot of joy in coming into the space and seeing literally every seat taken by students who are enjoying the space,” Interim University Librarian Alan Grosenheider said. “And, of course, I’m really deeply appreciative of the major gift that Sara Miller McCune gave to the library in order to make the space as beautiful, as inspiring and to be able to provide useful technology for students to be creative.” 

A version of this article appeared on p.4 of the Feb. 6, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.

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