April 24, 2006 - Library’s 24-hour Study Lounge Opens
With a couple swipes of the now well-used, large ceremonial scissors, the ribbon was cut for Rider University’s new 24-hour, wireless study lounge at the front of Moore Library.
The new study lounge, complete with 14 lounge chairs and another 12 seats surrounding three café tables, will provide expanded seating space for students during the day and study conducive space.
“This is a particularly exciting moment for me,” said F. William Chickering, dean of the University libraries as he and President Mordechai Rozanski were preparing to the cut the ribbon with several others who made the study lounge possible.
“With the wisdom and insight of our president and the others who support his efforts to provide resources and they have given us the opportunity to make a difference. All of us in the Library are tremendously appreciative of the incredible support we have received,” Chickering added. “This includes people far beyond the library – people who deal with information technology, telephones, security and all the phases of construction and paying for building activities. Even people who really do not have too much to do with what we have to do here in the Library have been encouraging and supportive.”
“It is a very, very happy day for me to see that we can open this facility to provide more seats more of the time to more of our students,” he concluded.
In addition to the facility being a wireless environment, there are also outlets for students who wish to use their laptops in that manner.
Chickering explained that the lounge has two zones – a quiet zone for individual study and a space for more collaborative efforts where students need to work in small groups. Soon a machine that dispenses a variety of hot drinks will be installed. There is also a security phone, public telephone and an ATM machine at the entrance to the lounge.
Also important to the dean is a call box will be at the sidewalk so that those students with mobility impairment can have someone escort them to the elevator. These students can also call the Public Safety and Security Office to also have an officer assist them with entering and exiting the new facility.
