In July of this year Rod Library began work on three new renovations inside their space that will change the library experience for students. 

The majority of the renovations are completed, with the new West Entrance being the only one of the three that is open for students at this time.  

Book Bistro is a new café that hopes to be open Sept. 15 with a grand opening ceremony planned for Oct. 1 at 10 a.m.  The patio is planned to be finished in late September.

Book Bistro will be a café serving alternate options of food or drinks to students such as grilled cheese sandwiches, various coffees and teas. The Book Bistro will provide another place for students to hang out with their friends or make new ones. 

Alex Grover, the assistant retail manager of 23rd Street Market said, “It will be nice to have food in the library, especially in winter time and students won’t want to leave. The renovations will turn this section into a social setting and not a let’s be quiet and study area, and that will be nice.”

The library is also adding a museum on the first floor and is nearly completed. The museum is undergoing some minor upgrades and will soon start bringing artifacts over from the Hudson Road museum. 

The library has also opened the space on the main floor, adding more technologies and now has an area where students can hook up laptops.  

“We hope that the café will bring in different people. They might walk through that new entrance, use our services and also that becomes a gathering place for campus,” said Christopher Cox, dean of library services.

These changes in the library might not be the last.  Other things that will benefit students learning experiences are being discussed and are in the works.  

One such project would be a maker’s space, which is a space that would be available in the library that would offer students and faculty a place to visualize things using Legos, a craft table, a 3D printer or tools to help them design and build projects. Other possibilities are a larger public programing space and possibly adding a CAT classroom into the library.

Rod library is continuing to evolve and improve itself into a better place for students to study and socialize.