Project Description
The renovation of Meckler Library was included in a campus master plan produced by VMA in 2012 intended to support increased enrollment and improve the quality of their teaching environments. Upgrades to mechanical and electrical systems and lighting were needed to improve the comfort of a space that had received little attention since it was built in 1972.
Though the services provided by the library and its overall size were satisfactory, they did not reflect the changing role of the library in modern learning. In order to help the library maintain relevance as a teaching space, classrooms were reconfigured, technology was added, and collaborative learning settings were developed. The circulation desk was removed entirely, replaced with a mobile laptop check-out that frees the librarians to move around the library and assist students, and freeing up valuable work space.
Improvements to the reading room included brightening the workspace with new windows, which now also offer views to the main quad, and creating additional storage. Major changes to the program include an isolated study/special collections room with archival-quality cabinetry to protect and display the school’s collection of signed first-edition literature, and a new tech-focused classroom outfitted with modern workstations and interactive projection systems.
To further strengthen Pennington’s robust specialized Cervone Learning Center program, we accomplished one of the school’s longest-standing goals: eight new Communication Skills classrooms for the expanded Learning Center faculty, who teach learning different students in unique single-student classrooms.