Hillman Library’s third floor will be closing soon

Empty third floor of library

By DONOVAN HARRELL

Hillman Library is preparing to begin renovations on its third floor this week.

The process of renovating the floor, which was still open for study earlier this week, will take roughly a year to complete, said Jeff Wisniewski, director of communications & web services for the University Library System.

Closing signAll the books on the third floor have been shipped to a storage facility while some furniture and bookshelves remain.

The idea behind renovations for the third floor will follow similar themes to the fourth floor — more open, collaborative spaces for students with redesigned furniture.

There also will be a space to house the library’s special collections, which are currently spread throughout the second and ground floors.

So far, Wisniewski said, the fourth floor, which reopened in the fall, has been a hit with Pitt students. Wisniewski said the library has spent the past few months analyzing which furniture is being used the most.

“We have been doing some kind of assessment activities up there,” Wisniewski said. “Doing photographic studies of where people move, furniture. (We’re) trying to get a sense of what people like and what they don't like, and what works and what doesn't work.”

The feedback will go into the library’s future renovations as the process continues floor-by-floor. The full renovations aren’t expected to be complete until 2021 or the end of 2022.

Donovan Harrell is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at dharrell@pitt.edu or 412-383-9905.