Eighty per cent of books in RMIT University’s Swanston Library will be moved off campus when the New Academic Street construction begins next year.
University buildings along Swanston Street on the city campus will undergo refurbishment in a project expected to take three years.
During construction 240,000 titles will be relocated to a shared library facility in Bundoora.
But RMIT librarian Dr Craig Anderson said the university was taking every possible measure to reduce negative impacts on students.
A 24-hour turnaround will be guaranteed for students who request a book no longer available on campus, and a number of the most widely used books will remain in the library during construction. The university will also seek to purchase more electronic copies of books.
The RMIT University Student Union (RUSU) has lobbied the university over how much study space will be available to students during the project.
Each day around 10,000 students use the Swanston Library, which spans across Buildings 8, 10 and 12 on levels 5 and 6.
But Dr Anderson said construction during the first phase will take place in library spaces in Building 10 and Building 12, while most study areas are in Building 8.
The library will retain 80 per cent of its seating during construction and will deliver more study space when renovations are complete, according to Dr Anderson.
“When the Library in the NAS is completed it will provide students with more quiet and silent study areas in an exciting, light-filled space,” he said.
Dr Anderson also said the university would try to minimise noise associated with the refurbishments.
Construction on the library is expected to begin in the middle of next year and NAS will be completed in 2017.
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