The third floor reading room's new furniture, she says, will include more individualized study space in lieu of the long group study tables that have occupied it since 1949.

"It's documented that people have boundaries," Cole says. "There's no point in putting six seats at a table when people always sit two seats apart."

She says the change reflects a change in the way people study. "We like more personal study spaces," she says of contemporary students-but also the correction of a long-standing problem.

"Those long tables? I don't think they ever worked," she says.

The reading room's new lighting will also reflect student feedback, Cole says.

"When the only lights are coming from 16 or 18 feet, people psychologically feel like they're not getting enough light," she says.

And so, the uniform lighting that made the library's original proponents so proud will also be retired, in favor of a variety of different lighting solutions, including conventional ceiling lights, lamps, and pendant lights hanging from the ceiling.

Other planned amenities designed for student convenience and comfort include a limited number of laptop loges in the third floor reading room and armchairs with footrests.

Eyes on the Future

Cole says she expects that the range of functions for which students can use computers will continue to grow. For an introduction to these functions, she says, students will need the help of trained staff so that librarians can serve as teachers.

"Most students who are good with computers whiz in and whiz out, and it's only when you get stuck that you turn around and find there's someone there," Cole says.

"It's our role as librarians to be interpreters, to be teachers of that kind of learning resource," she adds.

And with the increased number of functions available to students in the library, Cole says, Lamont will become more of a one-stop shop for students.

"Amazingly enough in the age of electronics, more and more people are voicing an interest in the library as a place," she says.

Just to name a few, the resources available at Lamont currently include computers, copy machines, study space, social space, telephones and bathrooms.