The Garden Level of Woodward Library has become a light-filled, technology-replete haven for students seeking quiet study space on the South side of campus.
A recent renovation of Woodward’s ground floor has transformed what students said was as a dark, cold space into a sociable yet studious setting with areas designated for group collaboration as well as solo and silent study.
Pamela Haaf, a fourth-year human kinetics student heard about the renovated space a few days after its winter opening, and was delighted with what she found. “Before, it was really depressing in here,” she said, amid a pile of books and notes during Midterm exams. “Now, I can be in ‘Wood’ – that’s what we call it – and be productive.”
Multiple surveys of students before and after the renovation have established a strong correlation between what they say they want and what they now enjoy. “I was amazed when I saw the new space,” wrote one student, in response to the question, “Tell us what you think about Woodward’s New Garden Level.” Added the student, “the space is very warm and inviting.”
As the only Library situated in South Campus, Woodward is primarily a laboratory for students in science disciplines at UBC – but not just disciplines reflected in its collections. Here, future doctors, nurses and pharmacists meet tomorrow’s computer scientists, biologists and forest engineers. What they learn at UBC can lead to breakthroughs that impact millions, including new cancer treatments, and innovative approaches to sustainability.
After Woodward opened in 1964, Mr. P.A. Woodward, its namesake, remarked on the torrent of students pouring through the turnstiles. He asked, “is this building doing its job?” to which his colleague, Professor Emeritus William C. Gibson, D. Phi. M.D. replied, it certainly was, but it was too small to meet the demand. “That did it,” Dr. Gibson recalled. “He said, ‘well, let’s double it.”
Today, Woodward once again needs to grow and change to do its job of supporting student learning in an era when they need to be not just knowledgeable, but knowledge-able – capable of finding, sorting, analyzing, sharing discussing and creating information.
The Garden Level renovation is an important step in the direction of meeting the evolving learning and information needs of students in the 21st Century. Through the generous support of parents of alumni and current UBC students who contributed to UBC Library’s Parents’ Innovation Fund, students are again flocking to “Wood” to study, to socialize, and create and disseminate new knowledge.
To read more about Woodward Library visit their website.