By Craig Leroux, Senior Communications Officer

Queen’s new Library and Archives Master Plan (LAMP) envisions a transformed library system to meet the needs of students and researchers now and over the next twenty years. The plan, approved by the university’s Board of Trustees at its December meeting, focuses on enhancing spaces and services, to provide the most effective environment possible for users and collections.

Stauffer Library

“The implementation of the LAMP will enrich the student learning experience while making better, more efficient use of our existing spaces,” says Alan Harrison, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic). “It recognizes the evolution of how students use the library, including the demand for more study and learning space.”

Martha Whitehead, University Librarian, says that the finalized LAMP comes after a year and a half of study and consultation led by the project’s steering group.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of valuable feedback from the many students, staff and faculty who engaged in the process,” says Ms. Whitehead. “The result is a plan that promotes and preserves collections while recognizing the shift towards the library as a hub for learning and collaboration.”

Among the recommendations is a plan to strengthen Stauffer Library’s central support for learning and research, while transforming Douglas Library into a new focal point of knowledge resources. It would see the archives take up a new home in Douglas Library along with the special collections it already houses.

“Kathleen Ryan Hall is not a viable building for the long-term future of the archives,” says Ms. Whitehead. “A move of the archives into Douglas Library would allow us to provide a research and exhibit facility appropriate to the preservation requirements of its valuable and significant collections.”

The LAMP also calls for improvements to Queen’s other library locations and for the creation of a new Library Information Networks at Queen’s (LINQ), which would create new learning and study spaces in strategic locations across campus, virtually connected to the full range of library resources and services.

LAMP provides an exciting new vision for the library and archives, one that Ms. Whitehead notes will happen incrementally over time.

“The LAMP really is a living document, and we plan to review it every five years during its 20-year life,” says Ms. Whitehead. ”Work on some of the recommendations can begin right away, and some will proceed as funding and other considerations allow.”

The LAMP was developed in alignment with the Campus Master Plan, which will be presented to the Board for approval at its meeting in March.

Read the full Library and Archives Master Plan report