Renovations Begin On Truxal Library At AACC

By Darrell Mak
The first phase of a long-awaited $21.3 million renovation project to the Truxal Library on Anne Arundel Community College’s main campus kicked off last month as services in the library’s first floor emptied out in late March. The top two floors are expected to be vacated in July, after which the building will be completed closed. The library’s materials and services are being moved to temporary annex locations throughout campus, according to Cindy Steinhoff, the college’s library director.
Named after the founding president of the school, Truxal Library will be completely renovated and expanded to accommodate the growing student population. A new addition to the existing library will add nearly 70 percent more space.
“The building is going to increase dramatically in size,” said Steinhoff. “The addition will have a lot of glass allowing a lot of light into building.”

Steinhoff said the school conducted focus groups with students to better understand what type of improvements they wanted. The wish list included being able to see outside, having an abundance of natural light, and being able to see inside when walking from outside. Another desirable feature included having a variety of seating areas and styles.
“We’ll have tables and chairs, lounge seating, study carrels, and even some rocking chairs,” said Steinhoff.
The new building will have 15 more group-study rooms. “They’re very popular with students, and we’re really happy to be going from three to 18 study rooms,” commented Steinhoff, who suspected it won’t be too long before even more rooms will be needed.
In addition, the library will accommodate those with different tolerances for noise. The new library will feature a quiet or silent area on the third floor for students who wish to work without noise distraction. The library’s floor space layout will provide different areas for various noise levels to better accommodate student preferences.
“Some students study listening to their iPods, while others require complete silence,” said Steinhoff. “The new library will accommodate all preferences.”
Last month, services residing in the building’s first floor including the computer lab, tutoring, writing lab, reading lab, reading department, math lab, honors program, veterans’ center, and supplemental instruction program were moved out. Most were relocated to campus Annex buildings where they will remain for the next few years.
According to Steinhoff, construction on the exterior portion of the library will likely commence in April. Around July, after the second and third floors move to a large modular building to be built on the tennis courts, construction on the interior library spaces will begin. Construction is scheduled to be completed around July 2012, after which services and items will be returned to the new building.
The new library will be a most-welcomed addition to the campus, as student enrollment at the college continues to grow dramatically and spaces become tight. The library first opened in 1967, when the college had about 1,430 students and slightly more than 18,000 books. Today, its collection stands at around 150,000 items while nearly 200,000 people pass through its doors each year.