The College of Business wants to use a section of Monroe Library for business school offices and student centers. But some people don’t want to see that happen. The bone of contention is the left side of the library’s third floor, where the firewall is located. This area now contains 15 faculty research studies used for independent work, 40 student seats and more than 30,000 books, including the children’s section.Brandon Thibodeaux, management sophomore and College of Business president said that the College of Business needs the space in the library to move forward and improve. He said that allotting library space to the College of Business could help it to create more faculty office and classroom space, create breakout rooms and house a tutoring center within Miller Hall, all of which are things Thibodeaux said the college needs. Not everyone agrees that moving sections of the business school into the library is a good idea. Richard Snow, development librarian, said that the library serves all of the students of the university and it would be unfair to give the business school a large amount of space in the library.”The new library was planned with the College of Business’ needs in mind. For example, the multimedia rooms and seminar rooms were based on conversations with Caroline Fisher, ( business administration professor) and Joe Gratinsky, (international business professor). The library will continue to make its instructional spaces available to meet the needs of the College of Business,” said an information sheet provided by Snow. Opponents also say that money given to the library for construction was earmarked for library use only; therefore, the College of Business has no right to claim space.”The private donors [of the library] did not give money to the College of Business, but gave money to the study rooms of the library,” Snow said.Foes of the plan also say that if it is implemented, the plan will mean the loss of a good deal of the growth space for the library’s book collection. “Eliminating the older area and having to integrate the volumes and space from the older area into the newer area would result in an overall occupancy rate of 70 percent in the circulating collection. At that level, adding additional volumes, especially multi-volume sets, becomes almost unworkable, an ordeal of constant shifting,” the sheet said.The plan for the library includes areas specially designed for the College of Business. Thibodeaux said that some offices in Miller Hall now house as many as five professors. He also said that because of space constraints, many business classes must be taught in buildings other than Miller. “The College of Business is always trying to bring in the best, because from learning from the best we become the best,” Thibodeaux said. Because office space for business faculty is so hard to come by, it is often difficult to bring in quality faculty, he said.The business school would also benefit from being able to conduct most of its classes in Miller Hall instead of having classes in various buildings on campus, Thibodeaux said. “I knew a guy who told me that in three years he hadn’t had a business class outside Mercy Hall, and he was a business major,” he said. Thibodeaux also said that using the library space could help the business school with its goal of having an in-house tutoring center.The plan may prove a problem for more than just the library staff. The College of Music has been discussing plans to create a Macintosh computer lab for music, communications and visual arts students and staff. That may not be possible if the proposal for the business school goes though, Snow said. “Loss of the third floor space would do serious damage to the library’s ability to take advantage of new opportunities that require space,” the information sheet said.The Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, said, “There is no decision. A positive [for the proposal] is that . . . the accessibility of that space in fact would give them (the College of Business) access to an area that would be in view.”The downside is that the library was in planning for years and was desperately needed. It’s really become the center of the campus in several different ways. The building has really revived the main campus spirit. There’s always a danger when you fiddle with that.”The proposal will be brought before the university senate on Feb. 14.Jerry Dauterive, associate dean of the College of Business was unavailable for comment.Snow said that to reach an agreement that would please both the business school and the rest of the university community, the planning process behind the arrangement must be improved. “The current space planning process at the university is not consultative and lacks integrity. The best planning must involve those most affected and must work for the long-term benefit of the entire university community,” Snow said.

-with reporting by Crystal Bolner