Library begins to plan post-Katrina construction and repairs

Howard-Tilton Memorial Library is planning extensive renovations in response to their current space problems.

Two projects are currently in the design stages. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is funding the first project, which will replace space land the Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning system lost during Hurricane Katrina. The second project, called the Howard-Tilton Renewal Plan, will add additional square footage beyond the FEMA project’s replacement space and make more widespread improvements to the library.

The FEMA project is the more immediate and critical project. The library lost all of its basement storage space due to Hurricane Katrina flooding and must replace that space to relieve office crowding and limited book storage.

“We had 49,000 printed items, 8,000 DVDs and 24,000 CDs that were lost in the basement pre-Katrina, all of which were destroyed,” music/media librarian Lisa Hooper said. “We’re working on replacing those collections, but space is an issue.”

Jennifer Corbin, a reference librarian and instructional coordinator, said she agrees.

“We are really still feeling the effects of Katrina,” Corbin said. “It is really the only building that has not been completely remediated.”

Katrina completely destroyed the HVAC system stored in the basement. Tulane wants to completely replace the temporary system.

“The current heating and cooling system was meant to last six months, and it’s been running for three years now,” Associate Dean of Libraries Andy Corrigan said. “We’re on life support. This project aims to reconstruct the library’s mechanical systems and other basement spaces that were flooded during Katrina. It would be funded through build-back and hazard mitigation programs offered by FEMA and must pass though strict guidelines and restrictions through each of its stages, even this early design phase. We expect the design phase to be completed within about a year, after which — if all goes well — a construction plan and timeline would be set.”

Ultimately, the FEMA project will add two more stories to the roof of the library, University Architect Collette Creppell said.

The more extensive Howard-Tilton Renewal Plan focuses on enhancement rather than Katrina replacement.

“The Library Renewal Plan is the larger and very much separate plan that must address library growth needs for the future, long overdue since the library was running out of collections and user spaces before the storm,” Corrigan said. “No timeline has been set for the Library Renewal Plan, but architects on this project have completed some preliminary programming work that assigns square footage.”

The plan includes extending the Learning Commons through the first floor and converting the basement into classrooms and office space.

“The new library will support in innovative ways the evolving research, learning and service needs of the university and hold its competitive position among other libraries at Tulane’s peer institutions,” said Corrigan. “We can say at this point that the present Learning Commons opened on a portion of the first floor of the building this fall is just a prototype for a much larger Learning Commons space that would be envisioned by the renewal plan.”

Hooper said she believes the additional expansion of the library is crucial for growth.

“We’re working on replacing those collections, but by the time FEMA builds the replacement space, we will have grown out of it,” Hooper said.

With the construction will come noise, but the library staff said it believes it is prepared to handle it appropriately.

“When we built the Learning Commons, we had earplugs and put signs out when we knew it would be loud,” Corbin said.