This past year, a variety of changes have been implemented in the Cathey Reading Room at Harper Memorial Library. Preparations for new interior renovations of the Reading Room began on July 24, 2024, and were eventually completed before the start of the autumn quarter. In addition, the Phoenix Sustainability Initiative came up with a way to sustainably stock the empty shelves of the Reading Room. The updates were funded by the Arley D. Cathey Memorial Fund to maintain the Reading Room and included both aesthetic and functional updates.
The old taupe carpet that covered the floor of the Reading Room was replaced with a red, black, and white tartan pattern adorned with the University seal. Long, LED bar lamps spanning the full length of each long table replaced the previous lamps in the Reading Room. The tables were refinished to accompany this restoration.
In an email to the Maroon, Katelyn Yoshimoto, a spokesperson for the College, said that the old carpet was “threadbare in places,” making the renovations necessary. “Well-worn tables were refinished and lamps, which in some cases did not work, were updated to energy-efficient LED lighting. In the coming months, the College plans to refinish the chairs as well.”
According to Yoshimoto, this project took place this past summer, when there would be less student traffic. Most of the renovations finished on time for the start of autumn quarter.
New measures that aim to preserve the carpeting and tables include restrictions on food, drinks, and water bottles inside the Reading Room. According to signage posted outside the reading room, library patrons are required to enjoy their food and drinks in designated areas such as Harper Cafe. Water bottles must be sealed and placed in personal belongings and bags, with library staff regularly patrolling the room ensuring that no bottles are placed on the furniture or floors.
The Harper Library Working Group, a part of the student-run Phoenix Sustainability Initiative, also started a new project to bring books to the Reading Room. The group drew inspiration from projects they had seen around campus to stock the shelves of Harper in a sustainable manner.
“We’d sort of done a lending library type thing in the past… and we know that there’s a few houses that have libraries, but not everyone does, so we’re trying to combine it all,” said third-year Seri Welsh, who started the working group. “We wanted to bring something bigger together that could reach everyone both on campus and off campus. Books are expensive, and there are so many people that will have a book once for their class and won’t want to read them again, so we’re able to help them get rid of something without wasting it and help other people be able to afford having books.”
The group has already begun stocking books in the corners of the Main Reading Room, including required reading for Core classes and other donations that the working group has acquired.
“We started with a few donations the professors had that they wanted to get rid of and we organized those and left them. Around O-Week we started putting them up from the summer and then started reaching out to some other professors recently to see what they have and what they want to give,” Welsh said. “We have about 30,000 books from the Reg library that they’re getting rid of, either because they’re duplicates or because they weren’t super popular, so we’re going to bring all of those into Harper.”
As the donations come in, the group is hoping that their project will become a self-sustaining library, with students free to take and donate books as they please.
