New Asia College Ch’ien Mu Library (NAL) is short of study and collection space. In recent library surveys users have been requesting more study space. The book shelves are already full and the library has no space for collection growth. Given this challenging situation, during the summer the Library is refurbishing NAL to provide a new learning cluster with more study space on the ground floor, more shelving space for collection growth and a new RFID self-issue and return service. NAL specializes in Chinese language and literature, fine arts and philosophy, all subject areas where print collection growth is still strong. To accommodate future growth and after consultation with students, faculty and the Colleges the Library will relocate the philosophy collection to the United College Wu Chung Multimedia Library (UCL) also on the upper-campus. This is the first phase of a longer term renovation of UCL being planned and consulted upon.

1. Refurbishment Project
The refurbishment project will be taken place from 9th May – 31st August 2015. A more spacious learning cluster with more than 60 seats will be provided on the ground floor. Compact shelves will be installed on the second floor so that all fine arts titles can be put together on one floor and additional shelving will be created for the existing collection. Below is the conceptual design of the learning cluster and the external view of NAL after the renovation. The furniture and color scheme are still being finalised. At the same time the external walls of NAL will be painted.

Learning Cluster
 

Outside View

2. Philosophy Collection Relocation 9th May – 16th May 2015
To allow for future collection growth, the philosophy collection currently located on first floor in NAL will be relocated to UCL from 9th May 2015 and will be made available for users as soon as possible. The target date for completing the relocation is 16th May 2015.

3. Using NAL during the renovation period
During the renovation period, the Ground Floor and Second Floor of NAL will be closed for building work. There will be a temporary entrance located on LG/F next to the Late Reading Room which will lead to the first floor only (Location Map) We strongly recommend that you minimize your visits to NAL during the project as there will be noisy work throughout the project.

4. Retrieval Service for Books
All books and periodicals originally located on ground and second floor will not be directly accessible during the project. These materials will be temporarily marked as “NA temp close stack” in the Library catalogue. Users are welcome to request these materials following the hold procedure. The requested materials can then be checked out through the circulation counter at the temporary entrance in NAL.Location Map)

5. Progress Update
For updates on the refurbishment project and the collection relocation please see our NAL Blog and follow us on twitter at @nalibblog.

6. Enquiry
For enquiry and assistance, please call us at 3943-7655 or send an e-mail to nal@lib.cuhk.edu.hk.