The dreaded woes of studying may be eased for some Ohio State students after the renovations to the William Oxley Thompson Library are complete.

The Main Library has become a second home to many OSU students, inducing the obligation of the university’s architectural team, whose responsibility is to update the maintenance and volume of texts circulating throughout the building.

Blueprints to reinstate the infrastructure have been formulated, focusing on improving both leisurely and aesthetic accommodations for students. The library also will be designed to incorporate the collections from the Education, Human Ecology and Social Work, and Journalism libraries.

Although the newly-renovated library will boast the latest technological advancements, Matt Goldish, an assistant professor of history, said he is concerned the more imperative mission for acquiring additional book space is being overlooked.

“Why are we not talking about books here? Our efforts should be focused on more shelf space, and none of the new drawings exhibit areas intended for more shelving units,” Goldish said. “Future generations will curse us if the library doesn’t hold more books.”

Joseph Branin, the library director at OSU, said he understands Goldish’s frustrations, but said it is not feasible to envision the desirable conditions needed for a grander collection of texts.

“We have a $99 million budget, which is generous, but not enough to add more shelving space. We have to understand that the library is more than just books,” Branin said. “It’s a place where students, or non-students alike, can come to take advantage of the technological spaces and studying areas.”

With nearly 1,000 new books entering the library each year for circulation, and limited storage, the library has relied on putting books into depository units. Although the books will not be ready for immediate release, they can be requested for rental within a couple of days.

“Other universities, including Harvard and the University of California, have utilized depository units. We don’t want to be like the University of Illinois and have the largest university collection but have it be a complete mess,” Branin said. “That’s why we can’t keep over-building and adding on for more book space. It could end up looking like an accordion building if we did.”

Eleanor Block, an employee at the Journalism Library, has also been working on reducing the collection of books in order to create a more conducive and orderly library.

“There have been some books that have not been checked out in over eight years. I’ve personally read every title of each book to decide if they should be moved into storage,” Block said. “This doesn’t mean that these books are no longer valuable; there’s just not enough space to keep them.”

Although the highly-anticipated renovations will not be completed until 2008, the library council will hold open meetings each month for those who wish to participate in the planning of the new infrastructure.