Current Space Projects
Adobe Creative Commons
The Adobe Creative Commons will be located in the Learning Commons space on the first floor of Zimmerman Library. Planning is already complete (including student input) and funding secured. Adobe Inc. has made a one-time donation of $100,000.00 to UNM to create a space that supports digital literacy initiatives on campus. Through partnership between College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences, UNM Continuing Education, and UNM Information Technologies, UNM is working to develop the space in Zimmerman that is accessible to faculty, staff, and students. The space is intended to function as a virtual maker space, collaboration forum, gallery, and resource center for creative pursuits on campus. The plan includes multiple workstations capable of running all the Creative Cloud apps as well as specialty equipment for sound, video and other digital tools. The Adobe Creative Commons in Zimmerman Library is expected to open Spring 2021, pending campus limited operations status.
Read more about the partnership:
The University of New Mexico builds a bridge to the future as an Adobe Creative Campus, Nov. 2020
UNM finalizes agreement allowing access to Adobe Creative Cloud, June 2019
Jim and Mary Lois Friday Hulsman Graduate Commons
With the full support of the Graduate and Professional Student Association and the Office of the Provost, a new Graduate Student Commons will be constructed in Zimmerman Library in the basement. Major funding for the commons is being provided by a generous gift from Jim and Mary Lois Hulsman, supplemented by a NM legislative allocation. Planning has already started with a target opening date of Spring 2021.
Rooftop Solar Panel Installation Zimmerman Library
The new solar panels on Zimmerman will cover all the electric needs ofthe library, and any extra will be used elsewhere on campus. Through this solar array, the University is expected to save approximately $25,000 per year and will reduce UNM’s carbon footprint by an equivalent of 15 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. As of October 2020 most of the panels have been installed and the project should be completed before the end of the year.
Read more:
Solar panels to go on roof of Zimmerman Library April 2020
View photos of the installation progress.
Transforming Parish Library into a Library Services Building
In order to clear the space in Zimmerman Library for the Graduate Student Commons, 17 employees and 3 student employees will be relocated along with all their processing workspaces into Parish Memorial Library (PML). PML will transition into a library services building closed to the public. Student use of PML has been declining for years and dropped dramatically since the opening of the McKinnon Center for Management in May 2018. In the new configuration, the Technical Services and Collections units will be housed on the first and second floors, a space equivalent to that being vacated in Zimmerman. The basement already houses the Library IT department of 14 staff. Parish Library staff will be assigned to other library departments.
Three Peoples Murals, Zimmerman Library West Wing
The four-panel Kenneth Adams mural Three Peoples is included as a “contributing object” to the Zimmerman Library building” (Sisneros 2020). However, the Adams mural has been controversial since its installation. In subsequent eras, students, staff, and faculty have lodged multiple complaints and protests against the mural (initially, in 1970s, 1993-95, and throughout the 2000s/2010s until today).
The Zimmerman Mural Planning Committee and the students in a UNM art history course made recommendations on how to address the nearly 8 decades of protest concerning the offensive content within the mural. Final recommendations were provided to the Provost and President in 2018. A recommendation to cover the murals was agreed on, and plans are moving forward in support of this process.
Find out more on the Campus Climate wepage.
South Campus Repository
Each year University Libraries adds more than 20,000 physical items to our collections without the possibility of adding more square feet to existing buildings. That amount of new material requires nearly ½ mile of shelving – the distance on Central Ave. between Yale Blvd and Girard Blvd.
We are now planning for the occupation of a new library facility on South Campus. Having additional space in the South Campus Repository will allow us to maintain and continue to build our strong print collections.
More information on the progress of this proeject can be found on the South Campus Repository webpage.
