The 2023 Olin Library Renovation
In 2023, plans were made for a major renovation project in Olin Library. With the help of architects from educational design firm Goody Clancy, the first floor and lower level were to be transformed into a more bright, modern, and open space. In order for that to happen, the original circulation desk area needed to be removed. Library administration, facilities, and staff were determined to save the call board.
When construction began in December 2023, the call board was removed from its former location but there was not yet a definite plan in place for where it would go or what function, if any, it could serve.
Electrical and Computer Engineering to the Rescue
Professor Joe Skovira, Director of Master of Engineering program and Professor of Practice in Cornell’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, often works with both undergraduate and graduate students on independent projects, helping students develop technical skills and encouraging them to think outside the box. When Professor Skovira heard about the library’s call board dilemma, he took it back to his undergraduate students and an idea was formed: could the library call board operate as a digital clock?
Skovira and students Maggie Chen ‘25, Sarah Hawes ‘25, and Janeth Manyalla ‘24 built a prototype and presented it to Leah Dodd, Director of Olin and Uris Libraries and Jon Ladley, Director of Facilities Planning in April 2024. They loved it. With a purpose now established, and ECE working to make it happen, it was all but assured that the call board would live to see another day.
