The University is finalizing plans for a 10-year renovation of Firestone Library that will begin in two years, University Librarian Karin Trainer said during yesterday's meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) in Betts Auditorium. The monthly meeting also covered the University athletics re-accreditation process and support for international labor standards.
"Firestone is no longer adequate," Trainer said, citing increasing space pressures, limited access for the physically disabled and the library facilities' noncompliance with various safety codes.
Study and faculty lounge space has been shrinking in the library since the addition of miles of bookshelves over the past few years, Trainer told the audience of faculty members and administrators. Servers that support the University's information technology systems now occupy rooms that were not designed for that purpose, she said.
There is limited accessibility for the physically disabled, Trainer added, and the library needs to revamp its lighting, cooling and heating systems to improve its sustainability.
Compliance with building codes is another important reason for renovation. "Firestone no longer meets safety codes, especially fire codes," Trainer said. She cited how there are various rooms within the 59-year-old library that do not have sprinklers.
Trainer explained that the library renovations will be completed in an "intelligent" process, with improvements to the structure finished in stages so that the library's services would not be affected.
"We think about 10 years is enough," Trainer said about the renovation's projected timeline.
Another key agenda item from the meeting was an update on the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) re-accreditation of University athletics.
University counsel Clayton Marsh, who also serves as chairman of the NCAA Certification Steering Committee, said re-accreditation involves a comprehensive "self-study" process that is a "fresh look at how athletics [are] thriving here at Princeton."
As required by the NCAA, Marsh's committee has formed three bodies that will examine Princeton athletics. The subcommittees are focused on governance and commitment to rules compliance, academic integrity, and equity and student-athlete wellbeing.
The subcommittees will analyze how athletics fit into the larger governance structure of the University, whether athletes perform at expected academic achievement rates, how resources are allocated among the University's various teams and overall rates of student satisfaction and athlete health.
Marsh said that some of these points, such as the common criticism that athlete graduation rates lag behind those of the larger student body, are "moot" at Princeton. "In many ways, we are comfortable with all the questions," he said.
He added that the committee findings will "showcase the many good things we have in athletics."
The University last received accreditation in 1997.
During the CPUC meeting, there was also a report from the Resources Committee with recommendations on University policies regarding the support of labor standards and its affiliation with labor organizations.
Professor Nolan McCarty, chairman of the Resources Committee, discussed how the University aims to avoid having Princeton merchandise manufactured by companies that use sweatshops.
The University is currently affiliated with the Fair Labor Association (FLA). But the group has drawn criticism in recent years from students in the Princeton for Workers' Rights Project for its failure to have an independent auditing function. The student group has lobbied the University to join another labor rights monitoring organization called the Workers' Rights Consortium (WRC).
"We stopped short of a recommendation to join [the WRC]," McCarty said, adding that the Resources Committee will not explicitly recommend joining the WRC due to problems between the two labor organizations.
McCarty said President Tilghman is the only administrator capable of deciding whether the University will affiliate itself with the WRC.
Provost Chris Eisgruber '83 chaired the CPUC meeting in Tilghman's absence due to travel scheduling.
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