Aggie-Themed Group Study Rooms Launch at Shields Library

Shields Library’s reservable group study rooms are getting a makeover, with each of the eight reservable spaces being redecorated with a different campus-related theme. The first two to be completed — the Arboretum Room (Shields 204) and the Egghead Room (Shields 202) — have reopened as of this week.

The library will finish the remaining rooms this quarter. The other room themes will include: Aggie traditions and Athletics; animals and the University Farm; bikes; Unitrans; water towers; and the history of Shields Library itself.

“I’ve studied in this room before, and the change is like night and day,” said Maev Dunning, a recent alum who is now pursuing her MFA in Design, after exploring the newly refurbished Arboretum room. “The space is so much more engaging!”

The library’s group study rooms are designed as student collaboration space, equipped with conference tables and large screens to which students can connect their laptops. Until now, however, the rooms have been purely functional, with nothing but the screen and a whiteboard on the walls.

“Our goal with this project is to make these popular study spaces more inviting by adding a bit of Aggie spirit,” said University Librarian and Vice Provost of Digital Scholarship William Garrity. Under Garrity’s leadership, the library has focused on cultivating its role as a “third space” — a social gathering place beyond home (the first place) and work or the classroom (the second place) where students can come together and find community, connection and belonging.

In the spirit of the library being a hub for learning as well as the home of the University Archives, which preserve campus history, each room includes a “fun fact” about the theme with a QR code to learn more. Many rooms also bring campus history to life with poster-sized photos from the archives.

Sustainability: Reclaimed wood and upcycled art

In keeping with the library’s commitment to environmental sustainability (Shields Library received LEED Gold certification in 2021), much of the new room decor utilizes reclaimed and recycled materials.

For example, the picture frames in the Arboretum Room are made with reclaimed wood. Project lead Bianca Iosif constructed the frames for the room’s smaller photos using tree bark from the Arboretum itself, taken from limbs that fell during storms or were pruned in the course of regular Grounds maintenance. She framed the large Arboretum map with wood salvaged from bookshelf repairs in the Main Reading Room, just down the hall on the second floor of Shields Library. Most of the vintage art frames for the neighboring Egghead Room were donated by Sierra Hills Framing, a local business in Lincoln, CA, which would otherwise have discarded them.

Upstairs in the Bike Room (Shields 370), where work is still underway, Iosif has created the letters UCD out of bike chains and gears donated by the Davis Bike Collective and Ken’s Bike-Ski-Board in Davis. Bike wheels, disc brakes and bike lane signs donated by the campus Bike Barn and UC Davis Transportation Services adorn other walls.

“Bianca was an Art Studio major once upon a time and it shows,” said Kathryn Martin, co-lead of the library’s efforts to make its buildings more welcoming to students, a key priority of the library strategic plan. “Her incomparable creativity has made this project better than I could have ever imagined.”

Other highlights include the Water Tower Room (Shields 162), which features UC DAVIS lettering at full scale, as it appears on the recently restored Touchdown Tower. Also mounted in the Water Tower Room is a mechanical water level gauge from Touchdown Tower, which was removed during its latest renovations; the tower has used a newer digital water level indicator for over a decade. UC Davis Facilities Management Project Engineer Tom Ryan facilitated the donation of the decommissioned hardware and Albert Bacchini, a supervisor with the campus Sheet Metal, Weld and Machine Shop, and his team installed it in its new home in a first-floor study room in Shields Library.

In the Unitrans Room (Shields 420), a colorful wall of bus stop signs, a bus radiator grill and front fender, and a frame Iosif made from salvaged bus trim — all donated by Unitrans — add a splash of Unitrans’ trademark red to the room. Real traffic lights donated by UC Davis Utilities, Power and Light will be added outside both the Unitrans and Bike Rooms.

The University Farm Room (Shields 252) will showcase objects such as horseshoes from the Horse Barn, prize ribbons awarded to pigs raised by the Swine Barn over the decades, and national and state championship trophies donated by the Sheep Barn.

UC Davis Athletics has donated uniform shirts from several varsity sports for display in the Aggie Traditions Room (Shields 371).

And back in the Arboretum Room, students will find leaflets provided by the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden as well as a full-size educational display about redwoods — a perfect complement to the tree-filled view out the window.

A Thousand Thanks

Thanks to the dozens of items generously donated by other campus departments, and Iosif’s resourcefulness in gathering and curating them, all eight rooms have been refurbished for under $7,500. Small-dollar gifts to the Library Annual Fund, which provides flexible support for updating facilities and study space, which have been made over time (for example, on UC Davis Give Day) covered the cost of the project.