What’s New at Alkek?

So many things have happened in the Alkek Library since last spring. Here are the top six:

  1. Alkek One is open! The long awaited renovations to the first floor have been completed and new spaces have opened. There is a GeoSpace, DesignSpace, MakerSpace, Immersion Studio and all new YouStar Studios including two video recording studios, two audio recording studios and a production studio complete with sound boards and musical equipment. The staff for these new spaces will be offering a variety of online workshops this fall to help you become acquainted with the technologies and skills you can learn in these new centers, especially after the virus is behind us.
  2. The Wittliff Collections‘ new galleries are open! The seventh floor of the library is home to a treasure of the university – The Wittliff Collections. Renovations to this museum-quality space which houses library’s featured collections included the addition of three new galleries and the relocation of the Lonesome Dove exhibit into an expanded space. The Texas Music Collection, the Edward Curtis Collection and the new Treasures Collection exhibit spaces are now open as well as an updated and expanded lobby area.
  3. Starbucks is open! The new full-service store will be open from 7:30 am to 8 pm, Monday through Thursday, 7:30 to to 5 on Friday, 10 am to 6 pm Saturday and noon to 6 pm on Sunday.
  4. There’s a giant mural on the main floor. Three pieces of Buck Winn’s giant mural, The History of Ranching, is now hanging across much of the second floor of the library. The full original mural was 280 feet long and was commissioned by the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio where it hung in entertainment and hospitality hall. Learn more from our University Archives online exhibition.
  5. Room reservations are now available online or immediate reservations can be made from kiosks and door tablets. We have resumed online reservations for group study rooms and a few other spaces in the library using our online reservation system. We have also added wayfinding kiosks to each floor of the building complete with floormaps. You can make an immediate reservation for rooms not currently in use from the kiosks or from the tablets outside the room you wish to use.
  6. An ITAC Service Center has opened on the library’s first floor. The service center moved from its previous location into Alkek One this summer and offers assistance with personal and Texas State computers.

This article contributed by Debbie Pitts, University Libraries Marketing and Promotions Coordinator.