EDINBORO — A three-year, $15 million renovation of Pennsylvania Western University's Baron-Forness Library in Edinboro is scheduled to be completed this year.

Renovations that started in spring 2021 are the first large-scale makeover of the seven-story, 102,000-square-foot library that opened in 1976.

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"The role of libraries has changed since then, not just on campuses but in public library systems," said Amanda Brown Sissem, Edinboro campus administrator for PennWest and the university's associate vice president of alumni engagement. "They've become hubs for connecting with resources and other people. We're updating not only mechanical systems but library spaces for how they will be used now and in the future."

The renovated library will include 25 group study areas.

"Those areas will have flexible seating so that furniture can be moved around as needed. They'll also have multimedia capabilities so users can access files and have better equipment, including screen sharing, for presentations," Sissem said.

There also will be partitioned carrels for quiet, individual study.

A new art gallery will be located inside the library's main entrance.

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"Visual arts have always been important at Edinboro and we're excited that we will be able to showcase art at the library," Sissem said. "The new space will highlight some of our wonderful permanent collection as well as student and alumni work for exhibits."

The gallery will benefit not only students and staff but community members who use the library or want to view the exhibits.

"The public doesn't always understand that they're welcome in our art buildings and other academic buildings. The Baron-Forness Library is a very publicly accessible space," Sissem said.

The library also will include renovated offices for library and career services staff and for the Northwest Pennsylvania Innovation Beehive Network. The network is a collaboration by Gannon, Mercyhurst and PennWest universities and by Penn State Behrend, Erie County Public Library and Allegheny College offering advising, market research, branding, marketing and other services for regional businesses and organizations.

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Aesthetic changes at the library will include larger windows on the first and second floors to bring in more natural light.

Preliminary work on the building began in 2021. The library has been closed since spring 2021 to accommodate construction. Nearby Van Houten dining hall in the meantime is doing double duty as a kind of branch library. Students are ordering and picking up books and other library materials at a service counter in the building. Library computers and printers are also available to students at Van Houten while Baron-Forness is closed.

The $15 million renovation is funded and overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services. The library is expected to reopen in January 2024.

The new Pennsylvania Western University, or PennWest, began operation in July and also includes campuses in Clarion and California.

The Edinboro campus library is named for former librarians Justina Baron and Mildred Forness.

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Renovations to Edinboro's Baron-Forness Library enter the home stretch