High-Tech Upgrade for El Camino Library

Students at El Camino College, who used to line up at the library to use eight standard typewriters, now have 24 personal computers to choose from.

An $8-million renovation of the campus library has made it a center of high-tech learning resources, college officials say.

Planning for the project began more than three years ago, when school officials realized the facility wouldn’t be able to house the growing student body or provide the equipment they would need.

“Here at the college, our faculty and our students are technology-oriented,” said Raymond G. Roney, dean of instructional services. “We’re running to catch up with them.”

The library, built in 1952, doubled in size to 42,250 square feet. In addition, about 9,000 square feet of space was remodeled.

More than 90% of the funding for the project came from the community college district’s capital improvement fund. The community college system sets aside that money for construction projects.

Money had been spent in the past to replace the library’s furniture and fixtures, but the building’s wiring remained inadequate for current technology.

“We had a lot of wires hanging from everything,” said librarian Alice Grigsby.

Some rooms in the building had only one outlet, and the power drain from audiovisual materials in learning areas often blew circuits and brought research to a halt.

During construction, 2 1/2 miles of electrical cable were installed.

“We’re basically wired here for 10 times the speed computers are now,” said Donald Treat, who handles technical services for the college.

In addition to the word processing center, the college now has more than 100 other types of instructional equipment. Twice as many of the computers that allow students to search the library’s database were installed during the project.

Several other computers have been dedicated to the new CD-ROM library, which allows students to search the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, read 150 classic books, look for out-of-state businesses in a nationwide database, and browse periodicals.

Another new terminal allows students to conduct research on the Internet, although students don’t get electronic mailboxes.

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The new equipment will also benefit people who don’t attend the college. Besides taking advantage of the growth in the library’s reference collection, local residents and businesses may rent the teleconferencing center. A satellite dish on the roof of the library and special projectors and monitors create a state-of-the-art conference center for up to 80 people.

“That’s one way for us to help raise some funds,” Roney said.

Some of that money may be used to finish the basement of the library, which is slated for more education technology. Library officials have drafted a proposal for equipment that would increase the capacity for students to study with the aid of computers rather than instructors. That project is expected to cost about $2.5 million.