Sylmar : Building of High-Tech Center on Schedule

Construction of Mission College’s $11-million library/learning resource center is on schedule for completion in late 1996, college officials said.

When it is done, the 57,500-square-foot building will provide a range of new high-technology reference and educational resources not just to college students, but to the surrounding community, said Shari Borchetta, acting dean of administrative services.

Residents may be able to take advantage of such resources as computer use and Internet access, borrowing privileges for some of the new library’s 80,000 volumes and participation in future teleconferences or health and education programs that the center will beam in via satellite, Borchetta said.

The 2 1/2-story building will contain cutting-edge telecommunications and multimedia computer and video production equipment.

An “information commons” on the central level will house 200 computers to be used for word processing, accessing databases and running spreadsheets, as well as exploring the Internet.

A teleconference center large enough to house 50 people will provide “distance learning” capabilities, Borchetta said. The college was recently awarded a $40,000 grant from GTE to link its students via television to classes taught at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The first such classes will be offered in the spring, and school officials hope to extend the program to include other courses at other campuses using additional GTE grant funds of $35,000 to be awarded next year.

The new library also will include a laboratory for video, film and multimedia computer program production, an educational development area where faculty can test and modify educational software, and a learning development area where writing and math labs and tutorials will take place.

The top level of the library, accessed from Hubbard Street, will contain book stacks and group study rooms.