The announcement of the new library coming to Main Campus in 2018 brings ideas of innovation and interaction to Temple students.
The project, which has been contracted to Snøhetta and Stantec – a Philadelphia architectural firm – is estimated to cost $190 million and include features like a green space and book-retrieval system.
The library is part of “Visualize Temple” – a plan created to collect the ideas of Temple Students and community members to improve the university and transparency between students and administrators.
Currently, the website, visualize.temple.edu houses ideas ranging from construction of campus buildings to how the university should interact with the city of Philadelphia, prompted by administrators and commented on by students, faculty and members of the Temple community.
The site encourages users to think of projects, topics and ideas to share and spread through the community. Its goal is to collect information and share feedback with President Theobald and the students who will be executing and experiencing the plans.
In May 2013, the site’s first month, 270 ideas had been contributed for consideration. This month, the site has only reached 1,500 responses to problems like “housing strategies” and “community connections” – two of the topics Temple community members are able to weigh in on.
Since the site’s creation, the number of users has plateaued. In order for the rare opportunity to have student voices and desires heard, the community needs to ask for what it wants calmly and clearly.
This little-known feature of the Temple experience could vastly improve the lives of the Temple community members by giving a voice to those who are investing in their education.
Every Temple student should take the opportunity to help mold the university into a functional, successful community that will benefit them in the best way possible.
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