(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., March 27, 2015) – CSUN’s Oviatt Library Learning Commons has been awarded the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s Real Estate Award for Higher Education. Every year the San Fernando Valley Business Journal honors the best commercial real estate projects of the previous 18 months, and the Learning Commons was recently recognized as the “Best Public Project” for 2013-2014. The massive reimagining of the Oviatt Library’s lobby and first floor is reflective of the current trend in academic libraries toward creating more collaborative, flexible, and open spaces. The new Learning Commons offers a bright, open, modern setting with flexible work areas, enhanced study spaces featuring ergonomic furniture, laptop and tablet checkout, and interactive digital signage.

The successful completion of a transformation this ambitious required the involvement of a large number of individuals and a variety of campus departments. Oviatt Library Dean Mark Stover says, “What makes awards like this so gratifying is the recognition of just how much can be accomplished when people work together with a common purpose.” In fact, it was the combined efforts of Academic Affairs, Information Technology, the Learning Resource Center, Physical Plant Management, Planning Design & Construction, The University Corporation, and Undergraduate Studies that resulted in the creation of this modern, user-friendly space. “The Learning Commons project clearly reflects of the heart of the Oviatt’s mission, which is the continued support of the diverse information needs of our academic community,” says Stover.

The Oviatt Library Learning Commons was honored, along with other regional award recipients, at the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s Real Estate Awards on February 24th, 2015. The gathering was held at Sheraton Universal Hotel. “I am forever grateful to everyone at the Oviatt who worked so effectively on this project,” say Stover. “Their combined efforts resulted in the creation of a cutting-edge space that will benefit every guest who walks through the front doors of the Oviatt for many years to come.”

Cal State Northridge’s Oviatt Library has more than 1.4 million volumes. It also subscribes to nearly 53,000 online journals, more than 2,300 print journals, more than 200 online databases and nearly 275,000 eBooks. The library’s online resources are heavily used, with almost 13 million visits to its Web pages and databases annually; and a yearly gate count of more than 1.6 million patrons. It also has an extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, documents, photographs, artifacts and other archival materials. The Oviatt Library serves as the main research facility in the San Fernando Valley. For more information about the library or its hours please visit their website at http://library.csun.edu/ or call (818) 677- 2285.

Contact:
Oviatt Library, Office of the Dean
James Lunsford, (818) 677-4659, james.lunsford@csun.edu