A Bustling New Colours Extension for Students
At the Singapore Polytechnic Library’s 50th Anniversary Celebration on 8 August 2008, SP Principal Mr Tan Hang Cheong unveiled 2 bold expansion plans to guests, staff and students of the poly attending the event. One was the construction of a single-storey pavilion at the quadrangle space located in front of the Main Library and the other was a brand new Hilltop Library to replace the existing BizIT library.
Students and teaching staff were pleasantly surprised that at long last, the space crunch in the 2 libraries would now be alleviated with more spaces for learning, social interaction and student-centred gathering opportunities for the meeting of minds and sharing of experiences. Included in the plans was the much talked about cafe, a must-have facility which students have always wanted, and that will now become a reality in the Library. In fact, as the plans were announced, work on these 2 projects actually started during that first week of August and would finish in the first half of 2009.
While the construction work began to take shape, the Library staff lost no time in planning for a new collection of educational and board games and upgrading its multimedia collection to include the latest blu-ray discs. The Technical Services Staff workroom was also revamped and renovated during this time for improved work flow and efficiency.
Fast forward to 23 April 2009, the first week of our new Academic year, euphoria filled the air as excited staff and students explored the new Colours Extension to the Main Library as soon as it was declared opened. Occupying almost half of the quadrangle space, the tall tinted glass façade of the Colours Extension looks out into a lush carpet grass lawn with colourful Canna plants, young instant trees and smart outdoor seating. Inside is the spacious cafe dining area with colourful tables and 114 seats, a magazine lounge with spanking new white shelves for
reading general magazines and an exhibition area to showcase student projects
To better integrate the new extension with the ground floor, part of this area and the corridor space had been reconfigured to add other new facilities. These included a games room for playing board games, a posh 25-seater Media Theatre equipped with a high fidelity sensurround audio-visual system for teaching staff to conduct classes for students, a media viewing zone with the latest HD screens for enjoying blu-ray discs and DVD programmes, as well as a special room housing the collection of CDs, DVDs and blu-ray discs. Students may borrow board games from the new Loans counter, while a self-check machine nearby is available for the loan of multimedia materials.
With the additional new facilities, students now have more choices than ever to select from a wide variety of services and facilities to liven up their time in the Library. The Colours Extension. as it is aptly named after the Colours (Lifestyle) collection, is really the coolest new hangout in the campus. Since its opening more than 2 months ago, the Colours Extension has brought much buzz and vibrancy to the area. No wonder it is getting a warm reception from students and staff alike.
Walking through the new extension, it is not hard to see why students have been heading there in droves with their friends to hang out, chat, or engage in activities such as playing games at the Funtasia room, catching a movie during breaks, surfing the internet or even discussing their coursework.
And why not, since there’s always coffee and refreshments from the Hotshot Cafe to recharge their energies and stay upbeat while they relax and watch the large Cable TV showing world-wide news and discovery channel programmes.
Said one happy first-year student, Esther Gusti, from the School of Chemical and Life Sciences, “I like this place and come here about 3 to 4 times a week. The seats in the magazine lounge are comfortable, the magazines are well arranged and there are enough copies of newspapers to read.”
Jared Ong and Filzah Aziz, both first-year students from the School of Electrical and Electrical Engineering, find the Colours Extension “a good hangout, to catch up with coursework and play games such as monopoly”.
“I love the ambience,” says Goh Kian Yong, A Diploma in Media and Communication graduate said after dropping by the extension. “This is a good place for me to catch up with my juniors during my free time.”
Now let the pictures do the talking…..
A comfortable magazine lounge.
The Exhibition area showcasing student projects
HD-viewing pleasure at the Media zone.
By Mary Goh, Singapore Polytechnic Library