Ringling's new library to act as student hub

As they work to secure $16 million in funding for a new library, leaders at Ringling College of Art and Design are excited about the opportunities the new facility may offer.

The school is planning on building a three-story, 46,000-square-foot library at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Old Bradenton Road. The building will nearly quadruple the size of Ringling’s current library. Although the college’s current enrollment is less than 1,400, it’s already begun to outgrow the library space presently available, said Ringling spokeswoman Christine Lange.

Ringling is looking at the new facility as more than just a chance to tailor the size of its library operation to its growing student body, Lange said. For more than a decade, the school has sought to overcome a challenge that many schools face, particularly arts universities. Because of the specialization inherent to each individual major, students often become insulated within their area of study, failing to connect to the rest of the college.

Lange said this problem has persisted at Ringling because of the lack of a common space. The school hopes the library will help change things.

“We don’t have a home everyone can share,” Lange said. “That’s really going to be what the library becomes, a center for creativity.”

To facilitate that cohesiveness, the library will include a café and 12 group study rooms — a significant increase over the current library, which has just one. The library’s collection will grow, as well: The general collection will nearly double, while the number of special collections will increase from 1,500 to 15,000.

The school has begun submitting its plans to the city for approval. In addition to constructing the library, the school hopes to vacate a portion of Old Bradenton Road. Attorney Charlie Bailey, who represented Ringling in front of the city’s Development Review Committee last week, said he was appearing ahead of schedule due to the progress of the college’s fundraising efforts.

The school has raised $11.3 million of its $16 million goal. More than $3.5 million of that has come from the Ringling College Library Association, which hosts the Town Hall lecture series as part of its fundraising efforts. Ringling is aiming to secure the entirety of the funding by May 31, 2015.

The school hopes to open the library 18 months after reaching its fundraising goal.