Founders Library has introduced a new study space, creating more space for students to work amidst ongoing renovations.
A Feb. 3 post from the Howard University Libraries Instagram account shared multiple photos of the space’s design, including 11 long tables and chairs situated next to several bookshelves.
This space is part of a larger renovation project within Founders Library. The library was closed to the university for almost two years, and finally reopened to the Howard community in August of 2025.
Christopher Harper, the Innovation Hub Manager for Founders Library, played an integral part in the development of this new space. He said as a result of the major renovations, pipes that were formerly hidden within the building’s walls are now inside the actual library. As a result, they now had less space to work with on the second stack, which is an area located in the downstairs area of the library. They removed old study carrels and had to reconfigure the space due to the added pipes.
“Because of the pipes in the building, renovations to the second stack took longer,” he said.
Harper reiterated that the reopening of Founders is rolling out in phases and is still ongoing. However, he was confident that students’ needs are being considered throughout the process.
“There were never any other plans for the second stack other than for us to figure out how to accommodate more of our students,” he said.
Harper stated that library work study students were involved in the development of the space by rearranging and adding tables and chairs. Enterprise Technology Services spaces provided chairs from spaces on campus they were vacating and Facilities Management provided tables.
“Our main goal was to as quickly as possible find alternative spaces for students to study in Founders,” said Harper.
Delritta HornBuckle serves as the Executive Director of University Libraries at Howard. HornBuckle shared that due to Howard’s new status as a Research One (R1) institution, Founders is now considered an R1 academic library. Normally, R1 campuses have an increased number of seminal works, a larger campus size, as well as multiple R1 libraries. For Howard, this criteria isn’t met.
This new designation combined with Howard’s campus configuration allows for the physical footprint of their print collections to continue to reduce, presenting further opportunities for more spaces to be utilized in the future.
“We’ll have more e-books and e-journals. We’re continually going through the collection and taking some parts of the collections offsite so we’re opening up space,” she said.
Tabia Lee, a graduating senior criminology major from New Jersey, says Founders is her favorite library on campus. She shared that she used to frequently visit it before its closure. When the library began its renovations, Lee preferred Locke Hall or Douglass Hall over the remaining two library options, the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library and the Wayne A.I. Frederick Undergraduate Library (UGL).
“UGL is a no for me. When I see everyone in there and the noise and everything, it feels like more of a hangout spot than a library,” she said
Lee has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and found Founders’ new setup difficult to focus in.
“Your back is actually towards the window so I was focused more on the sounds and everyone who was coming up and down the stairs,” she said.
Lee would like to see more disability focused and accessible options for other library study spaces in the future.
Hornbuckle heavily emphasized the importance of student feedback throughout this phased reopening process. She welcomes open dialogue and conversations with students, as well as answering any questions they may have. Her goal is to provide students with more quiet and comfortable study spaces as they continue adding on to this renovation project.
“We really want more feedback from students, that would really help us go in the right direction,” she said.
Copy edited by Daryl R. Thomas Jr.
