The new library building
Scheduled to open in 2024
New library building under construction on Aoyama Campus
A new library will open on the Aoyama Campus in 2024. We hope you will look forward to this further enhancement of our learning, research and education facilities.
Message from the President on the Construction of the New University Library Building
President of Aoyama Gakuin University
Hiroshi Sakamoto
Aoyama Gakuin University has begun construction of a new university library building, which is scheduled to open in April 2024. The new university library construction fundraiser, which began in December 2016, has received a great deal of support from everyone, and as of April 2022, more than 150 million yen has been donated. On behalf of the university, I would like to express my sincere gratitude. In addition, although the original plan was to build a new library, based on the perspective of a "student-centered library," the plan is now revised to build a "new library building" that also has support functions for language learning and information learning. We would like to ask for your continued support in expanding the functions that contribute to student learning.
The new university library building will be built on the former site of buildings 4, 5, 6, and 10 on the Aoyama Campus. Rather than the old concept of a "library building" (a place to store books), it will be a "knowledge hub" that comprehensively supports academic activities, promoting information learning, language learning, and writing learning, and enhancing functions to support "mutual learning." In other words, since it will not only function as a library, but also house the education and research support functions of the Information Media Center, we believe that its greatest feature will be the ability to set up learning areas that utilize ICT.
We aim to create a library that all students can use according to their needs. The library has been zoned to accommodate a variety of situations. The lower floors have many areas for group study, while the upper floors have individual booths and other areas for research and writing papers in a relaxed atmosphere. As education and research methods need to continually evolve to meet the demands of society and the changing times, we have adopted equipment that is mobile and flexible, aiming to be a "library that evolves together with its users" even after the library opens. We also hope that the full use of this new library building by students and faculty will help to improve the university's educational and research capabilities.
We would greatly appreciate your support for the new university library construction plan, which is also positioned as one of the projects commemorating the 150th anniversary of Aoyama Gakuin. We look forward to your continued support in the future.
President of Aoyama Gakuin University
Hiroshi Sakamoto
The new university library building will realize a "spiral of knowledge"
■Cross-section view
This is a cross-section of the new university library building, which has one basement floor and six floors above ground.
The basement and first floors function as information learning floors, while floors two to six function as the library. The floor layout creates a "spiral of knowledge" where students encounter learning on the basement and first floors, expand and deepen their learning on floors two to four, perfect their learning on floors five and six, and connect to the next level of learning for themselves and others on the basement and first floors.
■ Information Learning Floor
The Information Learning Floor will be a space for "encounters with knowledge," and will have an environment with equipment that is not limited to a specific purpose, so that a wide variety of educational activities can be carried out quickly. In addition to providing an individual work environment with privacy, equipment suitable for group work and active learning, a language and online learning environment that requires quietness, and an environment for creating teaching materials and assignments, it will also be possible to hold events and workshops that will shape a new culture in the new library building, and will be flexible enough to accommodate future activities that have yet to be seen.
[B1F/1F] Study lounge
[1st floor] Galleria interior perspective (from the courtyard side)
■ Library Floor
The second to fourth floors are not just for reading literature, but also provide many spaces for learning together, expanding and deepening the knowledge encountered on the first and basement floors. They encourage not only individual but also lively and energetic activities by groups and groups. The fifth and sixth floors are mainly for specialized literature, individual research rooms, presentation rooms, etc., providing an environment where more specialized and static activities can be carried out, as well as presentations and discussions. By disseminating and returning results on the first and basement floors, the building as a whole will provide total support for the academic activity process, from input to output.
[2nd floor] Bookshelf space (magazines)
[3rd floor] Veranda study space
[4th floor] Central reading space
*Each image is from the design stage. Please note that some of the images may be subject to change in the future.
