Ten With Ken (audio)

For decades, college and university libraries have been continuously renovating their space and replacing technology.  But what would a 21st-century library look like if you could build it from scratch, with a $100 million budget?  Two years ago, Calgary’s Mount Royal University got the chance to do just that!  This week, Ken Steele talks with MRU Provost Lesley Brown and Dean of Libraries Meagan Bowler about the Riddell Library & Learning Centre.   When it was announced that Mount Royal College would gain university status, the existing library was “woefully inadequate.” “We knew that we would have to build our collections, expand our services, and the information environment was changing in a rapid way,” Meagan explains.   The new $110 million facility opened in 2017 as the new centerpiece of the campus, and also houses MRU’s Department of Education, Student Learning Services, the Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and the Academic Development Centre for faculty. The furnishings, ar