After being closed for nearly five years, the long-anticipated return of Innis Library is on the horizon.
Innis, McMaster’s business library, closed its doors in March 2020 in preparation for demolition and the construction of the McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery. The library, slated to open in fall 2025, will be housed on the third floor of the newly constructed 10-storey building.
Lynne Serviss, associate university librarian, User Services and Community Engagement, says visitors of the new Innis Library can expect to see a modern design in the space.
“You can almost describe it as a boutique kind of style,” said Serviss. “It’ll have group study rooms, individual study space and collaborative space. It will have all of the same services that are offered in all of our libraries, nicely packaged on a compact, state-of-the-art footprint.”
Innis Library will feature 10 bookable group study rooms, quiet study space, public PC computers and stations to connect laptops to larger monitors. The bright, window-lined space will have a mixture of couch and desk seating as well as high-top chairs sitting at a table along a wall of windows. In the stacks, students will find print materials relating to business.
Ines Perkovic, business librarian at McMaster University Libraries, says the reopening of Innis Library will have a positive impact on students in the DeGroote School of Business.
“We have been working hard to continue supporting business students during the closure of Innis and are so excited to welcome them into a brand-new space in the fall,” Perkovic said. “Having a space where commerce students can collaborate with each other and obtain resources related to their studies is going to be a valuable asset to the faculty.”
Until Innis Library opens, students enrolled in the DeGroote School of Business are supported online and in-person at Mills Memorial Library.
For more information, please email the library or visit the Innis Library webpage.
