The university has owned the building which houses the Public Library for two years, and the bike storage space beneath the building will come into their possession at the end of this year. At the time of the purchase, an agreement was made that the RUG would take the basement space over from Biblionet, which owns the bike storage facility and rents the building which house the library, according to RUG spokesperson Gernant Deekens.

What exactly the university will do with the basement space is not yet clear. ‘The plans will only be developed once the library has moved out. Until then, it will continue to serve the same purpose which it currently has’, according to Deekens. The facility presently has room for 725 bicycles.

Moving

The building – which is 95,000 metres squared – will eventually become the new home of the law faculty. It is also not certain when the faculty will make the move.Initially, the faculty was supposed to move to the spot on the Oude Boteringestraat in 2017, but those plans have been delayed by at least two years due to construction problems at the Groningen Forum, which is where the Public Library will eventually relocate.

The law faculty is not upset by the delay, since they have a budget shortfall and as such, have little money left over for getting set up in their new accommodations. According to RUG vice president Jan de Jeu, an agreement was made regarding the delay, and the costs have been taken into account. However, the university is unwilling to share the specifics of the arrangement.