Renovating the stairwell and the entrance could have been done in two separate stages, which would have allowed the UB to remain open. But UB communications officer Frank den Hollander says that would have been an organisational nightmare. ‘We’d have to take so many safety measures.’

He says it is usually not very busy in the summer, anyway. ‘And that means that we will close completely between Saturday 9 July and Sunday 14 August. We simply can’t stay open: we would if we could.’

New entrance

Scaffolding in the lobby of the UB will take up almost the entire stairwell during the summer. ‘All the walls will be repainted from top to bottom. The ceiling is also getting some work done’, Den Hollander explains. ‘The scaffolding will be so large that no one will be able, or allowed, to get past it.’

The entrance is also getting a real make-over. After the renovations, it will be unrecognisable. ‘The revolving door that turns much too fast is being completely removed’, says the communications officer. The new UB entryway (with safer revolving doors, per Den Hollander) will face the Academy building entrance.

The door is not the only thing that is being moved to the front. The covered gallery next to the current entrance will disappear. The wall will be extended to where the pillars are. ‘The service desk will be located there, so people don’t have to go all the way inside the building to pick up their books.’

Borrowing books

Measures have been taken to ensure that people will be able to continue to retrieve books while the UB is closed. The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences library at the Grote Kruisstraat will have a service where people can pick up and drop off books. ‘Students and employees can continue to borrow books as usual’, says Den Hollander. ‘The rear part of the UB will remain open, so employees can access the repositories and the books in the study rooms.’

Den Hollander says that there will also be alternative places to study. The former arts library in the Harmony building, for example, will be open. Whether the same goes for the neighbouring former law library is not yet known. In addition, the BSS library and the central medical library at UMCG will have their regular summer opening hours from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during weekdays.