Bata Library doesn’t suck, and here’s why
Bata Library at Trent University has been closed for the last 18 months due to renovations. With the new opening just a couple of weeks ago, students are anything but impressed. They’re underwhelmed.
While the frustration for having waited this long for their much-needed study space back was at an all-time high, a lot went into the library that should be addressed for a clearer understanding for everyone. Students’ anger is heard and well listened to, but is perhaps not rational to direct so much of it at this project.
I think for a lot of students on campus, if what’s spent isn’t physically seen, it doesn't really exist. They see an eight-figure price tag and all is lost. The trouble with all the anger surrounding the new library is that the budget it took to renovate, went into internal parts of the library that folks who aren’t homeowners might not think of.
For example, some of that $18million dollar budget went to four brand-new HVAC systems. Not to mention fixing water lines and pre-existing electrical issues.
When opening up the elevator shafts, construction crews found issues with the cables, which were addressed and repaired. For those who are unaware, elevators and elevator repairs cost a fortune. This is also the reason new elevators weren’t put in.
Some students think that all Trent really did with the investment was get some new furniture, new electronics, and put up a plant wall. I find this criticism increasingly interesting considering students are still keen to take photos with this wall as the backdrop, which is later seen on Instagram.
It’s difficult not to get riled up about all the controversial responses that are coming out of the Bata project — all mostly negative — when I know as a student governor for Trent just how much work really went into all of this.
While difficult emotions are expected and encouraged with any new project, I think it’s important for students to work with the university, not against it. I once saw a quote a couple of years ago that really resonated with me, and it reminds me of this situation. It was something like, “If you get into a fight with your partner, you must remember it isn’t you versus them, it should be you and your partner, versus the problem.”
Trent students, we can work together with the university, the faculty, the board, to push student-related issues; criticizing the people who are just trying their best to give you something good is not the efficient way to make a change.
Everything costs money. The increasingly harsh economy proves that.
Being over budget is not a gaping issue if the University still directs attention to things of priority. I know this as a governor and the strong disability activist that I am.
The board is very receptive to the accessibility issues on campus that I bring up, and is prepared to back me on helping start a conversation on campus, and make the university more physically accessible. This was in good timing to the meeting I had with Trent’s president, Leo Groarke, just the day before.
I took him on a walk around campus and pointed out all of Trent’s unavoidable accessibility issues both externally and in buildings. I was respectful but outspoken.
To my Trent peers, I’m just as frustrated as you are, but I’m willing to be neutral and open to learning all the work that goes into making major changes on campus.
On that day I walked with Leo, I watched as he was hit with the realization that big changes needed to happen on campus. Maybe he didn’t understand it completely, but he was willing to open his mind to what I had to say.
I now have further meetings scheduled with Trent faculty to get things rolling on making Trent accessible, but more on this later.
It was difficult to keep this piece short because there is so much to discuss. The important thing to know is that the board and Trent - is not hiding anything from you. Facts about all projects - Bata especially - are available on the web, and the public is always invited to our open session meetings.
The board does hear you, and I do too. I’m just getting in the swing of things from my position on the Board, and am grappling with my own opinions on lots of controversial subjects, and that’s how we learn - by having conversations, by giving the benefit of the doubt.
Tessa Smith, 20, is a Peterborough writer attending Trent University for English literature. Tessa is a two-time cancer survivor, amputee, a motivational speaker and activist for human rights, among other things. Contact Tessa at tessasmith329@gmail.com