The Tampa Library is undergoing a roughly half-million-dollar project to replace furniture on the third and fourth floors. ORACLE PHOTO/MARIA DE ABREU PIRES

USF students walking through the Tampa Library could see two floors with a furniture facelift by the end of the month.

Todd Chavez, the dean of the USF Libraries, said the Tampa Library is refurbishing its third and fourth floors to standardize furniture and improve study spaces for students.

Both floors are collaborative study floors with different volume levels. Chavez said the project will redesign the fourth floor for quiet, individual work while maintaining the third floor as a collaborative space.

Chavez said new furniture was chosen based on the types that students “favor” from the first and fifth floors.

“In addition to the new upgrades, seating capacity across these two floors will increase by approximately 50 seats,” he said.

Chavez said the project began in the spring and was expected to finish by the end of the spring semester, but has been delayed to the end of May due to a vendor transition and scheduling conflicts.

He added that there have been no disruptions to library services or study spaces since the project started, and none are expected moving forward.

“Once this phase is complete, the next goal will be to evaluate and potentially upgrade the second-floor layout to further enhance student use of the space,” he said. 

As the university works to complete the upgrades, USF students said they are looking forward to possible changes and visible improvements that align with the project’s goals.

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In spring 2025, USF’s Student Government voted to distribute $407,600 from its Campus Improvement Trust Fund — a $6.76 per-credit-hour fee used to support educational facilities — to the Tampa library. 

And while this money will help cover the project, Chavez said the library also contributed an additional $140,000 to ensure all seating in primary areas would be replaced.

Talia Maloff, a junior humanities major, said she frequently studies on the third and fifth floors but has not noticed any recent changes in the library. 

“The chairs are looking worse on the third floor, and it makes them uncomfortable,” Maloff said.  

Maloff said she believes improvements are necessary to make sure the floors are comfortable for students, especially on the third floor.

“The chairs are really old, and most of them are uncomfortable or falling apart,” Maloff said. “The outlet situation is really bad. There are not enough outlets, and they are in inconvenient places.”

Chavez said furniture upgrades will use the library’s current outlet placement, but will add new ones as arrangements change.

And though Maloff praised the overall design of the third floor, including its natural lighting and layout, she said the lack of updates makes it feel “overlooked” compared to other areas of the library.

“The fifth floor looks modern and updated, so I don’t think it needs updating,” Maloff said. “The third floor definitely needs updating.”

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Suri Ayanna, a freshman mechanical engineering major, said she feels that the third floor feels “cluttered” due to the lack of spacing between tables.

“The third floor is a nice floor, but I wish the tables were nicer,” Ayanna said. “Every time I go, they feel a little wobbly or sticky.”

Along with the tables, Ayanna said upgrades on the third floor should focus on replacing chairs, which have deteriorated over time and use.

“Specifically on the third and fourth floor, the chairs are so annoying to deal with,” Ayanna said. “The padding is either ripped out of the comfy ones, or they only have the hard wooden chairs that no one wants.”

Ayanna said she wants the fourth floor to feel quieter by matching the furniture and study spaces on the fifth floor. 

“The study pods on the fifth floor are so nice, but they’re always taken when I go, so if they just replicate that on the fourth [floor], it would be so nice,” Ayanna said.  

Though upgrades to both the third and fourth floors have been delayed, Ayanna said she has noticed USF’s changes to the library as a whole, including the addition of security gates and a student-designed mural.

The library’s tap ID system — which requires a valid USF or government ID for entry — debuted in fall 2025. Then, in spring 2026, the library installed USF-themed murals inside all three campus libraries. 

“The first floor looks nicer than before, so if that is what they can do on the third and fourth floors, it would make studying on them so much more comfortable,” Ayanna said.