{"id":274949,"date":"2026-05-18T10:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/274949\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T10:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:23:07","slug":"usf-library-furniture-upgrades-delayed-to-end-of-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/274949\/","title":{"rendered":"USF library furniture upgrades delayed to end of May"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>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<\/p>\n

USF students walking through the Tampa Library could see two floors with a furniture facelift by the end of the month.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Chavez said new furniture was chosen based on the types that students \u201cfavor\u201d from the first and fifth floors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to the new upgrades, seating capacity across these two floors will increase by approximately 50 seats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cOnce 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,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n

Related: USF library murals aim to connect campuses through art<\/a><\/p>\n

In spring 2025, USF\u2019s Student Government voted to distribute $407,600<\/a> from its Campus Improvement Trust Fund \u2014 a $6.76<\/a> per-credit-hour fee used to support<\/a> educational facilities \u2014 to the Tampa library.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chairs are looking worse on the third floor, and it makes them uncomfortable,\u201d Maloff said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maloff said she believes improvements are necessary to make sure the floors are comfortable for students, especially on the third floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chairs are really old, and most of them are uncomfortable or falling apart,\u201d Maloff said. \u201cThe outlet situation is really bad. There are not enough outlets, and they are in inconvenient places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chavez said furniture upgrades will use the library\u2019s current outlet placement, but will add new ones as arrangements change.<\/p>\n

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 \u201coverlooked\u201d compared to other areas of the library.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fifth floor looks modern and updated, so I don\u2019t think it needs updating,\u201d Maloff said. \u201cThe third floor definitely needs updating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: The USF Library shows power in silence<\/a><\/p>\n

Suri Ayanna, a freshman mechanical engineering major, said she feels that the third floor feels \u201ccluttered\u201d due to the lack of spacing between tables.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe third floor is a nice floor, but I wish the tables were nicer,\u201d Ayanna said. \u201cEvery time I go, they feel a little wobbly or sticky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the tables, Ayanna said upgrades on the third floor should focus on replacing chairs, which have deteriorated over time and use.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecifically on the third and fourth floor, the chairs are so annoying to deal with,\u201d Ayanna said. \u201cThe padding is either ripped out of the comfy ones, or they only have the hard wooden chairs that no one wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayanna said she wants the fourth floor to feel quieter by matching the furniture and study spaces on the fifth floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study pods on the fifth floor are so nice, but they\u2019re always taken when I go, so if they just replicate that on the fourth [floor], it would be so nice,\u201d Ayanna said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though upgrades to both the third and fourth floors have been delayed, Ayanna said she has noticed USF\u2019s changes to the library as a whole, including the addition of security gates and a student-designed mural.<\/p>\n

The library\u2019s tap ID system \u2014 which requires a valid USF or government ID for entry \u2014 debuted in fall 2025. Then, in spring 2026, the library installed USF-themed murals inside all three campus libraries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Ayanna said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Library is undergoing a roughly half-million-dollar project to replace furniture on the third and fourth floors.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-274949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}