Libraries of the past might have been full of musty books, yellowed card catalogs and disapproving librarians, but this type of library is not suitable for college students of the 21st century, according to University of Wyoming officials.

Next spring, the university will ask state legislators for funds to plan and build a new library, said University of Wyoming President Phil Dubois during a presentation of academic plans earlier this month.

"The Information, Library and Learning Center is the next major project we will be seeking funding for," Dubois said. The new center will be a combined library extension and information technology hub.

The center will likely cost between $34 million and $36 million, Dubois said, adding he does not know exactly how much this new library construction will cost until the plan is drafted.

A new library is needed for a number of reasons, university officials said.

One of these is that the existing Coe Library and Science Library are rapidly reaching their saturation point. The Capital Facilities Plan even said the library will require an additional 56,000 square feet of space in the next 25 years to accommodate growth.

"Coe is nearly full despite our attempts to move (from print materials) to electronic information and the Internet," said Coe Library Dean Maggie Farrell.

She said the addition is necessary because students do not use libraries the same way they did in the past.

"We see more students working in groups, we see more students and faculty working together," she said.

To serve these students, she hopes the new library addition will have group study rooms, which might contain things like whiteboards, computer hook ups, even a personal computer for the groups to use.

She also said students have a variety of study styles that modern libraries must accommodate.

"Some students like to study in a very quiet place where they can reflect, and others seem to like to have a little noise," Farrell said.

Farrell said the new addition is also necessary to expand information technology, reference labs and computer instructions - items that will develop skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century.

She said they hope to merge all these services into one "information commons."

"It will be one central place for students if they need to find a book, cite an article correctly, write better for a particular discipline, use software like Microsoft Word to create footnotes, maybe even get referrals to a math lab or a tutor."

Farrell said the addition will follow a national trend that integrates all kinds of information in libraries.

"Libraries are not just about books," she said. "We're about assisting students with additional sources, with information technology - there's so much information available it is daunting, we can teach students how to find it and how to use it."

"Our challenge is to offer information to students in a variety of formats, a good deal of that is on the Internet," Dubois said. "It's important to have a facility that will teach students how to access that information in whatever format."

The plan also involves moving the central computer center to the new building. Dubois said the current information technology center is located in the basement of the old Ivinson Building, which was built in 1917.

"It's really not suitable, and it puts us at risk if a major flood were to hit Laramie, we could lose a lot of our mainframe," he said.

The new center will be located east of the existing Coe Library, Dubois said. This will let students take advantage of the print and electronic information there, as well as allow for future growth and be close in proximity to student facilities like the Wyoming Union, fraternities and sororities and residence halls.

To build the center in this location, the Department of Anthropology will be relocated to the other side of campus. Currently, the anthropology offices, laboratories and artifact repositories are spread out across the campus. Even without any renovation funds, the department will move to an under-used building on the corner of Ninth and Lewis Streets.