On November 6, 2008, CECH Dean Lawrence J. Johnson and Dean and University Librarian Victoria A. Montavon hosted an open house to celebrate the renovation of Teachers College, home to the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) and the new CECH Library.

The massive two-year overhaul of 60,000 square-feet of Teachers College/Dyer Hall revealed facets of the college’s original Georgian architectural grandeur that had been hidden for decades. In addition, modern amenities and inviting spaces outside the classrooms for students to gather and study were added to the building.

One of the most spectacular examples of blending the new with the old lies within the new CECH Library, the former site of a computer lab. Years before, the space was the Annie Laws Auditorium, which held a stage for performances, an area discovered again in the renovation. The restoration involved the removal of a dropped ceiling, revealing the original art deco, 22-foot-high ornate plaster ceiling and a Juliette balcony that now overlooks the CECH Library.

The library contains the holdings of the former Curriculum Resources Center that were housed in Blegen Library, and has broadened its focus to serve the needs of the college’s criminal justice and human services students and faculty. The upper level of the library contains the circulation desk, a group-study room, current periodicals, journals, and professional education books. On the lower level, visitors to the library will find a computer lab, production lab, video viewing space, and curriculum library materials.

“I’m thrilled that the renovation of Teachers College presented the opportunity to create this excellent library space to serve the needs of the entire CECH community,” said Victoria A. Montavon, Dean and University Librarian.

“This is not just a place to check into a classroom and leave anymore,” said Nelson Vincent, Associate Dean of CECH. “Seating areas line the hallways and we have group study areas with comfortable, inviting furniture. Now, there’s not a space in this building that does not have natural light. There’s even the beginning of an outside reading garden that would accommodate as many as 50 people.”

Vincent adds that the library renovations also brought back a 110-year-old grandfather clock restored by Douglas Rife, a senior lab associate and instructor for the mechanical engineering technology department in the College of Applied Science.

Formed in 1905 in partnership with the Cincinnati Board of Education, the University of Cincinnati’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) has provided more than a century of service. Before construction began on a permanent home for the college, classes were held in old McMicken Hall and in Beecher Hall (now the site of University Pavilion), with construction first beginning on Teachers College in 1930.

For more on the CECH Library, visit their Web site at www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/cech.