OREM — Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Tuesday ceremoniously signed a bill giving Utah Valley State College $46.75 million for a proposed Digital Learning Center, the long-sought-for high-tech campus library.

The facility, which, if built to plans, will be a state-of-the-art research library that would support university-level coursework, is expected to be done in three years.

UVSC student Chris Coles said the Digital Learning Center is a much-needed addition to the campus. The inadequacy of the current library drives students to neighboring campuses to use their facilities he said.

With the blessing of state lawmakers, UVSC chiefs, who must come up with $1.25 million in donations to pay for the project, last year started brainstorming design concepts for the center. What they came up is a far cry from the typical college library filled with hard-bound books, long study tables and please-be-quiet signs.

Plans for the center call for a cafe, 40 group-study rooms, three computer-lab classrooms, a 125-seat auditorium and a media center where students can access videos and compact discs.

Students will borrow books at self-check-out stations.

The hallmark of the center, says Michael Freeman. UVSC library director, will be its Information Commons.

The Information Commons will have about 120 computers where students can write papers, edit multi-media documents, and access electronic databases for research. A large "Help Desk" will be in the center with reference librarians and computer gurus.

The library, however, is more than a student union.

Traditionals — the stacks of books and archives of papers from prominent businesses and people — will have room to grow in the Digital Learning Center, Freeman said.

About 100,000 books are checked out of the existing library each year. The number has increased as more bachelor's degrees are added at the growing Orem school.

Academics measure libraries by square feet per student. The current library has 2.1 square feet per student. The new 180,000-square-foot learning center will have 7.5.

The Digital Learning Center has been seen as key to UVSC becoming a university because it will be more conducive to graduate research.

UVSC officials say they are making changes on campus so the school can be granted university status within Utah's System of Higher Education.

"Our purchasing has definitely shifted to upper-division undergraduate" books, Freeman said. "When the masters programs come, we're already talking with faculty about this and what it's going to require, to support graduate programs."

Four construction and architecture teams are competing for the bid to build the building. A firm to do the work will be chosen by June 1.

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