The Frank P. Doyle Building
Map | Doyle Library Floor Plans | Doyle Library Virtual Tour | The Doyle Collection
Building Overview
The new Frank P. Doyle Library building on the Santa Rosa Campus is a four-story structure which includes Media Services, the Tutorial Center, and the Robert F. Agrella Art Gallery. At 145,000 total square feet, Doyle Library is the second largest SRJC structure.
History
The old Bernard C. Plover Library on SRJC's Santa Rosa Campus was designed to serve a maximum student population of 15,000—less than half of the current population. By the late 20th century, space for student seating and service areas, staff work space, book, periodical and media collections was much less than adequate, and significant technical upgrading was needed to accommodate the library's use of modern information and multimedia technologies. The need for a facility that would more adquately meet the needs of SRJC's ever-expanding student population was evident. Program planning and design began in 1993 and the new building was completed in 2006.
About Frank P. Doyle
Among his many other civic activities and accomplishments, Frank P. Doyle was the former president and co-founder of the Exchange Bank. In 1890, he co-founded the bank with his father, Manville, and in 1916, he succeeded his father as bank president. During the 1930s Depression years, Doyle obtained funds from the Federal Government's Public Works Administration to help construct buildings at SRJC. In his will, Doyle established a unique perpetual trust which would provide scholarships to "worthy young men and women attending SRJC." At the time of Mr. Doyle's death in 1948, the value of this trust was close to $600,000. In 1950, the first awards were made from the trust's dividends: $21,000 funded 95 student scholarships. Since that year, the trust has earned more than $52 million in dividends, resulting in over 83,000 Doyle scholarships to students at SRJC. Read about the Doyle Scholarship at SRJC.
Building Occupants
- First Floor - Robert F. Agrella Art Gallery, Tutorial Center, Media Services, television studio, and technology-enhanced classrooms
- Second Floor - Information Commons (Reference Services and Research Area), Periodicals, Technical Services, and coffee bar
- Third Floor - Library study spaces and book collections, teaching classrooms, Instructional Computing, Distance Education, and the Center for New Media
- Fourth Floor - Course Reserves, library study spaces and book collections
Building Features
Designed in colors that reflect Sonoma County's natural environment—the green of the oak trees and gold of the grasses on the hillsides—the new building offers the opportunity to provide expanded features and services:
- 145,000 total square feet: 99,000 assigned (usable) square feet with 1,045 student seats in a variety of configurations, including individual carrels and 27 group study rooms
- Wireless technology throughout the facility
- 280 computer workstations and a laptop checkout program
- A white noise generator to block ambient sounds and maintain quiet zones
- Media viewing rooms and 21 carrels for faculty-assigned viewing of instructional films and videos
- Digital color television studio and two large technology-enriched classrooms for video conferencing and distance learning
Great care has been taken to make the building energy efficient and environmentally friendly. This includes many features, such as:
- A rooftop array of 77 KW photovoltaic solar panels that generate a significant amount of the electricity used in the building, estimated to save the College between $20,000 and $30,000 per year in energy costs
- An air conditioning system that makes 350 tons of ice at night, when energy costs are lowest, then circulates water through the ice during the day to chill it before sending it through the building
- Flat panel computer monitors to generate less heat than traditional monitors
- Over 80% of roof and ceiling tile contents derived from recycled materials
- Recycled materials used in carpets and upholstery fabrics
- Green and nontoxic building materials used whenever possible to reduce outgassing and the use of nonrenewable petroleum-based resources
- Strategic placement of the building's many ceiling-to-floor windows and skylights to maximize the use of natural sunlight
- Motion sensors to automatically turn off lighting when users leave study rooms and offices
