Welcoming Spring in the New Lounge

There are still piles of snow around from the last storm and more is forecast for today. But the birds of spring have arrived in northern Indiana and our thoughts turn to gardening. With the enthusiastic leadership of the AMBS community gardeners, we have had two opportunities to plant seeds in preparation for the 2008 season.

The lounge tables were spread with seed packs. Planting containers and potting soil was provided along with expert advice from Jamie Hollis, Heidi Rupley and . Everyone had a chance to plant seeds and take containers home to tend until their garden warms up enough for outdoor planting. Hopefully there will be sturdy seedlings to tuck into the soil for early summer crops.

A big thank you to the garden planners for helping us get ready for spring.


And, for those not interested in seed planting, there was stimulating conversation around the fireplace. The new furniture is well used and much appreciated.

New Furniture Completes the Lounge

Wednesday's arrival of new furniture for the Lounge was celebrated on Thursday, February 28, with a special break for Leap Year. The entire community gathered for doughnuts from a local bakery and a few daring individuals demonstrated dramatic leaps and even a cartwheel. (Sorry, no photos of the leaps.)

From the top of the stairs coming out of the Conference Room, you can see that the old library reading room has become a comfortable gathering space. The literature rack which formerly held materials from Faith and Life Resources in the old library Curriculum Center has found a new home in the Lounge with a display of assorted brochures. Two rectangular library tables at the entrance to the Lounge are often used by volunteers preparing materials for the Church Leadership Center. Back further in the room by the windows is a grouping of casual furniture, the soft red chairs from the old library.

President Nelson Kraybill chats with student Reece Retzlaff just before she leads the leapers and Nelson follows. (Again, sorry, no photo of the leaps. It was over too quickly for this amateur photographer.) Janeen Bertsche Johnson, Campus Pastor, presides over the doughnuts from Lucky's of Elkhart. A line forms at the coffee machine back by the sink as Jesse Smith gives directions to Craig Neufeld and Barbara Devereaux.



There are three new bistro tables with high stools being enjoyed here by the maintenance crew: Don Steider, Ramont Schrock, Nate Koets and volunteer Wes Braun. June Alliman Yoder and Joanne Gallardo demonstrate that the bistro tables are handy even when the chairs have been moved by the maintenance staff. Well, we can guess who is in most need of a mid-morning break from hard physical labor.



The foosball table at the far southwest end of the the new Lounge sees active and noisy competition during class breaks. Reece and Jesse are joined by Mark Gingerich and Jason Vance.





The area by the gas fireplace in the far northwest corner now has new furniture, two loveseats and two soft chairs. This is generally a popular spot. However, with doughnuts and leaping at the the other end of the room, it was a quiet corner when I snapped this photo. The gas fireplace has a timed switch so that it is only on when someone is there to enjoy it. This has become the preferred gathering place for the afternoon mate drinkers.



Change takes time, especially in a small institution where design decisions are made by committee. However, there is common agreement that the transformation of the old library into a new lounge has been very successful and is meeting many needs on campus.

In early February, the Admissions Department moved to the Lambright Center into offices vacated by the Church Leadership Center. This includes Director Bob Rosa, Admissions Counselor Jeffrey Newcomer Miller, Financial Aid Counselor Jody Walker and Assistant Denise McOwen. Their goal is to have a welcoming area to meet with prospective students.

Jeff Miller, Chief Financial Officer, moved from his office by the mailroom down the hall next to the Ad Cabinet Room. Mary Klassen moved into Jeff's old office and her assistant, Nekeisha Alexis Baker, is now in the adjacent former office of the Admissions Counselor, Jeffrey Newcomer Miller. Barbara Gamble, new human resources and payroll assistant, has moved into Mary Klassen's old office.

Last August at an all-employee gathering, Nelson asked everyone who had changed offices in the past year to raise their hands. About a third of the staff raised their hands. When he asks this question next summer, perhaps another third will raise their hands. AMBS is indeed on the move in many ways!

The past two months of silence on this blog are a testimony of the commitment it takes to do regular postings on a blog. On the other hand, no need to clog the web unnecessarily. You have now seen the fruits of two months of work by the AMBS Maintenance Department.

I will probably continue to post until the Fiftieth Anniversary and Library Dedication April 25 and 26. I hope to see you at AMBS for this reunion and celebration.

First Staff Break in the New Lounge

The vending machines were moved to the new lounge today, the day after the last day of classes. So, where to eat lunch since the Lambright Center is closed? A small group gathered in the new lounge for lunch using a table from the hallway and warming food in the microwave down the hall in the kitchenette. The new microwave has not yet arrived.

These shots are from the first afternoon break in the new lounge. What is that green thing with white handles hanging out? It is a foosball table provided by the !Explore youth program.

These shots are from the first afternoon break in the new lounge. Sharon made coffee on her new coffee maker. The coffee vending machine is not yet hooked up. The gas fireplace is very nice.










Thank you , Nekeisha Alexis-Baker, for bring down some more chairs.

Church Leadership Center: Administrative Support

The library circulation counter area has become the office of Eric Saner, Administrative Assistant for the Church Leadership Center, and Sharon Baker, Administrative Assistant.





All of the counters were removed from the old library workroom to give them a spacious office with new suspended fluorescent lights.








Here are some shots of their move into the office.

!Explore Staff Moves to Library Offices

Across the hall the !Explore staff have taken the small offices on the old library hallway.

Andy Brubaker Kaethler was challenged to find space for all of his books in what used to be the Curriculum Center. Thanks to Herb Leichty for putting up the shelves.

Lois Hess Nafziger has taken over the librarian's office. The desk is now up against the wall and she is quite well settled in.

The small room at the end of the hall which had been the group study room will be used as a small conference room.

Moving Day for the Church Leadership Center

On Monday, December 17, the Church Leadership Center moved from the Lambright Center to the renovated old library. Herb Leichty, Ramont Schrock and students Joseph and Rolando Sosa were there to led a hand.








The director, Jewel Gingerich Longenecker, settles into her office. This is the middle part of the old library workroom.





Nina Lanctot and Rafael Barahona share the back part of this room where Brent Koehn's desk used to be. Nina has a beautiful oak desk. The book lift was removed from the corner to open up this space.

The Conference Room is Handicap Accessible

The lift from the hallway to the Conference Room landing is now complete! This is the lift from the hallway area. Up above you can see the office doors of Erland Waltner (right) and John Rempel.

These steps lead up to the place where Barb Nelson Gingerich's office used to be. Barb is assistant to the Institute of Mennonite Studies. As soon as the bookstore moved to its new location last summer, Barb moved into the old bookstore room where the cash register had been.

There is now a generous landing at the top of the stairs. The occupants of the three offices, John, Erland and Brent Graber, want to create a little seating/waiting area here. The walls need some art. The shot of the landing is taken from the top of the stairs looking toward the entrance to the Conference Room.

The new wall between Brent's office and the stairwell gave him about two more feet of width which makes it look quite spacious.

The New Lounge Emerges

A new lounge is about to emerge from the old library reading room. The tile is completed in the kitchenette area where the current periodicals display used to be. The unit to the left is an island that will be out at the edge of the tile. The snack and pop vending machines will go into the space where the island is now. Some bistro tables with high stools have been ordered for this area.


These are dark pictures because most of the lights are out of commission. The light fixtures are being modified to use more energy efficient lamps. The lamp bowls are waiting for the new units to arrive. Notice the new fan unit on the left wall. All the old fans have been replaced. Last year, our last winter in the old library, only three of the eight original 1958 fan units still worked!


At the far end of the room agas fireplace has been installed in the corner that will become a cozy gathering spot in cold winter weather. It will have a timer switch. The day after this photo was taken, the stone face was put on the fireplace. It looks like there is still some trim work to be done.


Tables and chairs from the old library and round tables from the currrent will be used to furnish this new space. Some new couches have been ordered. The new lounge should be ready in January. Watch for more pictures as this space develops.

More Progress in the New Lounge

The tile flooring is installed in the northwest corner of the old library reading room. There will be a row of black tile to finish off the edge of the tiled area. The vending machines will be to the left where the wires are now hanging. The refrigerator will be on the right where the access opening is. There is an island counter with slide-out sections for the waste baskets, just like the unit in the old lounge. Dark hickory was selected for the cabinets to contrast with the original pine paneling of the walls. To the far left you can see the old library workroom. We need to get that sign down! A V and Periodicals are no longer here!

The landing outside the Conference Room is close to completion. The new carpet is down and ready for the installation of the wheelchair lift. In this view down toward the hallway, the lift will go on the left side where the bucket is. The stairs are to the right.

When you exit the Conference Room into the landing, you see these three doors. From left to right, they are the offices of Brent Graber, IT Director, John Rempel, theology professor, and Erland Waltner, president emeritus.

Why is the middle doorway higher that the other two? It is the only original doorway! The other two doorways are in new walls, walls that didn't exist before the construction project. The other two offices only had partitions, not full walls. Brent's office is about two feet wider that it was before since the new wall is not in exactly the same place as the partition was. The rectangular opening in the stairwell (middle picture) provides access to the backs for the computers in Brent's office.

Next week, I hope to post photos of the lift and the completed kitchen area of the lounge.

Cherry Tables in the New Library

The photos in the previous post show the beautiful cherry paneling at the entrance to the library and the bookstore. Don Steider, AMBS Maintenance Director, made all the paneling and cherry trim in the library. He continues to use his woodworking skills to beautify the library. Just inside the entrance to the new building, each conversation group in the gallery has a coffee table with a solid cherry top made by Don.

Within the library and just across from the service desk, there is a seating area by a large east facing window. The clear-coated natural cherry has beautiful wood grain and is also sturdy enough to serve as an ottoman. It's nice to be able to prop your feet up when settling in to read in these comfy chairs.

In the north reading area, Don provided smaller tables to go with the lounge chairs. These seats are very popular among student seeking a quiet and comfortable place for serious reading.

The black metal bases were ordered online from Crate and Barrel. While a variety of tops are available from the manufacturer, we are pleased to have the tables finished right here in the AMBS woodshop. Thank you Don, Steider!

Enhancements in the New Library

We continue to make small steps to improve the new library. Last week the letters arrived to identify the library and bookstore. They were mounted by Nathan Ramer, Goshen College intern working with Mary Klassen, Director of Communications.

The individual letters are cut from hard plastic foam. I think they look stunning on the cherry panels with the black "reveals" and the textured black floor tiles.

Yes, we do provide a wastebasket and recycling container.

The Old Library Becomes the New Lounge

The professionals from DJ Construction and their subcontractors have been busy turning the old library into the new lounge. So, I take up my camera again and bring you some images of the work in progress.

This is the view down the hall in the old library. The photocopier used to be in the foreground of this shot. You can see the new carpet squares have been laid and are covered with plastic for protection. Carpet has been laid in the three small offices and today they were putting it on the steps going down to the lower level.

There are new fluorescent lights in the ceiling. It's bright! The wall to the right now has a door entering the office where the lift had been that took books downstairs. You can just barely see the handrail of the stairs to the right. The double door that used to go into the workroom by Lois' desk is gone. There is only a solid wall to the double doors.

The circulation window is still there but the counter is gone. The workroom has a wall down the middle to separate the back two offices from the front office. This is the wall that only had studs in the first picture of my last post. The administrative assistant (Eric Saner) and the volunteer coordinator (Sharon Baker) will be in this front office. In the far right of this picture, you can see the new entrance into this office.

The doorway that had gone from the library workroom out to the reading room has now been blocked off. Through the window to the right you can see the entrance into the old library from the hallway. The bathrooms are having some renovations but I'm not sure why there is a bathroom sink in the office.

The old library reading room is still a woodshop and storage area. This construction worker is cutting boards to finish off the new stairwell and lift area out in the north hallway.

In the picture below, he is standing in the area where the lift will go. In the far right of the picture, you can see the door to John Rempel's office and to the left the new wall that separates Brent Graber's office from the stairwell. Erland Waltner has moved to temporary quarters in an individual study room in the new library. Erland's office also has a complete wall now, not just a partition. Students entering the conference room have had to make their way through the construction zone.

I have heard that the project will be completed by December 1. I believe that when I see it!