The construction of Northern Michigan University’s Lydia M. Olson Library is going according to plan, and students may be surprised to see the upcoming changes in the 2026 winter semester.

The NMU Beaumier Heritage Center and the Central Upper Peninsula & NMU Archives will be moved to the new building and end up right across from one another. This will help consolidate the library’s resources and enable the two organizations to work hand-in-hand.

According to Leslie Warren, the Dean of Library and Instructional Support, the library will retain its older style while also moving to a more modern feel.

“Some of it, like the tall metal shelves, we have to have it,” Warren said. “That’s what we will see up here [on the middle floor]. It won’t be the weird colors we had in the old library. It won’t have that midcentury modern from the original design. But then as far as the other furniture, it is really going to depend based on the space and what the needs are.”

The Archives reading room will still have the classic wooden space, while the study sections will have more modern pods that were rated so well a few years back, when the library held its survey on furniture. The number of power outlets in the library has also increased, as previously there were very few and nearly none on the top floor where the books were kept. A new top floor was added, and will now house a variety of office spaces for the history, philosophy, political science and economics departments.

Next May, the lower portion of the library will be renovated, where Fieras, the Writing Center, the Commuter Lounge and more are currently located. After this, Gries Hall is set to be demolished and the majority of the departments that reside in it will move to the lower level of the library. This may coincide with the construction of the new College of Business building.

“Like for the college of business … if we get state funding this fall we will start construction in the spring [and] it will take 18 months to build it,” said Jim Thams, Assistant Vice President of Facilities.