The scrumptious smell of buttery popcorn lured students up to the second floor of the University Library yesterday. The library officially opened its doors to its new renovations.

About 35 students and faculty arrived to see Mark Weber, dean of Library and Media Services, cut the ribbon.

“It’s important to know that this space is really for you,” Weber said, pointing to the students.

The open house invited students to “take a break from midterms,” enjoy some snacks and see what the space has to offer. Raffles were held for a midterm care package with food and an iTunes gift card and another was for an Amazon.com gift card.

“We wanted to invite students to take a few minutes off from studying,” said Joseph Salem, head of reference and government information services. “It’s our opportunity to show it off and to let them know what’s here.”

The highlight of the open house was the new presentation practice room that boasts a computer with a monitor and LCD flat-panel screen to rehearse speeches and PowerPoint presentations. The room has a whiteboard and a conference table that seats six for collaborative projects.

With the growing use of technology on campus, it was especially important to add a space similar to one an actual presentation may be given in.

“It was our focus to meet new student needs with these renovations,” Salem said. “Group work is much bigger now.”

The room is available only to students and must be reserved. Students can reserve the room for up to two hours and can do that on the library Web site or by phone.

For further work, two new group study rooms have been added at a first-come, first-serve basis.

Other highlights are an elite study space with comfortable seating, an information desk and a more inviting microform center.

Leigh Mauer, temporary library associate of the second floor information desk, said she is glad the space is more effectively laid out.

“It is definitely nicer to have a brighter space with better lighting,” Mauer said. “And as we progress, we have the ability to move things around.”

Contact Libraries and Information Services reporter Katie Huntley at [email protected].