You may have already seen the announcement that the Computer & Video Game Archive will be moving to the Shapiro library over this summer. Our last date of operation in the Duderstadt will be this coming Friday (May 27), after which we will close to begin the process of moving to our new location on the 4th floor of Shapiro. We expect to reopen later this summer, date TBD but definitely in time for the Fall semester.
This move—which was recommended in our 2019 assessment report—was originally planned for the summer of 2020, but the pandemic put a pause on that. We now have the green light to make the move.
The relocation will be in at least two phases: the first, immediate phase will be the relocation of the CVGA equipment to the 4th floor of Shapiro. We expect when we reopen for our service model to be much like it was in the old location. For the second (and subsequent) phases we will be looking at the space and the service model for whatever changes may be possible to better serve our users and researchers, as well as hopefully acquiring new furniture for the space.
In addition to being more centrally located on campus, being in a building operated by the library will afford us with additional opportunities for programming and instruction. Specifically, our new location in room 4041 is immediately adjacent to the recently refurbished Library Learning Lab instructional space, which should greatly enhance the experience for classroom sessions that wish to make use of the CVGA.
While the CVGA will be closed during the move, faculty & instructors with research or curricular requests relating to CVGA materials should email us at video.games@umich.edu and we will work with you to figure out how we can best meet your needs during the transition.
While we don't yet have an ETA for re-opening in our new location, we will announce here and on social media when we have a date. Please follow us on Twitter @umcvga for updates.