Say goodbye to the J. Paul Leonard Library and hello to the library annex.

The J. Paul Leonard Library will close on Sunday, Nov. 23 to undergo a three-year retrofit and renovation. The project will make the building earthquake safe, as well as expand on library services. Upon completion, the library will have more computers, increased study space, and ample storage for a book collection that needs room to grow, according to Meredith Eliassen, a reference specialist at the library.

But during the three-year period, students will not be able to use the library.

The library annex—which opens Monday, Nov. 24—will help fill the library’s shoes. Nicknamed “the bubble,” the facility will provide limited student access through Thanksgiving week. But come December, the computer lab and study area will be open to students 24 hours a day.

“We’re hoping for about 150 computers and 300 study seats,” said Darlene Tong, the head of the Library building project. Tong said the annex will not have a book browsing section, but that it will have a periodical rack with publications like Newsweek.

While the annex will provide students with plenty of study space and computer access, its location is far from the center of campus. A student walking from 19th Avenue must travel to the opposite corner of SF State’s campus; through the quad, past the gymnasium and the parking garage to its location next to the corporation yard.

Dustin Helmer, an undergraduate junior in SF State’s criminal justice department, said he probably would not use the annex because of its location. But Helmer, 20, said he understands that building space is tight on campus.

“I can understand why, because there is no other place to put it,” Helmer said. “But realistically, I wouldn’t want to go there.”

“If you look on this campus, there is not a lot of space,” said Betsy Jo Carleton, a project coordinator for the annex. “We needed to accommodate the library.”

A new campus shuttle is planned to address concerns over the annex’s remoteness. The shuttle will transport students from 19th Avenue to the library annex. It will run Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and is scheduled to pick up students every 30 minutes, according to Deborah Masters, the university librarian.

The additional route will not effect the Daly City Bart shuttle, which will continue to transport students from 19th Avenue every 10 to 15 minutes.

Masters said the annex will also staff two security guards at night, which could provide escorts for students.

The building was built by a company called Sprung Instant Structures, and is made out of aluminum according to its Web site. According to Carleton, the ceiling is 44 feet high and the structure is 225 feet long. Carleton said the company builds these kinds of structures around the U.S.

“I think it’s going to be a really good building for the university,” Carleton said

The annex was not open to reporters because construction is not yet complete. But Eliassen, who has worked for the library since 1986, said inside the annex is one big room.

The structure looks like a tent from the outside but Carleton said it is insulated like a building. The aluminum walls are padded with 12 inches of fiberglass, which will protect visiting students from the hot of summer and the cool of winter.

“It is a tent,” Eliassen said. “A very well insulated tent, but it’s still a tent.”