UW stirred up controversy on May 20 when its official library Instagram account shared rendered images of the new Libraries Strategic Space Plan, raising user suspicions about the use of generative AI in said images. Users also expressed negative feedback about the library plan itself, with concerns about changes that will turn many campus study spaces into social spaces.

The Instagram post features five images of Dana Porter Library (DP) and Davis Centre Library (DC) from the plan, which launched in March 2024. Reddit user skatertomato1 also shared these images in a post on the /r/uwaterloo subreddit. Instagram and Reddit users pointed out that the renderings feature people with blurry and oddly shaped hands, commonly seen in AI images. Some also noticed that the images include furniture that lacks back support, smaller bookshelves, and illegible university-branded sweaters. Several students thus questioned UW’s interest in accessibility needs, academia, and intentions when it comes to serving the interests of students.

Rendering of the proposed lobby of Dana Porter Library. (Photo credit: University of Waterloo; Perkins&Will)

While the images in question did not state whether AI was used in their creation, several users are calling the images “AI slop,” including honours English alum Briana Cheah. Cheah completed their degree in April and is returning to UW to begin their master’s degree in critical media studies this fall. “If the university values things like transparency and academic knowledge,” they said, “I feel, especially with the library that promotes citations so much, [that] there should be a page [dedicated to] what programs [they used] to render all this.” Cheah believes the student community has the right to know what was used to create these images, describing its omission as a breach of trust.

Third-year honours geospatial data science student Fio Gandola is another student who expressed concerns about the library spaces plan, especially regarding forced social interaction. Some proposed changes include creating an accessibility commons in DC and changing one of the library’s rooms into an esports lab. DP’s main floor is proposed to become an event space, replacing the current sofa chairs and small tables for individual studying with furniture set around large tables to seat up to 10 people. DP’s third floor is being designed as a new learning commons, replacing the existing study carrels with large tables and sofas around a smartboard, better suited for group work rather than silent study.

Rendering of the proposed learning commons area in Dana Porter Library. (Photo credit: University of Waterloo; Perkins&Will)

Gandola doesn’t think DP’s main floor should become an open-concept area. He says this would encourage conversation, the sound of which could spread to the upper floors and distract students from studying. “Libraries are spaces meant for individuals who need a feeling of security, sometimes silence, and … need to focus. New socialization spaces… may turn the libraries into places people start to AVOID,” he explained in an emailed statement to Imprint.

As a frequent user of DP’s study spaces, Gandola thinks these changes would discourage him from working in the library. “It almost feels like we are moving backwards from the academic atmosphere Dana Porter is known for, and towards the kind of library environment that makes it difficult to concentrate and work effectively,” he said. “If I walk into a library where everyone is talking and it’s louder than I’d like it to be, what would make me want to study there? Is it even a library if everyone is talking?”

Gandola also noted that there are already floors in DP dedicated to group study, and that not every floor in the building needs to encourage conversation. In line with other commenters on social media, he thinks that renovating DP’s lobby cafe would make the building lose part of its charm. “Sometimes, we need a break to find a quiet place for ourselves, and Dana Porter has always been there for me in that case . . . I feel as though this is why students are angered,” he expressed.

UW and its official library Instagram account have not addressed comments on Instagram or Reddit. This leaves students like Cheah uncertain about the library’s future and feeling a lack of transparency from UW. Imprint contacted the university and plan developer Perkins & Will about the images, but did not receive a response before publication.

More information about the Library Strategic Space Plan can be found here.