Parks Library is trying to do a mini makeover of the Library Entrance Lounge by replacing 26 of the old lounge chairs that sit along the windows on the first floor.

The current chairs were purchased in the spring of 2000 during a renovation of the first floor. Now, after over a decade of wear and tear, the chairs have become worn down: the wood scratched and scarred, the cushions stained.

One Government of the Student Body senator described the chairs as “looking like someone had thrown up on them.”

The idea of replacing the chairs was brought to the attention of University Affairs at-large member Kimberly Haberl, senior in interior design, by a group of students. Haberl brought the issue up at the next University Affairs meeting; the department decided that the issue was a project worth looking into.

University Affairs contacted members of the Library Administration and Matt Dohrmann, student member of the committee and sophomore in finance.  Dohrmann and Haberl worked with University Affairs Chairman Adam Guenther, junior in animal science.

They began searching around campus for chairs students use to wait and study. The trio had informal focus groups where they asked students questions about which chairs they enjoyed the most. In the end, they found that the chairs in the Carver Hall lobby outside of Carver 101 were the most suitable and appealing.

The new chairs are to be armless leather chairs with small side tables and ottomans. The committee settled on purchasing 23 for a price of $1,003 each — a decrease from the original price of $1,844.  There will also be 16 tables costing $483.19 per table and four ottomans with a price tag of $300 each.

“These are high industry, high impact, leather chairs that are meant for high use. They are not your Lazy Boys,” Guenther said.

To fund this project they determined that the library, would pay for 11 of the new chairs and all of the tables and ottomans. In order to pay for the remaining 12 chairs, the UA approached GSB about funding them.

On Wednesday night Guenther and Olivia Madison, dean of the library, addressed GSB about funding for the 12 chairs. Finance Director Arjay Vander Velden immediately stated that GSB had not funded any other building on campus in the past 10 years except for the Memorial Union and that it was not a good use of student activity fee dollars.

Debate went back and forth for over an hour about the library’s budget, the question of correct spending of student activity fee money and student initiative.

Some senators argued the library had a large enough budget to cover this issue, $20 million, and that the library already received yearly funding from students through the student computer fee.

Madison rebutted these comments by saying that $10 million of the $20 million goes solely towards the upkeep of the library’s collection and the rest pays for salaries, student assistance and other programs offered through the library. The only way the library receives funding for renovations is through donations and grants.

One senator emphasized the fact that it took student initiative to bring the issue forward.

“I’m leaning towards voting ‘yes’ because of student initiative,” said GSB Senator Dan Rediske. “We need to take student initiative seriously; if it improves students’ life we should fund it.”

Other senators were not opposed of the idea of funding new chairs but were opposed to the cost itself.

“I’m just against the way it’s written currently,” said Senator Austin Ballhagen, senior in journalism and mass communication. “$12,036 for essentially a dozen chairs is not a just cause, if they were under a $1,000 and not for image or aesthetics it would be different. … We take pride in the library and how it looks, but it doesn’t mean we need top quality for a lobby.”

After the meeting, Madison made a comment about the funding process in general.

“It’s not about the dollar amount, GSB funding the library chairs would be a symbol,” Madison said. “It would show that the students actually care about the library.”

The funding of the project was tabled 20-7 and is to be voted on next Wednesday.