(From left to right) Dr. Barbara Crow, provost and vice-president, academic, Dr. J.J. McMurtry, president and vice-chancellor, GSS president Dora Stolkova, University librarian and library dean Dr. Selinda Berg cut the ribbon for the new Study Commons at the University of Windsor's Leddy Library on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (Kyle Archibald/ University of Windsor)
By Lindsay Charlton
What makes libraries meaningful is what people learn, discover and create within them, says university librarian and dean Selinda Berg. Students at the University of Windsor now have a new space to do just that.
As campus bustled with new students Tuesday, the Leddy Library celebrated the official opening of the Graduate Student Society (GSS) Study Commons with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Libraries are unusual institutions. We are simultaneously places, collections, services, technologies, expertise and communities. Some of what we do is highly visible, but a great deal of what we do happens partly in the background. So, for the Graduate Student Society to recognize the best in the library is deeply meaningful to us,” Berg said in her remarks.
The new space, made possible by a $1.2-million donation from the GSS, is located on the first floor of the library’s west building.
“From demolition to when the floor was put in, every stage it went on, you really got to see the renderings come to life, and the vision we had anticipated grew when the tarps were taken off the windows, the way the light came in, the room just started to pop,” said Austin Roth, GSS executive director.
The doors leading into the commons and the walls inside feature artwork created by Indigenous artist Krystal Bigsky, a fourth-year student in the School of Creative Arts.
“I’m very honoured to share my artwork in this space. The representation allows Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and faculty to have a sense of belonging and understanding, a space where we can learn together,” Bigsky said.
“I was asked to create something to symbolize something from this territory that is sacred to the Indigenous people here, and I chose the strawberry and its flower. It signifies the heart and the connection to Earth. The space feels like a connection with the representation of inclusion.”
The study commons features new flooring, full-length windows that offer abundant natural light and views of the riverfront, and a range of spaces designed to meet different student needs, from independent study zones and group pods to a presentation area and gathering space.
“Over the years, Leddy has supported generations of academics, professionals and the greater campus community. And like any well-loved space, it was time for a glow-up — a beautiful glow-up,” said GSS president Dora Stolkova.
She hopes the new space will be one all students can enjoy and make memories in.
“Some of my fondest memories as an undergrad student have been made in Leddy,” she said. “I’m not saying fond in terms of an eight-hour gruelling session studying with friends was fun, but the fact that I was with friends overcoming an academic hurdle that I’ve never done before made it fond.”
With the project more than three years in the making, Berg reflected on the first meeting held to discuss it.
“I’ve never forgotten that meeting because what I heard that day was something bigger than a proposal to renovate a floor. I heard students, the very people who are at the heart of the services and spaces, saying that the library matters to them,” she said.
Berg said as many as 5,000 people come through the Leddy Library on any given day and the study commons will become the backdrop to thousands of individual moments.
“A graduate student will finish a dissertation chapter here. An undergraduate student will prepare for a difficult exam. A faculty member will meet a colleague who will eventually become a research collaborator. A staff member who is new to Windsor will spend time here and begin to feel that this university is becoming their university, and those moments really matter,” she said.
Berg thanked the GSS for investing not only in students attending UWindsor today but also in those who will use the space in the future.
“You planted the seed for something that will continue to grow long after today,” she said.
The GSS is not finished sowing seeds.
“We’ve been having conversations with faculties asking for a ‘wish list’ of sorts, and if there’s something we can help with related to the grad experience,” Roth said.
The GSS is currently working with the Faculty of Engineering and the Odette School of Business on graduate-specific study lounges in their buildings. The spaces will feature study and social areas, new televisions and a glass whiteboard.
“We really wanted the space to feel fresh and clean and dedicated,” Roth said.
“We’re excited about these two projects because Engineering and Odette have been two of our largest constituent groups.”
The GSS Study Commons at the Leddy Library is now open and available for us. Both the CEI and Odette spaces are slated to open toward the end of the month.