The Microsoft Library in Redmond has lengthy been a quiet anachronism in the midst of the high-tech campus, a spot the place authors gave talks and workers checked out old school paper books, together with titles beneficial by CEO Satya Nadella and different execs.
That chapter of the corporate’s historical past is now closing.
The Verge broke the information Thursday that Microsoft’s conventional library goes away as a part of what Microsoft described internally as a shift to a “trendy, AI-powered studying expertise.”
Responding to an inquiry from GeekWire, the corporate confirmed that its libraries in Redmond, Hyderabad, Beijing, and Dublin closed as of this week and “are being repurposed into collaborative areas for group studying and experimentation,” the place workers can discover rising applied sciences.
“We’re evolving Microsoft Library areas and providers to raised help how workers be taught, keep present, and construct new expertise,” a Microsoft spokesperson stated by way of e mail. The modifications are already underway and can roll out absolutely within the coming weeks, in accordance with the corporate.
In an inner FAQ obtained by The Verge, Microsoft described the brand new method as a “Skilling Hub” and acknowledged that the choice “impacts an area many individuals valued.”
The shift additionally consists of cuts to worker subscriptions for newspapers and trade studies. Publications affected embrace The Info and Strategic Information Service, which had offered world studies to Microsoft workers for greater than twenty years.
Microsoft stated it continues to supply entry to greater than 20 digital assets and subscriptions, “prioritizing these Most worthy to workers.”
Strategic Information Service didn’t mince phrases about Microsoft’s AI-focused rationale.
“Know-how’s future is formed by flows of energy, cash, innovation, and folks — none of that are predictable based mostly on LLMs’ probabilistic regurgitation of previous data,” Berit Anderson, the corporate’s chief working officer, advised The Verge.
The library has moved round over the a long time, from the unique Constructing 4 to Constructing 92 most just lately. The information of the closure drew a nostalgic response on X from Steven Sinofsky, the previous Home windows president, who known as the library “a crown jewel of the early days.”
“They purchased each PC guide and two copies of each software program,” Sinofsky wrote. “Should you discovered one you wanted that they didn’t have, they acquired it.”
