Levis Commons offers more than shopping and dining; it also offers education.

The University’s Levis Commons branch in Perrysburg offers both classrooms and a library for students.

The main building is a depository shared by the University of Toledo and Bowling Green. The library features above 800,000 books from the University and 300,000 from the University of Toledo, said Sara Bushong, the Dean of Libraries at the University.

“Proportionately we have about 75 percent and University of Toledo has about 25 percent,” she said.

The depository is one of five in the state of Ohio.

“It was originally designed to hold books not needed on campus very much,” she said.

Bushong said the depository is not a normal library.

“It’s not a browsable thing, you can’t go in and pull things. It’s best to know what you want before you go out there,” she said.

Anyone can special order the books to be delivered to them from the depository.

“If someone from University of Cincinnati wanted something from our department, they could request it and have it delivered to them,” Bushong said.

Community members can also use the depository’s resources.

“Anybody could use it, but primarily if you wanted to check the books out you need some sort of library card in the Ohio Link System,” she said.

Ann Light, the associate director of University Outreach, said Levis Commons offered a professional development series last year.

“We base what we do on customer demand,” she said. “We might bring it back if we had the need.”

Other workshops and meetings have also been hosted at the Levis Commons location.

There has been a summer academy for educators, Owens Corning and Owens Illinois have run business meetings during the week, and Health and Human Services has also run programs, Light said.

In 2009, the continuing education portion of Levis Commons opened renovated classrooms to be used.

“The college of business moved two degree programs there,” said David Chatfield, director of the Center for Executive Study.

Professional Master’s of Business Administration and the Executive Master’s of Business Administration are the two degree programs currently being offered at Levis Commons.

There is also a third program called the Executive Master’s of Organization Development and classes are held on campus one weekend a month.

A large difference between the University’s Levis Commons location and main campus is the demographic of people enrolled.

“The majority of students enrolling in that location are working in companies, and working full time in their careers,” Chatfield said. “They’re coming at the end of a very busy day to a 6 p.m. class.”

The programs offered at Levis Commons are competitive, bringing people from all around the United States.

“These programs all require several years of career experience, a significant academic background and significant career responsibilities” Chatfield said. “People attracted to the Organization Development Degree; currently enrolled is a lady from Seattle, Wash., a lady from Minneapolis, Minn., a lady from St. Louis, Miss., a man from Manhattan, N.Y. and last weekend they were there in class at Levis Commons in Perrysburg.”

Chatfield said Levis Commons is a good place for the classes, and despite it being a shopping plaza, it does not affect the students negatively.

“It’s nice to be at a destination in terms of where we place a classroom” Chatfield said. “It’s nice to be at a location where before our students even know about our program they know about us.”