MIDWAY, Ky. — Most Kentucky universities and colleges returned to class this week, welcoming students back to campus.

Midway University in Woodford County started Monday and expects a record number of students living on campus for an eighth year in a row. With an increased number of students living on campus, the university has had to get creative for addressing a housing shortage.

Jayden Barker’s dorm room at Midway University is a place to sleep, study and unwind. She shares the space with two other girls who are also her teammates on the soccer team.

“Us bringing our own styles to the room adds a uniqueness to our room,” Barker said.

But Barker’s room is unique in more ways than one. It’s one of 43 rooms on the second floor of the university library.

“I was like, ‘It’s not even going to be a good room.’ I didn’t know how it was going to look and I think that’s what scared me the most,” Barker said.

But once moved in, the junior soccer player can’t imagine living anywhere else on-campus. Due to the building’s history, the converted rooms are larger than a traditional dorm.

“We all have our own space, we all have our own desk, and we don’t have to really share anything. It’s really nice and big so we can all just do our own thing,” Barker said.

Midway President John Marsden says enrollment has grown seven consecutive years and anticipates this year being an eighth, leaving them short on housing.

“We considered adding a new residence hall but realized that process would take far too long and we had an immediate need that needed to be addressed in time for fall of 2023,” Marsden said.

So instead, the university came up with a three-phase plan: convert the second floor of the library into housing, build a new library, then convert the entire old library into a dorm.

Midway became a co-ed institution in 2016, taking its numbers of full-time, traditional students from 240 to 850.

“When I first joined 10 years ago, we had enrollment challenges as well as financial challenges and we were able to turn the corner and have been a positive trajectory,” Marsden said.

Barker, an hour from her hometown, says Midway and her library turned dorm room is the perfect home away from home.

“I think it’s just because it’s so new, it just feels new, I feels clean, and I feel so lucky being the first people to live here,” Barker said.

Midway University expects its final enrollment numbers for this semester to be released on Sept. 1.

The first floor of the library is still open and operating. There is no timeline on when construction on a new library will begin.