IMPROVING CAMPUS LIFE

IMPROVING CAMPUS LIFE

The Library Renovation and Expansion Project
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/Renovation/libren.htm

"No college today can become great, while its library remains small." Asa Don Dickinson, first Librarian of Brooklyn College, in a letter to President William A. Boylan, 18 November 1935

"The year was an exciting one due to the anticipation of a new building. The major activities were meetings and measuring." Susan Vaughn, Associate Librarian for Collection Development

A library is much more than its building alone, yet that building defines its capabilities in critical ways. Brooklyn College has begun a $70 million project to increase the size of the Library by some 100,000 square feet and completely renovate the existing spaces. This will be the first new academic building erected on the campus in some 30 years. Our architects are a team of specialists in library design, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott (Boston) and Buttrick White & Burtis (New York). Shen Milsom and Wilkie are our telecommunications and multimedia consultants.

A Steering Committee of faculty, students, and staff work with the architects to ensure that the building will meet the functional and future needs of the Brooklyn College community. Architect Marla Appelbaum represents the College as Project Manager. She is the primary contact among the Library staff, the design team, the contractors, the College administration, the University, and the State Dormitory Authority.

Space and Functionality

The new Library will fulfill students' needs well into the twenty-first century. Its numerical portrait is an impressive one: six and a half acres of floor space, 15.5 miles of shelving, and 2,400 chairs. Aesthetically, the project will:

Maintain and reaffirm the original design and craftsmanship of LaGuardia Hall, a singular campus landmark
Reestablish LaGuardia's architectural integrity with a new wing that is Georgian in character, as well as new exterior walls for the 1959 extension which echo the character of the original campus buildings
Preserve and restore LaGuardia's historic elements (the WPA murals of the Alexandrian and Augustan libraries; the grand reading rooms)

Practically, the project is designed to:

Remedy the shortage of space for both readers and books
Introduce modern mechanical and computer systems
Provide inviting, functional spaces for study and learning
Protect the collections from the destructive effects of heat, humidity and ultraviolet light

The completed building will be beautifully sited and landscaped. The new wing adjoins the south wall of the 1959 extension, stretching toward New Ingersoll Hall and framing the lily pond and its gardens. Interior areas have been created for faculty and student computing, multimedia classrooms, group study rooms, and state-of-the-art listening and viewing equipment. Terrazzo, the warmth of wood, and rich colors will create a handsome setting conducive to study and research. Carrels, tables, and double-height galleries rim each floor, bringing natural light and campus views to readers as they work. An art committee for the new building has begun selecting appropriate pieces.

The Library complex is designed to handle the information needs of the future. The architects have built in the capacity to accommodate rapid growth in information technologies. Rather than confining computers and information technologies to one or two spaces in the building, state-of-the-art equipment (as well as net taps for students who bring along their own notebook computers) will be located throughout the Library.

The College community has been kept well-informed about the project's progress through presentations to Faculty Council as well as the faculty as a whole. A February series of open houses featured the architects, Library staff, the construction management firm, the University, the State Dormitory Authority, and the College administration staffing tables and exhibits. On May 6 architect Theodore Burtis and Chief Librarian Barbra Higginbotham presented the new Library to the CUNY Board of Trustees' Facilities Committee, and on May 26 the full Board approved the project's progression to the contract stage.

The Library Web site profiles the renovation and expansion project, and work has begun on a fund-raising and naming opportunities brochure. Private funds are needed to purchase furniture, shelving, and equipment ($10 million) and to establish endowments that will build Library collections and support technological innovation.

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