Yesterday was the official opening of the new addition at my library. I thought I would share a few photos of what it looks like now. Every fall the university has a Convocation--basically the state of the union for the university but with singing. All the big, important people get up and talk about how wonderful things are and where we're going. After that everyone headed over to the library for the dedication and there was yet another ceremony with a ribbon cutting and more speeches. I am being sort of flippant about it, but in actuality it was very nicely done. I had no idea what the program looked like until they were handed out, and I have to say I was impressed by it. It is a little book, complete with bookmark and due date slip on the inside cover (dated October 11). It has photos, a brief history of the library and little essays inside. The cover design is by John DePol of the Yellow Barn Press, which is an original art paper used for the endsheets of books.
I shared photos of the construction outside, and the removal of the ugly orange carpeting inside. Here is a photo of the inside now. Sorry it looks a bit murky, but I took it before the sun was up (that's how early I get to work), and the flash only made it look like I was underwater. You get the idea, though. This is the first floor. Much nicer carpeting, don't you think? This is where I come each morning before work and on my break to stitch or read my book. You can't tell, but the left wall is actually full of large windows, and the stairs lead out onto a patio (as yet rather bland--I suspect they will be planting something there in the spring?). There are group study rooms in front and back of me, and periodical shelves to the right. The chairs are pretty funky I think (in a cool way), but honestly they really aren't all that comfortable (I supose they need to be practical and withstand wear, eh?). The second floor looks similar, but there is a cafe (as yet untried by me as I am always broke...I wonder why...). The third floor has the Jun Kaneko head, more seating, and these cool graduate student study cubicles. They are a place where the students can keep their study materials, lock them up when they leave, and a nice place to set up their laptaps and work.
This area is new--the library now offers live Scola Videostream. Students can watch international news (I am not sure how many languages are offered--I have yet to go and really check the area out) in support of language study.
One more photo. There is also an exhibit going on right now of books by the Yellow Barn Press. The works are by Neil Shaver who took his first printing class at my university in the 70s. He collaborated with DePol (whose work graces the cover of our program I showed above). I need to take a closer look at the exhibit as there are lots of lovely books. I love the typeset tools (I have long forgotten all the terminology unfortunately)--I took a hand made book class once a long time ago and would love to learn more someday!