Getting large construction material up to the second floor

One of the challenges of this project is to get building material upstairs, especially if it is too big to take on the elevator or too heavy and cumbersome to carry up the stairs. Here are some solutions to the problem.

Moving out of Special Collections

In case you are wondering what we did with the 40,000+ books and hundreds of boxes and other items that were housed in Special Collections before the renovation project began, here are some pictures. The William B. Meyer Library Relocation company was hired to move the collections to locked and air conditioned storage in the Haines Room on the second floor of the library where they will remain inaccessible to staff and to researchers until they are moved into new quarters at the end of August.

Week 3

By the end of the third week of the Special Collections and Archives Project the basic outline of the new space has been roughed out. In this picture you can see the framework of the two staff offices.

In the meanwhile, work continues in the cramped quarters of the College archives on the third floor of Shain Library, now also the temporary home of special collections. In this picture you can see a volunteer, a student assistant and a researcher working on three separate projects.

Floor Plan of the Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives

The renovation of Special Collections and Archives includes a large section of compact storage which will double the space for storage of materials. It provides ample seating for researchers. There will be two offices for staff as well as a large workroom for processing collections and for working on projects out of the public eye. The Palmer Room will provide space for classes using material from special collections and the college archives. Built-in exhibit cases and ample wall space will make it possible to mount interesting exhibits of art work and books. The availability of lockers and a closet just outside the reading room will enhance security.

Architectural rendering of the new reading room

This is an architectural rendering of the new reading room in the Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives with the Palmer Room in the background.The rendering was created by Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, Architecture and Engineering, P.C.

Welcome!

Thanks to a very generous gift from Linda Lear, member of the Board of Trustees and of the Class of 1962, the dream of creating an expanded Special Collections and Archives that will integrate the functions of Special Collections and the College Archives into one large unit will come true over the summer of 2008. The new Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives will feature a beautiful and large new reading room for researchers with exhibition space for books and artworks; an improved seminar room (the Palmer Room) with audiovisual capability for classes using material from Special Collections and Archives; expanded office and processing areas; and a doubling of the stack space available for storing material, including compact shelving.

The new Lear Center will improve the efficiency of Special Collections and the College Archives, currently on two different floors of the library, by merging their locations. It will make it possible to schedule classes in the Palmer Room and to do research in the new reading room at the same time. The new facility will provide enhanced security as well as improved climate control and preservation of materials.

The construction and renovation project began on the day after Commencement and will continue over the summer. It will be finished in time for the beginning of fall semester classes, thus creating minimal disruption of the academic schedule. The project was designed by the Boston architectural firm of Einhorn, Yaffee, Prescott and the Konover Construction Company is carrying out the work.