Week 10

Great progress has been made in the library renovation project this week. In this photo you can see the base of the new reading room display case waiting to be installed.













In fact things are so far along that the demolition wall, erected to protect the stacks from the construction noise and dust, is being removed.



















This picture taken from the stairwell shows part of the sprinkler system.












The shelves in the Palmer Room ready to be refinished.
















Behind the plastic sheeting the woodwork in the Palmer Room is getting a total makeover.

Working in the compact storage area. The tracks for the shelving units are in place.

The glass wall--marked with blue masking tape--is in place. Through the glass you can see the very large wooden display case intened for the wall leading to the Haines Room. Assembled offsite, it will now take eight men to place it into the wall. It weighs about 600 pounds.

Carefully putting the display case into the wall.

In the meanwhile, the really dirty and very noisy work of demolishing the entrance to the library continues under the hot sun.

Week 9

The renovation of Special Collections and Archives is only one of many construction projects taking place on campus this summer.



This sign is posted on construction fencing in front of the main entrance to Shain Library. The approach to the library is undergoing a major makeover.

The view of the work area from the second floor of Shain. This area will be repaved and the big hole will disappear.

Needless to say, the repaving job is noisy and dirty! Nevertheless, the library will remain open throughout the project.

The view from Shain Library toward Cro Boulevard now being repaved. This effort includes new sidewalks, walkways and landscaping.

Inside the library the special collections project is moving along. Here you see the big glass doors that will open into the new reading room.

A metal grid has been installed in the ceiling to hold the ceiling tiles of the reading room.

One of the sets of accent lights along the perimeter that will highlight exhibitions of artwork on the walls of the reading room.

Week 8

The photograph on the left is of a new wall that adds 4 inches to the outside of a ventilation shaft on the main floor of the library in technical services. This wall was built to accommodate the many wires that had to be run between the second floor renovation area and the basement. Soon this area will be cleaned up, painted and the ceiling tiles replaced.

We are reusing the two massive wood tables from the old Palmer Room. In the picture on the left, one of the tables is shown upended for repairs. The tables will be refinished in a stain to match the bookcases in the Palmer Room.

Here is a corner of the new reading room. The sheetrock has been prepared for the next step, which is painting and the installation of new bookcases.

Week 6 and week 7

Several weeks have gone by since the last blog entry for the special collections and archives project and much progress is evident. Today is the beginning of the 8th week. A lot of the infrastructure is in place. Sheetrock covers many of the walls. The Lear Center is taking shape and although not yet in move-in condition, we can really get a sense of what it is going to look like.

In the photograph on the right you can see the mechanism for the sprinkler system that has been installed in the stack area of special collections and archives.

The photo on the left shows the new offices with sheetrock and doorways. Each office has a window. The windows are boarded up right now so that they can be used as outside entrances for construction material hauled up from delivery trucks and, of course, for debris going to the dumpster.

In the photos below there is a view of the Palmer Room from the new reading room and another shows the insulation in the walls of the stack area.