Please come in!

A little over one year ago, our front entrance looked like this...

...and today!

The flags, featuring our benefactor Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., were put up for our grand opening event on April 10.  Grass is on the way, but it is only April, and the ground has been torn up for over a year, after all!

Here is the vestibule, just inside the front doors.

On the right you can see our donor wall, recognizing all the groups and individuals who made donations to the renovation campaign.  Many of the names seen here are also on spaces throughout the building, as their donations allowed them to designate a specific area or room.  Also featured on this plaque are opening lines from great works of literature.

Enter the next set of doors, and you will be in the newest library space.

Look to your right, and you will see our cafe - open Monday- Friday from 8 am to 2 pm.

To your left is our program space (denoted on posters as L102).  It can hold 50-70 people comfortably for speakers and presentations, and has a large screen and projector.  When not being used for such functions, you can find current magazines and newspapers here, as well as a great casual space to study or relax.

Continuing on, you are now entering the remodeled space.  On both sides of the gallery you can see pieces of art - we'll talk more about those in another post - and directly in front of you is a portrait of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr.

Also featured on (in!) this wall is Excalibur, a piece of Steuben crystal that is also visible in the painting (look on the table next to Mr. Houghton's right hand).

If this looks familiar, it is because Arthur has always had a place of honor on this wall.  However, our main desk used to sit between those 2 columns, like this -

Are you getting a sense of the enormity of the changes that happened around here?!?!?

Our main desk is now located to your right, at a 90-degree angle to Arthur/where the desk was before.  Staff offices are behind that and along both exterior walls.  Course reserves are on the shelves that you can see behind the desk in the picture below - ask at the desk if you are looking for a textbook.  This is also the place to get research help, check out a laptop, tablet or graphing calculator, and ask all your library-related questions!

In my next post I'll give you a tour of the Learning Commons.