Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2007 - (Page 40)

m m above: The freshly reno- Linderman Renewed vated rotunda houses thousands of books. middle right: A carving ing an exciting place for people to above the reading study and appreciate everything room’s ﬁreplace comfrom art to historical records,” says memorates Linderman Library’s creation and Woodcock, who is presently creatﬁrst renovation. ing a historic museum for the house bottom: Students ﬁle of the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, past the help desk as one of the most respected men in they leave the library. Boston in the 1900s. below left: At Lucy’s Café, students savor a coffee Blending the old and the new and sandwich during was not without its challenges. study breaks. “Trying to put in all the systems without compromising the strong architectural integrity of the building was pretty difficult,” Corallo says. “For instance, we had to install all the air conditioning ducts behind the original wood panels—all the panels had to be removed, holes were drilled through the ﬂoors to reach the air conditioning units in the basement, and then panels had to be put back on.” This use of what is called noninvasive technology is evident throughout the building. The technology is conveniently hidden, such as outlets in the bases of lamps, wireless access throughout, and computers and printers hidden behind furniture. “Before, students would bring extension cords and drape them over the tables in the grand reading room, taking up valuable seats; now we have all these hidden accesses to power,” Taggart says. One of the most signiﬁcant changes from an aesthetic perspective is the display of Linderman’s glass skylight. Visitors used to have to peek into a separate room to see the colorful skylight. Now, a giant glass wall makes the ornate painted glass one of the first things people see when they walk through the main doors. “Having a clear view of the rotunda is fantastic—it is absolutely breathtaking,” says Jim Duane III ’73, ’04P, ’06P, ’06PG, who together with his brothers donated the Duane Family Lounge in the West Reading Room in honor of their parents, Winifred and James Duane Jr. ’41. “Plus, the rotunda has now been enhanced by the other renovations that were done to the building that bring it out. Linderman has always been a great-looking building, but it has been improved.” In addition, all ﬂoors of the building are now accessible, and an entire new corridor was installed to connect the 1878 and 1929 buildings. Building the corridor that connects these wings was a major architectural challenge that involved raising the roof, but for the ﬁrst time in Linderman’s history, visitors can go east, west, north, and south without ever reaching a locked door. Plus, the addition of classrooms will bring in more academic trafﬁc. “I am teaching both of my courses this semester in Linderman,” says Ben Wright, professor of religion studies. “I hope that the renovations will get more students into the collections to experience the serendipity of stumbling onto an interesting book or sitting and reading something that might not otherwise have caught their eye.” [ Renovation\ ∑ When Linderman Library reopened its doors in March 2007 after almost two years of renovations, it didn’t take long for students to stake their claim. “By 3 or 4 in the afternoon, all the seats were taken, and the students were looking kind of irritated because tours were going on. There was an immediate sense of ownership,” Cady says. “It was the most fulﬁlling moment of the project.” The positive response to the Linderman renovations may be due in part to the extensive communication that took place on and off campus prior to breaking ground. “There was some concern that there would be some pushback,” Taggart says. Plus, the project involved moving hundreds of thousands of books to remote locations and closing the library for nearly two years. “We needed to tell people that the project was not just about building a better box for books; it was about preservation, renovation, and transformation of an historic humanities library into a 21st-century teaching and learning space,” Taggart says. In the 130 years since it made its debut on Lehigh’s campus, Linderman Library has undergone only two major renovations, which is a pretty good life cycle for any building. And this time, it has been renovated from an access standpoint, a navigation standpoint, and a learning standpoint. Throughout the renovations, one of the primary goals was to maintain the architecture that so many students and alumni love about Linderman. “All the alumni I talked to said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t ruin the 1929 reading room’—it is arguably one of the most beautiful rooms on Lehigh’s campus, and we did whatever possible to preserve it,” says Corallo, who orchestrated the renovation project. For the ﬁrst time, Linderman has central air conditioning, state-of-the-art lighting, elevators (for people, not just books), wireless technology, increased ﬁre suppression, and ADA accessibility. The building also now has enhanced vertical and horizontal access, as well as a half dozen new teaching spaces for classes. “The Linderman renovations are a wonderful example of how thoughtful great minds can preserve and make a build40 lehigh alumni bulletin

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Table of Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Arts & Culture Sports Research Cover Story - Forward March Little Man Overcomes Huge Odds Lights, Camera...Antiques Linderman Renewed From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2007

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