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Posted on | August 12, 2009 | 1,088 views |

After a long period of renovation, the library is back in business

by Adam King

The west side has a story: It tells a tale of gleaming, modern updates; of titanium cufflinks on a distinguished old gentleman. The east side also speaks, reiterating how tradition can be a comforting presence in a constantly changing world.

The new and the renewed now reside in the same building in the center of campus, and if first reactions mean anything, the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library has its swagger back.

Most striking is the renovated library’s openness. Natural light pours through towering window panes that run up the side of the building and overhead via the glass atrium. And almost every level of the library is visible from the main lobby thanks to glass panel walls that reveal row upon row of bookshelves.

That openness continues outside. Over the new west entrance (north, south and east doors have been the only ways in or out since the 1970s renovation sealed the west doors) is a terrace to hold special events, with a unique addition of recycled whiskey and vodka bottle “stone gardens” to provide colored mood lighting.

But it’s just off the lobby where interim Library Director Raimund Goerler believes the masterpiece lies. The Grand Reading Room was returned to its old splendor after the floor added in the 1960s was removed. The ceiling now arches high and makes the room look and feel quaint and cavernous at the same time.

“One of the early planning reports referred to the state of the library and the decision in the 1960s to insert a floor in the Grand Reading Room as ‘an act of barbarism,’” Goerler said. “It of course was an act of necessity, not barbarism, to add square footage. But in the process one of the great historic places in this building was lost. We’ve become much more aware of the learning process in the facility and how important those historic places are to enhance those learning processes.”

Goerler has received only positive feedback from those who have seen the refreshed library, which opened Aug. 3 and hosts its official grand reopening Sept. 24. He says the most striking compliment comes from the University Ambassadors, whose job it is to tour prospective students and their parents around campus. Before the renovation, the ambassadors would avoid touring the library because it was more eyesore than eye-catching. Now Thompson Library is a centerpiece of their route.

Ryan Langhurst, University Libraries project manager, is a 2000 OSU graduate and worked in the library before its makeover.

“To know where the facility was at that point and where it is now as you look around the building, it’s an amazing feat to see what’s happened,” he said. “It’s a wonderful building for the students and it reflects what the students expect to have from a world-class university and study place.”

There is space for almost 1,800 visitors at any given time, up from the 850 people the old version of the library could hold. Goerler expects the number of annual visitors to double to 1.8 million.

The library has added a rich variety of spaces for visitors to enjoy. The new West Reading Room, which features window shades that automatically adjust according to the position of the sun, clouds in the sky and time of day, can seat 124. And visitors are encouraged to rearrange furniture to suit their needs.

The West Reading Room, one of eight spaces the library has available for rent and designed as a counterpart to the Grand Reading Room, also is considered a “noisy space.” Unlike other libraries, people can have conversations here. The acoustics and the collections in the room help keep the sound from carrying too far.

An elevator ride up to the old Stacks Tower reveals another unique alcove: The Campus Reading Room. It was previously used as an attic and housed mechanical equipment to support the building. Now it’s open to everyone with seating for 68 and a 360-degree view of campus. The room is so attractive that it’s already attracting attention as a special-event venue: The Department of Music has scouted the space for potential recitals.

“They love the acoustics in here as well as the intimacy,” said Larry Allen, University Libraries communications director.

Students will appreciate the more than 200 general-use computers scattered throughout the library as well as laptop docking and e-mail-only stations.

And the Thompson Library has partnered with the Columbus Metropolitan Library to house a 5,000-book leisure reading collection on the first floor featuring popular fiction and non-fiction and a well-stocked selection of periodicals. The books are available for checkout.

“It’s for those people who maybe can’t get to the public library,” Allen said.

Thompson Library’s special collections draw more prominence in the new structure after previously being relegated to the back of the third floor. They’re now on the first floor and enjoy exhibit and gallery space.

“Having it right on the first floor really creates an impact when you walk in that this is a universe of knowledge formats,” Goerler said.

The Thompson Memorial Library can only house three of the  special collections — the Library of the Lawrence & Lee Theatre Research Institute, Rare Books & Manuscripts and the Hilander Research Library. But a display area on the first floor, near the exhibit gallery, alerts visitors to the other special collections and has a case for each, including those not in the Thompson Library (Cartoon Library and Museum in the basement of Wexner Center, the University Archives, Byrd Polar Archives and John Glenn and Congressional Archives at the Library Book Depository, the Medical Heritage Center at the Prior Health Sciences Library, and the Historic Costume and Textile Museum at Campbell Hall).

“We now have a building again that is suitable for the prominence of its location: The apex of the Oval and the only building actually inside the Oval,” Goerler said. “The university has transformed this weary icon into a showplace for scholarship and enhancing the learning of the university.”

For more information, visit library.osu.edu.

What you might not know….

• Thompson Memorial Library just missed out on earning LEEDS certification, which would have designated it a “green” building. But it comes close with recycling 25 percent of its original limestone in the renovation, adding roof insulation, utilizing daylight and extensive use of renewable interior finish materials.

• Paneling, running trim, shelves and the Grand Reading Room tables were all constructed from white oak trees from state forests in southeastern Ohio with special permission from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the State Forest Service.

• The project totaled $109 million and finished on time and on budget. $30 million came from the library capital campaign, including $9 million from athletics.

• There is 83,453 gross square feet of new space.

• The reopened west entrance continues the brick walkway of Ohio State’s “Long Walk” onto the RPAC from the Oval.

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