Features

It's bright and sunny," says one student of the library. "It keeps me awake."

3. Keep up with the neighbors

Graham Gund and his architects noticed immediately that the old library looked as if it were sliding into the ravine. To put the new building on a par with Thompson and Murkland halls, Gund placed the additions on the front of the building, and gave the entrance a new facade equal in size and grandeur to its neighbors. As a result, the library now feels like an integral and intimate part of Murkland Courtyard, and by inference, the life of the University, says Zenk. Morner agrees. "It adds to the vitality of the campus," she says. "Students inside have that great view of the courtyard, and from the outside, it looks like a library. You can see students sitting at the tables. It welcomes people, and says, 'Come on in, we're studying.'"

4. The future is wired

Bookbags of today—and even more so in the future—will contain laptops as well as Shakespearean plays. Tables in the new library have more than 200 ports for computer hookups, discreetly tucked out of sight. Replacing the old wooden card catalog file cabinets are 126 terminals (with expansion to 464 planned) for library patrons to log on to the online catalog http://www.library.unh.edu/. The library subscribes to 56 electronic databases and indexes, which can be searched at the Electronic Reference Area, or from one's office or dormitory room, providing access to hundreds of thousands of journals and articles. A new data center offers electronic and statistical data resources, and the multimedia center houses audio and visual materials, with group- and single-listening stations.

"It's a great time to be a student, and a great time to be a librarian," says Morner, referring to the so-called explosion of the electronic age. "The library is more important to students than ever before. But the perception is that the Web makes getting information easy. It's not true. Students now have to learn how to learn."

5. If you build it, they will come

Students who confess they used the old library only under duress now say the new library is their study place of choice, and library staff confirms that the library is much busier than before.

"Normally, I hate libraries, and before I never used it," says Jessica Collins '00, an occupational therapy major who is taking notes at a glossy new maple table in the Hubbard Reading Room on a recent weekday. Late afternoon sunlight angles through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting yellow rays across dozens of bent heads. "Now it's open, and quiet, and user friendly. And bright and sunny—it keeps me awake," she adds.

Diane Wolters '78, who is taking a few nutrition courses to prepare for graduate school, has a favorite niche, one of the couches in the Addison Reading Room. But the couches fill up quickly, so she heads for her second choice, a window seat overlooking Murkland Courtyard. "The new library is so much better, and the staff seems happier," she says.

The influx of students and professors suits Morner just fine. Gregarious, enthusiastic and known to let loose—outside of reading rooms—with a booming, contagious laugh, Morner's description of the new library is "a glorious space that makes those people who are engaged in teaching and learning feel supported." ~

The renovation and expansion of Dimond Library was funded through a public-private partnership, which included $15.15 million from the state of New Hampshire, $1.1 million from the University's renovation and repair budget and $2.61 million in donations from private individuals. Eight rooms in the new library are named in honor of their benefactors.

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