Colorado State University dedicated its newly renovated Morgan Library September 25. The dedication celebrates a $22.6-million renovation and a new 109,000-square-foot wing that were jeopardized in July 1997 when the swollen Poudre River swept through the library, causing $40 million in damage.
The four-year project was supported by a $7.3-million private gift campaign and $14.4 million from the state legislature. Some 437,000 books damaged in the flood have been dried and cleaned and are expected to be rebound soon, a job that will be farmed out to four binderies across the country. Another half-million books and journals were donated by alumni, retired professors, publishing companies, and scientists, matching 80,000 lost titles.
The dedication "brings closure to a lot of things," said Dean of Libraries Camila Alire, "including the disaster."
The new library offers 200 personal computers, two computer labs with 50 workstations, and is open to the public.
Posted September 28, 1998.