Library construction continues
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Previous | Next | Table of Contents Through it all, construction continued. The devastation of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma notwithstanding, 185 public library projects were completed in 2005—91 new buildings and 94 additions or renovations—and 31 academic library buildings, Library Journal reported in December. Among the largest undertakings nationwide were the Fayetteville (Ark.) Public Library ($60 million for construction and endowment), which includes an 88,000–square foot parking garage in addition to the 88,000–square foot building; the Cherry Hill (N.J.) Public Library ($21.6 million); the Columbus (Ga.) Public Library ($40 million); the Evansville (Ind.) Vanderburgh Public Library Central Library ($33.6 million); and the $57.6 million addition-renovation at the Akron-Summit County (Ohio) Public Library main branch, which now encompasses 270,000 square feet. Total expenditures for public-library building projects in 2005 were more than $830 million, according to Library Journal (Dec. 15, 2005), with local communities funding most of the costs. The 31 college and university libraries include a new building at Middlebury (Vt.) College, costing $40 million; the Hannon Library addition-renovation at Southern Oregon University in Ashland ($23.2 million); and the Gottesman Libraries at Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York, a renovation that cost $18.8 million. The University of Chicago announced a $42-million, 40,000-square-foot expansion of its Regenstein Library, a project that will allow the facility to house eight million volumes and make it the largest research library under a single roof in North America, university officials say. Completion is expected in 2009.
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