Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology

Marquand Library Renovations

After three years of planning and a year and a half of construction, Marquand Library reopened its doors on August 21, 2003 to a gloriously renovated and enlarged space in McCormick Hall. More than a renovation, it was a transformation. Two new floors were added, increasing the size of the library by 17,500 square feet (formerly 28,600 square feet, now 46,100 square feet). The three pre-existing floors were completely reconfigured, with new furnishings and finishes, new heating and cooling systems, improved lighting, up-to-date security, and digital capabilities at every seat.

At the official dedication on October 10, 2003, President Shirley Tilghman, University Librarian Karin Trainer, Marquand Librarian Janice Powell, and department Chair Patricia Fortini Brown welcomed a large and celebratory crowd of patrons, scholars, and friends. Together they thanked the architects at Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott; the contractor Skanska; and the many members of the Princeton team who played crucial roles in the creation of the new facility. One of the great tributes to everyone involved with this enormous project is that it was completed precisely on schedule and on budget.

The added space allowed Marquand's collections---currently increasing at the rate of nearly 10,000 volumes a year---to grow by about 20 percent. Just as significantly, the new facility provides vastly increased space and comfort for users, with 109 study carrels for department students and faculty. The new carrels are designed to provide maximum reading space, and each one has a six-shelf bookcase, locking file cabinet, reading lamp, highly adjustable chair, and power connections. Study tables are located on every floor, providing eighty-four seats for visitors in place of the previous twenty-eight. For readers who prefer the highest level of comfort, the new Marquand offers twenty-one soft chairs.

The study seating is now placed in a variety of settings throughout the library so that every patron can find a comfortable space. Restricted study rooms have been eliminated, and users are now free to choose seats near the books they consult most frequently or in the location they find most appealing. The third floor, with its open plan and bright atmosphere, has been especially popular with seniors.

A quiet suite of carrels sits on the second floor. Perhaps not surprisingly, archaeologists have tended to settle in the below-ground study area, near the Antioch mosaics.

The books are also more comfortably housed. All of the folios now stand upright, and the elephant volumes are more easily handled on the large stand-up tables adjacent to their shelves. Rare volumes now reside in the climate-controlled Charles Rufus Morey Rare Books Room, with a separate storage vault and reading room that maintain optimal conditions for long-term preservation. Special collections that were previously segregated were added to the general stacks, and new signage and floor plans make the integrated collection easier to use.

The new library made a quantum leap to the forefront of the electronic art history world. Patrons can use any of the forty-nine public computer workstations, as well as three networked printers, two high-resolution scanners, three photocopiers, and a color image printer. The microform reader is linked to a computer that can download data from microfilms and fiche to CDs. For readers who prefer to roam, the entire library features wireless Internet access, and students can borrow wireless cards or laptops from the reference desk. The three new seminar rooms on the third floor have digital projection equipment for both still images and videos, as well as optical slide projectors. To keep patrons up to date with online resources, librarians across campus may use the new electronic classroom on the A level for library instruction and to give presentations on digital research tools.

Removal of designated study rooms on the three pre-existing floors opened up sightlines, bathing reading areas in natural light and optimizing views through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Nearly every seat in the library now feels connected to the outdoors, while the top floor treats visitors to almost abstract views of rooftops, sky, and foliage. Internal blinds in the third-floor windows automatically adjust to changing light conditions, keeping the study area well lit and comfortable.

The interior design takes its cue from the contents of the library, with colors and fabrics that give each floor a distinctive look. The aubergine columns, jewel-toned carpet, and river-stone fabrics hint at the colors of Byzantine art. The B level, which is below grade and very appropriately holds the archaeology section, evokes the ancient world with its display of Antioch mosaics mounted on a wall of warm Pompeian red. As visitors ascend the spacious new stairway, they may notice that the colors become progressively cooler. On the glass-enclosed top floor, the green-gold fabrics and muted finishes blend with the leafy views.

The entire University community embraced the new Marquand enthusiastically. The year before the renovation, for example, 47,000 patrons visited the library. During the academic year 2006-07, nearly 152,000 people entered Marquand's doors.

The new edition of Marquand is already proving to be everything that was hoped for during the many years of planning. It is a more efficient, more spacious, more comfortable, and a thoroughly up-to-date resource for the entire scholarly community, from first-semester freshmen to senior visiting scholars.