Maya Lin’s design for Smith College’s Neilson Library is an innovative, contemporary structure that presents a compelling vision for the modern library while respecting the existing building’s historic significance. via Smith College
With an emphasis on natural light, sustainable environmental design principles, and flexible interior space that can be used for a variety of purposes—from contemplative reflection to task-oriented collaboration—Lin’s design re-imagines the new Neilson as an intellectual commons at the heart of the college campus. It also reconnects the college’s science quadrangle with the campus’ historic center, restoring integrity to Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1893 campus plan.
Lin unveiled drawings of the new building at an event on campus on October 14.
The new Neilson places a premium on flexible space that blends traditional collections with new technologies and a sharper focus on collaborative learning. The new building retains the original 1909 structure, including the venerable Neilson Browsing Room, but replaces the 1962 and 1982 additions with “jewel box” wings—constructed of masonry, wood and glass—that offer open, inviting, light-filled spaces designed to support research, teaching and learning in a variety of styles.
“Maya Lin and Shepley Bulfinch have given us a design for the premier library of the 21st century,” said Smith College President Kathleen McCartney, “a building that will shape new ways of teaching, learning and conducting research for generations to come. The new building is appropriately modern, yet respectful of the historic Neilson and of Olmsted’s campus plan. In these ways—and so many more—it is distinctly and uniquely Smith.” via Smith College
Lin said, “My approach is to create a new, state-of-the-art, sustainable building that creates a dialogue with the historic Neilson and opens up and restores the Olmsted master plan, expanding the possibilities of the library while reducing the overall footprint of the building and restoring the heart of the campus.”
Maya Lin Studio developed the design in partnership with colleague William Bialosky and the firm of Shepley Bulfinch.
The project will begin in summer 2017 and will be completed for the fall semester of 2020
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.
From an Internet Archive Blog Post by Jason Scott: It’s time to add another family of emulated older technology to the Internet Archive. The vast majority of platforms within what ...
The article linked below was recently published by Quantitative Science Studies. Title Crossref as a Bibliographic Discovery Tool in the Arts and Humanities Authors Ángel Borrego Universitat de Barcelona, Melcior ...
Colorado: Suspensions Increase at Pikes Peak Library District Under New Security Protocols (via The Gazette) Montana: ImagineIF Trustees Hold Special Meeting on Library Security Concerns (via Daily Inter Mountain) North ...
From the Associated Press: A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were ...
From The Sydney Morning Herald: Authors, illustrators, and editors will be compensated for e-book and audiobook library borrowings for the first time, in a move by the federal government to ...
From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): A draft Customer Research Agenda was open for public review and comment in October 2022. “We’re grateful for the feedback we received ...
From MIT Technology Review: Hidden patterns purposely buried in AI-generated texts could help identify them as such, allowing us to tell whether the words we’re reading are written by a ...
From the Congressional Research Service: Nearly one in four Americans has a disability, according to 2018 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Congress has recognized that in addition to making ...
From The NY Times: When [Joan] Didion died in 2021 at age 87, the news set off an outpouring of tributes to a writer who fused penetrating insight and idiosyncratic personal voice, ...
Below, Find the Full Text of a Letter Sent to the Carolina Community From Kevin M. Guskiewicz University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz and J. ...
From the Boston Public Library: The Boston Public Library is proud to contribute to the celebration of Black History Month with its annual “Black Is…” booklist. The booklist aims to commemorate ...
From NYU Langone: Researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, unveiled the Congressional District Health Dashboard (CDHD), a new online tool that ...