Library project receives $4 million
By Chris O'Connel
The Bill Hannon Foundation pledged $4 million to Santa Clara's new library project and $1 million to Santa Clara's community-based education.
The Southern California philanthropic organization announced the donation at Santa Clara's "Tales from Mission Gardens," a part of the university's $350 million fundraising campaign in Los Angeles this past weekend.
The recent donation with other funds, including Lorry I. Lokey's Business Wire's $15 million pledge two years ago, will go into creating a brand new, high-tech library. The new library, to be called "Library for the 21st Century," will replace the 40 year old Orradre Library.
"Optimistically, we will open the new facility in the fall of 2006," said University Librarian Elizabeth Salzer. Salzer added that the new library will integrate technology used in several other college and public libraries across the country.
With an $82 million budget, the project will incorporate some of the most advanced resources available, featuring a $12 million automated retrieval system. The automated retrieval system (ARS) essentially brings books, articles and periodicals to the reader. This advanced procedure will quickly (usually within five minutes) retrieve and store articles in a highly organized manner, which cuts down on book misplacement. The ARS implements the same technology often used in warehouses to new to libraries.
Salzer said that ARS will be efficient for students and faculty, but it will also allow for a good amount of growth space. In fact, space is one of the major motivations and considerations for the construction of the new library. It is designed to be flexible, adaptable for both an increase in book volume and innovations in technology and learning style.
Phase one of library construction will begin this July, starting with ARS. An initial facility will be built between Orradre and Pat Malley Athletic Center. This structure will house the automated retrieval system, which will include three computerized cranes for selecting volumes. The first articles to be moved into the new facility are older bound periodicals. Phase one is expected to be finished the summer of 2004, said Salzer.
Construction of the main section of the library is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2004 and be completed two years later in place of the Orradre Library. The new structure will be a home for the library staff, media services and information technology, becoming one of the centers of technology and learning on campus. The books will be stored both in the new ARS facility and in other yet to be identified locations.