The spring semester is not the only thing about to draw to a close. University officials said yesterday that construction of the new Harrison Institute/Small Special Collections Library is nearing completion and will be finished this summer.
Donald Riggin Jr., senior project manager at Facilities Management, said while an official opening date has yet to be determined, library officials plan to open the new facility in October.
"We've made good progress," Riggin said. "We're getting down to the final stages."
The new building, which is the 13th facility to be added to the University's central library system, will house the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature and Culture and the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library.
Workers currently are finishing the interior of the building by installing electronic shelving, finishing floors, mounting wood trim and painting.
Eighty percent of the 72,700 square foot building is located underground across from Alderman Library. A landscaped plaza with walkways covers the underground portion and will be completed in about a month and a half, according to Riggin.
The Harrison Institute occupies the above-ground portion of the building and some below-ground rooms dedicated to outreach programs such as lectures open to the University and Charlottesville communities. Its features include seminar rooms, studies for visiting scholars, galleries and a 220-seat auditorium.
The Small Special Collections Library occupies the below-ground portion of the building and has 70,000 linear feet of shelving -- enough for the current collection of 300,000 books and 16 million manuscripts with space for new additions.
"The new facility has room for growth in Special Collections," said Hoke Perkins, associate librarian for philanthropy and director of the Harrison Institute. "In the past when libraries have expanded, people recognize the advantages of a new facility, and you do sometimes get more offers. We hope the new facility will basically help attract even better Special Collections."
Perkins said while the Harrison Institute and the Small Library are separate entities, there is a "great deal of overlap" between them.
"The public areas in the building are part of a long-awaited expansion of Special Collections and its ability to serve the students and faculty," Perkins said. "The Harrison piece is an outreach center for the whole library."
Perkins said the new facility has several advantages over the McGregor Room, the former home of Special Collections in Alderman Library. Each of the activities that used to take place in the multi-function McGregor Room will have a separate room in the new building for lectures, seminars and galleries.
In addition, Perkins cited the facility's "absolute state-of-the-art climate control" for protection of valuable Special Collections as another benefit.
Perkins said he is excited about the completion of the library's long-awaited new facility.
"It's been a 40-year dream of the library," he said. "It's wonderful that it's finally going to be open this fall"
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