Construction on the Berry Library has progressed substantially since the project began about two years ago -- and The Dartmouth recently had a chance to walk through the interior of what will eventually be a huge expansion of the College's library facilities.
Berry will offer students integrated library and computational services, a wide variety of study spaces, a caf and much more in a facility designed to accommodate the College's information media needs far into the future.
Below is a walking tour of the various features of the College's newest library.
Exterior
The last time most people saw the Berry construction project's exterior, it was still a stark outline of steel and concrete.
Since it acquired its winter shroud, there have been some dramatic changes to the exterior which are being revealed as the tarpaulins are removed one by one.
Although there was controversy over the building's architectural philosophy prior to the beginning of construction two years ago, the building is intended to blend into the campus architectural scheme.
"It is a modern building that takes some of the principles of Baker and translates them," Director of Administrative Services John Crane said.
The bricks which make Berry's walls were matched as closely as possible to those that were used nearly 85 years ago in the construction of Baker.
Even the inset limestone band that circles Berry's wall near the roofline echoes the older library's wooden cornice.
The windows of Dartmouth's newest building are also designed to reflect, but not copy, traditional New England architecture.
The large number of windows that pierce Berry's walls brings to mind buildings like Dartmouth Hall, but their irregular placement and variations in shape emphasize Berry's modernity.
Main entranceway
Berry's main entrance faces north towards Moore Hall and opens off of an arcade formed by a decorative, free-standing wall that runs the length of the building's north face.
Walking along the arcade that will eventually allow passage between the east and west sides of campus, visitors will be able to look through the floor-to-ceiling windows that line the ground floor on Berry's north side and into an area that will contain a caf and seating area.
The caf will serve light snacks and beverages to students who will eat, talk, or study in an environment similar to that found in Collis Caf, with small tables lining the windows, easy chairs, banquette seating and regular tables.
Passing through the main doors, visitors will face an island featuring four BlitzMail terminals. Beyond it, Berry's broad main staircase will be below an open well extending to the floor above.
Continuing up the stairs from the main entrance brings one to the heart of the new Baker-Berry Library, the "Street."
The 'Street'
After Berry is completed and Baker is renovated, the two facilities will be connected by a wide passageway that building designers have named the "Street."
Made of patterned tile similar to that currently found in the Baker entranceway, the Street will form the main artery for student traffic in the library.
The Street -- beginning on Baker's ground floor and ending on Berry's second floor, both of which are on the same level -- will run right through the area where Baker's circulation desk is currently located.
Continuing through the Baker annex, the Street, lined on the west side by BlitzMail terminals, will continue to the top of Berry's main staircase and will be surrounded by the most vital functions of the library.
Both the reference and circulation desks will be relocated to Berry's second floor, as will the computer services help desk, concentrating many of the most important library functions into the same area.
The reference desk will be located on the east side of the Street in a relatively open area and will be surrounded by the reference stacks and a large number of computer terminals.
When Berry first opens, the circulation desk will be temporarily located in the northwest corner of the second floor, the eventual home of the Computing Help Desk.
The help desk will be located in Bradley Hall until the circulation desk can move into its permanent home on the east side of the Street, where the north wall of Baker currently awaits removal in the project's second phase, when Baker Library and annex will be extensively renovated.
Computer and Media Services
For the library and computing staff members overseeing Berry's construction, the most important opportunity offered by the new space will be the integration of Dartmouth's media services.
Although complete integration will await the completion of the Baker renovation, the home and heart of the College's computing network will move to Berry from the Kiewit Computation Center, which will be destroyed after Berry's dedication to allow the construction of Carson Hall, the north wing of Berry that will eventually house the history department.
The printing window and associated services will be located on Berry's lower level, accessible by the west stairs. The south half of the lower level will also accommodate a large number of computing services offices as well as the computer machine room.
The Jones Microtext Center will also be relocated. Combined with the video functions of Instructional Services, it will be renamed the Jones Media Center and will dominate a large part of the new building's third floor.
There will be a number of workstations with computer and video equipment as well as two viewing rooms and numerous microtext and microfiche viewers.
The east end of the third floor will also accommodate the new Instructional Center for library and computing services, with computer workstations at each seat, currently located on Kiewit's lower level.
Study areas
In planning the types of study space to be included in Berry, designers took into account the diversity of student preferences as well as the College's needs, Crane said.
For those who prefer quiet, secluded studying, Berry will provide plenty of small tables and study carrels.
On the third, fourth and fifth floors, study tables and carrels will line the library's north wall. The many windows will offer views of the north side of campus, Moore Hall, the medical school and the south wall of Gerry Hall.
Students studying on the lower level, on the other hand, will have particularly secluded study space away from the stairs and elevators and a window with a view of the computing machine room.
Those who prefer refreshments or a bit of noise with their math or history will be able to watch those walking along the arcade from their table, bench or easy chair in front of the caf on the ground floor.
And for students who would like to watch passers-by in silence, there will be an open well on the third floor above the Street surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass, with long study tables placed along each side.
The new library will also feature quite a few group study rooms. Four will be located on the ground floor near the caf, as well as three each in the east ends of the fourth and fifth floors.
And of course, Berry will eventually house the many books that have filled the Baker stacks for years. Crane estimated that approximately 40 percent of the Colleges volumes will find a home in the new building.
Portions of the main collection will be placed on Berry's lower, fourth and fifth levels and will be contained primarily in compact stacks -- shelving that moves together to save space and separates for access to the books.
Called the 1944 Place, the fifth floor will accommodate extra study space in comfortable arm chairs arranged around small tables on the west side as well as stacks and several study rooms.
A bridge surrounded by glass will connect Berry's fourth floor to the seventh level of the Baker annex, making what could have been a rather long trip into an easy -- and perhaps interesting -- walk.
Besides being the new core of Dartmouth's main library, the second floor will also house the Faculty Development Center, which provides a variety of services to College faculty members, as well as research computing.
Filling most of the space not occupied by the Jones Media Center, the map room will be located in the south half of Berry's third floor.
A large "smart" classroom similar to those found in Rockefeller Center is planned on Berry's lower level near the computing machine room.
Other, smaller, classrooms will also be scattered throughout the building. The third floor will accommodate a seminar room and a conference room. Two additional seminar rooms will find a home on the fourth floor as well.
The progress so far
Berry's exterior is nearly complete and many of the fittings that will eventually be hidden from view have been installed.
However, finishing work on such items as furnishing, flooring, painting or the installation of electrical fixtures has not yet begun anywhere in the library.
College officials said the contractor's target date for completion is August 17, at which point Kiewit Computational Center and Baker Library functions will begin to move into the new building.
Students should not plan to say good-bye to the construction crews any time soon, however. Once Berry opens for business, work will begin on the renovation of Baker Library and the construction of Carson Hall.
Some of Berry's features, such as the Street, will not be fully operational as designed until phase two of the project is complete.
