Expanded, Enhanced Skillman Library Opens

Two of three phases in the $22 million expansion and renovation of Skillman Library have been completed, allowing it to reopen for the fall semester.

The construction project is continuing this fall, with some areas and resources inaccessible until work has progressed further and more furniture has been delivered.

The expansion and renovation project has added 28,000 square feet to the existing building and substantially altered all of its interior spaces. From its inception, the planning process focused on creating spaces that increase students’ access to resources and enhance their ability to research, study, and learn. While an important goal of the expansion has been to accommodate the library collection’s future growth, a majority of the newly created spaces are devoted to new working and learning environments for students.

“Skillman Library is the very heart of academic life at Lafayette,” President Arthur J. Rothkopf ’55 says. “Our plan is to transform it into a learning and information center that will fulfill our promise to offer high-achieving undergraduates in the 21st century the very best possible environment for academic success. It will be the leading symbol on our campus of Lafayette’s commitment to academic excellence.”

The enhanced library features:

• two instruction rooms with computers and network connectivity that allow librarians to fully integrate interactive exercises into their class sessions;
• a formal reading room and a periodicals reading area overlooking the Quad;
• a special collections suite providing researchers with expanded space for working with rare books and manuscripts;
• a digital media lab for the creation of electronic content using high-end technologies;
• a public program room for library-sponsored talks, readings, and film screenings;
• a common room with a cafe facility;
• ten group studies for student collaboration;
• twenty-five percent more seating capacity than the existing library;
• twenty years of collection growth space;
• network access at virtually every seat;
• and improved staff work spaces with enhanced public access to reference librarians and instructional technologists.

More information is available on Skillman Library’s expansion and renovation web page.

Skillman Library has undergone a $22-million expansion and renovation.