By Michael Cook
The University officially opened the renovated main floor of Axinn Library Monday, as students and faculty had to contend with hard hats, construction workers and idle ladders since last month.
The University Jazz trio and President Stuart Rabinowitz joined Joan and Donald Everett Axinn, for whom the library was named after, for the opening celebration. Everett was a dean of Arts and Sciences at the University for many years and eventually became a trustee. Joan Axinn is a graduate of the University School of Law.
During the celebration, Rabinowitz praised the library staff for not only moving all of the books and circulations temporarily from the main floor, but also for maintaining them and allowing access to them for students throughout the months of construction.
The building’s original design won the 1966 annual award of the Concrete Industry Board of New York “in recognition of its innovative design,” by architects Warner, Burns, Toan and Lunde. The main floor was no longer modern enough, according to Daniel Rubey, Dean of Library and Information Services. “[The main floor] strayed from the original interpretation of the place.”
Rubey added that he had not only noticed the lack of luster from the library’s walls, but also how few students and faculty were actually using the space.
“To have books, but no students, makes no sense,” Rubey said.
Built in 1968, and the second largest library in the state with 11 floors, the library houses numerous collections, including the circulating books and the journal collections, the Harold E. Yuker Reference Library, the John W. Wydler Government Documents Depository and the Business Development Center. The walls of Axinn Library hold approximately one million volumes and more than 4,000 print journals. Electronically, it provides online access from campus or home to 26,000 recently published academic books, 130 electronic subscription databases and 30,000 full-text journals.
The main floor now features lounge seating, private study spaces, brighter lighting, an updated service desk, additional workspace and plug-ins for students with laptops using wireless Internet. Perhaps the most popular addition to the library is Kobrick’s Coffee.
University student Staci Langdon said that she thinks the renovation is a great improvement.
“First off, the service there is great, they make the best coffee anywhere on campus,” Langdon said. “Also, I think that it’s great that I can just sit down, read the paper and get some coffee.”
The completion of the renovation of the main floor of Axinn and the newly completed academic building, are signs of the campus’s improvement and direction, according to Rabinowitz.
“If there’s anything to celebrate [here at the University], this is it. It’s everything we’ve been trying to accomplish for the past five years,” Rabinowitz said.
The University Jazz ensemble provides audible atmosphere to the celebration of the reopening of the Axinn Library main floor.