Imagine a brand new library with a wireless network, comfy chairs, over 100 public access computers, a collection of stuffed animals, a café by Chez Alice, floor to ceiling glass windows and two working fireplaces. This is the new Princeton Public Library, an $18 million project expected to open this Saturday at 9 a.m., after several weeks of delays.
Located two blocks down Witherspoon Street on the right-hand side, the library will be easily accessible to University students. All students can get free library membership and access the library's collection — which includes 10,000 movies and DVDs — and use the facilities.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony and a street party to celebrate the opening will be held on May 15.
New community resource
The three-story, 55,000 square foot building has been under construction since December 2002. The design — by Nicolas Garrison '80 GS '83 of the Hillier Group — has large windows and an open interior within a somewhat traditional brick shell.
Garrison said the design was intended to create a library that is "transparent, accessible, open" and draws the community together.
"Bringing the street in was very important," he said, gesturing to the three stories of glass that form the building's wall on the Witherspoon street side. "Our job is to get the books off the shelves, as opposed to safeguarding them."
The library's special relationship with the Princeton community has not only defined the building's design, but also provided much of the funding for the project. Of the $18 million total cost, $10.5 million was donated by individuals in the Princeton area, including $5 million from George and Estelle Sands, said Tim Quinn, the library's public information director.
Leslie Burger, the library's director, mentioned the University's contributions to the library.
"The University has been a real supporter of this project from the beginning," she said.
The University donated $500,000 and the OIT office shared its expertise in setting up the library's computer resources. A 10 megabit per second fiber runs from the library to the OIT office at 87 Prospect Street, providing a T3 connection to the library's 101 public access computers, 150 plug-in ports and administrative computers. OIT security officer Anthony Scaturro helped coordinate installation of the library networks.
"There's a tremendous amount of University support for the library," Scaturro said. "It's so delightful to be part of a good team effort." He estimated that, excluding his own contributions of several hours a day, various members of the OIT staff had spent roughly 100 hours helping with the library.
Many sectors of the University community contributed to the library — from Vice President Robert Durkee '69, who served on the Library Foundation Board, to faculty members like Joyce Carol Oates and Paul Muldoon who have done readings there, said Pamela Hersh, director of community and state affairs.
Hersh noted that in 2000, when the library was on the same Witherspoon street site, more than 2,300 of the 20,000 registered borrowers were affiliated with the University. Hersh expressed excitement at the opportunity the library offers students to get off campus.
"What a great escape from your physics class," she joked. "It's going to be another great place to hang out."
Bringing people together
In addition to open shelves and rows of computers, the library building caters to the community with more intimate spaces: group study rooms, classrooms, conference rooms and two living rooms with armchairs, fireplaces and a view of the cemetery. The children's section on the third floor boasts a storytelling space, teenagers' corner and damage proof activity room.
The rooms facilitate the many programs run by the library — from English as a second language classes to computer classes.
For example, Kelly Hamdan, the owner of Chez Alice, said she hoped to be able to use the children's activity room to do a class on decorating gingerbread houses.
The library also seeks to reach out to the community through its artwork.
Burger said that although "most people probably think of Princeton as a white, upperclass, wealthy community, I've been surprised by the diversity of the town, both economically and ethnically."
On any given day, Burger said, visitors to the library can range from Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners to residents of subsided housing to recent immigrants to the States.
"Part of the vision behind the building is that it's the one place in town where, regardless of what your background is, people can come together and interact with each other . . . it's the crossroads of the community," Burger said.
She noted that children in the local school district speak 55 different languages as their native tongue. This surprising statistic has been incorporated into the huge mural on the first floor, "Happy World," a wall of colorful 3" x 3" squares created by Ik-Joong Kang.
Each square is different: some have memorabilia donated by members of the Princeton community — Einstein's playing cards, a piece of the Berlin wall, pictures of children and a tea strainer — some are carvings by Kang and some are decorated by schoolchildren. These squares feature the word "library" written in marker in their native languages — Arabic, Urdu, Tibetan and Estonian, to name a few.
"There's all this amazing stuff that goes on in this building that has nothing to do with reading a book but everything to do with these connections and building a community," Burger said.
Hersh said she hoped the library would serve to draw town and gown closer together by "getting our students to go through the gate and cross over and [get] into the town."
The University has also committed $150,000 toward furnishings for the plaza that will be constructed next to the library, Hersh said.
In addition to 'hanging out,' students have traditionally volunteered at the library.
Burger mentioned an afterschool tutoring program, Springboard, and said students could get involved through the Student Volunteers Council or by contacting Jennifer Mehlman at the library.
Opening hours will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
To check the status of the expected opening on Saturday call the library at 609-924-9529.
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