Design work for the expansion of Fenwick Library on the Fairfax Campus will start mid-April, and the university community is invited to participate in planning for the new addition. Opportunities to engage the planning project team will center around a series of Open Forum meetings for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. This project website will build upon face-to-face contact at these meetings, provide updated details on project developments, and allow library users build an e-community around the creation of an expanded library. We invite you to participate in the planning process as we define the Libraries’ future at George Mason University.
The new library programming and conceptual design phases are scheduled to be completed by the end of June. This phase will be followed by schematic design, design development, construction documents and bidding phases. Construction is anticipated to commence by January 2011, with the building scheduled for occupancy in January 2013.
The new building will be built in the lot south of Fenwick and will connect to the two Fenwick towers (Wings B and C). The university’s Master Facilities Plan provides for the eventual demolition of Wing A, the original part of the library erected in the mid-1960s. Entry into the new building complex will be from the center of the Fairfax Campus.
The addition will be 150,000 square feet. Once constructed, it will provide approximately double the net space of the existing Fenwick Library. Aside from additional space for expanding collections, service points and library staff work areas, the new facility will enable the university to meet growing needs for a variety of study and research spaces.
The 2007 master plan for the university’s libraries made the following general recommendation for the expanded Fenwick Library:
“The focus of the expanded and renewed Fenwick Library will be centered on the development of a Research Commons. The Research Commons is envisioned to be a place for scholarship and the gateway to in-depth research from which a user can consult with and be advised by librarian subject specialists. The program for the Research Commons will include Consultation Support Services and spaces to meet the needs of all faculty, and students, but in particular advanced researchers.”
Further, the master plan called for the following primary goals for the “new and expanded” Fenwick Library:
- Provide improved scholarly research and focused study environments
- Improve navigability of collections areas
- Expand Special Collections and Archives
- Enhance access to distinctive collections and knowledge specialists
- Provide technology-enhanced collaborative study spaces
- Celebrate the library’s presence on the campus as the center of intellectual life for the university
The university has retained Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott, an internationally known architectural firm specializing in academic library buildings, for the project. Shepley Bulfinch assisted Mason two years ago in developing a master plan for all of the university’s libraries.
I strongly suggest that representatives from the Steering Committee make a site visit to the University of Connecticut at Storrs, CT. The UCONN Homer Babbidge Library is a prototype of 21st century libraries. It is cutting edge, state-of-the-art, only one of its kind in the country (at least, it was when my husband and I attended his alumni weekend four years ago). We were told that the only other similarly designed and equipped library is one of the smaller, special libraries at the University of Pennsylvania.
While at UCONN, visit the Thomas Dodd Research Center, a climate controlled building housing the university’s archival records dating back to the founding as a land grant college. Archival records are online, so students can access them from their dorm rooms. And ALL students are required to use primary sources in their papers, regardless of discipline.
Enjoy your visit to the beautiful UCONN campus.
Marlene H. Cianci, PhD ‘98 (now retired)
School of Nursing
George Mason University
The Fenwick Project provides the University a great opportunity to create a landmark building on the Fairfax campus and provide much needed study, research, and archival space. The building should be architectually striking as it will be a centerpiece of the campus. You cannot be over-bold on this one.
As a an alumni of Mason (undergrad and grad) I think study rooms are a critical need. In addition, significant facilities are needed for archival of important and historical documents. The design should incorporate a lot of Open Space and unique architectural and landscaping features.
Regards,
C. Stockel
BS 1991, MS 2003
SOM and SITE
The George Mason University