Refurbished Wise Library on track to welcome students in January 2003

     Students and faculty will soon be poring through stacks of books, examining paintings from West Virginia artist and simply enjoying the atmosphere of a refurbished Charles C. Wise Jr. Library.

     Renovation work is on schedule to be completed in November 2002. Collections, furnishings and equipment will then be integrated into the newly renovated facility prior to its reopening to the University community.

      The 70-year-old library closed for a massive renovation project in January, as the new Downtown Campus Library opened its doors to welcome patrons.

     The result will be a library that's more conducive to studying and integrates new technology, yet maintains the historical character of the building. When the renovation is complete, the atrium and walkways will join the new Downtown Campus and Wise Libraries, allowing them to work as one integrated building complex.

     "Preparing the Wise Library building for reopening, for me, is an exciting process because it is very different from construction of the Downtown Campus Library," said Ruth Nellis, library construction coordinator. "I believe the users will really enjoy seeing how the public spaces have been transformed. A lot of work is going into matching the existing details of the building. The historic integrity is being preserved."

Workers are paying painstaking attention to details to preserve the majestic green marble in the lobby and marble wainscoting in the hallways of the administrative sections of Wise.      Along with the lobby, the spaces in Wise receiving the heaviest renovations are the rooms that served as homes for reference, government documents, periodicals, and the Appalachian Collection.      The former large reference room will become the James and Ann Milano Reading Room and the space that was the government document room will become the James Robinson Reading Room.

Library Construction Coordinator Ruth Nellis, Provost Gerald Lang, Libraries Associate Dean Myra Lowe tour Wise Library.

     Renovation work will return these spaces to their original 1930 appearance. Unlike in the new Downtown Campus Library, technology will be hidden. The rooms will be filled with dark, wooden bookshelves and antique reader tables, without a desktop computer in view. Patrons wanting to use the Internet and other electronic library resources will be able to connect via a laptop computer through network and power drops in the base of the table lamps.

     The former periodicals room will be the new home for the West Virginia and Regional History Collection. The WVRHC will also occupy the seventh through tenth floors of the stacks. Level five will hold the University Art Collection comprised of art integrated from the Creative Arts Center and the WVRHC.

     John Cuthbert, WVRHC curator, said the renovated Wise Library facility will be a tremendous boon to the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, particularly in resolving one of its oldest and greatest needs - adequate and appropriate space.

     "Our stack areas will enable us to consolidate our holding on site for the first time in decades. Our reading areas will include separate rooms for books, rare books, microfilm and manuscripts. Also, the West Virginia Collection serves many of the functions of a state historical society, yet, one thing we have traditionally lacked is exhibit space. Thanks to the James Hornor Davis Family, our new home will include two galleries which will enable us to display the treasures of our rich holdings for all to enjoy."

     Together, the Wise and Downtown Campus libraries will comprise the Downtown Library Complex.

     "I think students will be pleased with the newly renovated building," Nellis said.

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