Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Totheeditor:
Ifeelcompelledtoclearupsomeveryimportantmisperceptionsreportedin
Spectatorsrecentarticleabout
BarnardsplansforanewTeachingandLearningCenter
,specificallyregardingthelibrarycollection,aswell
astheinvolvementofthebroaderBarnardcommunityintheplanningprocess.Ialsoaddressedthese
issuesinalettersenttoBarnardfacultyonDecember11th.
ThearticleindicatesthatwewillbedownsizingBarnardslibrarycollection.Whileitistruethatweare
finalizingaplanneddeaccessionofapproximately12,000books,our
planistocontinuetogrowthelibrary's
collection,bothduringtheconstructionperiodandoncewemoveintothenewbuilding.Duringthe
constructionperiod,growthwillbemodestbutdeliberate,intendedtokeepcollectionsandseriescomplete.
Oncewemoveintothenewlibrary,weplantogrowthecollectionatthesamepacethatwehave
maintainedinthepast.
Becausewearecommittedbothtomakingroomfornewcollections,andtocreatingdesperatelyneeded
studentstudyspaces,areadingroom,andclassrooms,wewillneedtomoveasmallpercentageofour
circulatingcollectiontooffsiteretrievablestorage.Wewillworkcloselywiththelibrarystafftodevelopaplan
thatmakesaccesstobooksasseamlessaspossible,andretrievablewithin24hours.
Additionally,weareworkingwiththearchitectstocreateadditionalspacesforbooksinthenewbuilding.We
havealreadycomeupwithsomeideasthatthearchitectsarecurrentlyexploring.Weareconfidentthatwe
canfitthevastbulkofourcollectionintothenewbuilding,andkeepthenumberofbooksinretrievable
storagetoaminimum.
ThearticlealsosuggeststhatfacultyandothermembersoftheBarnardcommunitywerenotrepresentedin
theplanningprocess.Infact,lastspringasteeringcommitteeandthreesubcommitteeswereformed,all
withthebroadrepresentationoffaculty,students,andstaff.Now,aswemoveintothedetailedspace
planningphaseoftheprojectinJanuary2015,additionalworkinggroupsdedicatedtoplanningforthe
Libraryandotherteachingandlearningspaceswillbeformedandcomposedprimarilyoffacultyandlibrary
staff.
Weenteredintothisbuildingprojectwiththecentralgoalofcreatingalibraryworthyofourextraordinary
studentsandfaculty.PresidentSpar,myself,andeveryoneinvolvedintheplanningcommitteessharethe
beliefthatthelibrarymustrepresentwhatweholddearaboutacademicexcellenceandscholarshipina
liberalartssetting.Wearedeeplycommittedtomakingthisbuildingacherishedspacethatadvancesand
celebratestheintellectuallifeofourCollege.
LindaBell
ProvostandDeanoftheFaculty,BarnardCollege
December16,2014