After a decade of planning, three years of development and close to a year of renovation, the Library Collections Annex will open today at a 3 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony officiated by President Ruth Simmons, according to a Jan. 30 University press release.
The Annex, part of the Plan for Academic Enrichment, has the capacity to house and preserve 1.7 million volumes, which will free up space in Brown's on-campus libraries. The new 24-hour Friedman Study Center, slated to open on the first three floors of the Sciences Library in the spring of 2007, would not have been feasible without the Annex.
"The Annex not only allows us to shelve valuable materials in a preservation-quality environment, it also allows the on-campus libraries to reclaim and reshape space for our users and staff," said University Librarian Harriette Hemmasi in the press release.
The University already stores more than 400,000 of its less frequently used library materials in the Annex's 25,000-square-foot storage space, which should provide adequate storage for the next 10 years. The Annex will house such materials as full-text journals that can now be found online, as well as a 900-square-foot art storage facility and a public reading room.
The Annex is located at 10 Park Lane in Providence.
