Camarillo, Calif., March 26, 2008—California State University Channel Islands will host a grand-opening ceremony for its John Spoor Broome Library at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 4. The event will be held at the Library’s entry plaza with tours of the new facility to follow.
The 137,000-square-foot John Spoor Broome Library was designed by architect Lord Norman Foster. The new facility is an integration of existing structures—Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture built in the 1930s—with clean lines and the open space of glass, metal, and concrete. Construction of the new library began in October of 2005 and recently was completed.
“The John Spoor Broome Library is a structure whose contents and digital resources will certainly serve the University’s students, faculty, staff, and members of the community for decades to come,” said University President Richard R. Rush.
The new library’s central portion is a large reading room with a translucent glass ceiling over the building’s third level. The translucent ceiling provides natural lighting for much of the building during daylight hours. The reading room is flanked on three sides by two floors of original 1930s construction that has been renovated. This is where the library’s stacks and classrooms are located. Outside, a canopy with louvers extends over the plaza and a reflecting pool.
The new library houses 75,000 bound volumes, and more than 180,000 electronic books along with CDs, DVDs, and VHS; 32,000 digital images of art history, biology, environmental science, and current and historic campus photographs.
“The University’s campus community now has a library that fits its current needs and a facility that can expand to meet the needs of a growing student population for many years to come,” said Paul Adalian, Dean of the University Library.
Many of the new library’s features are in-line with the University’s commitment to developing and maintaining a sustainable campus including the use of carpet that is 100 percent recyclable and has a 100 percent recycled backing; natural lighting; and the adaptive reuse of existing structures, which means less new materials were needed for construction and less solid was sent to a landfill during construction.
There are several classrooms within the new library. Seven of the classrooms are named in recognition of their benefactors. Named rooms within the new library are: the Verizon Electronic Classroom; the Harrison Industries Classroom; the Bill & Elise Kearney Group Study Room; the Nordman, Cormany, Hair & Compton Group Study Room; the Margaret Haas Educational Access Center; the Ventura County Star Classroom; and the Richard Merkin Room. Following the ribbon cutting for the John Spoor Broome Library, there will be ribbon-cutting ceremonies at six of the seven named classrooms with the benefactors of the respective rooms. The Richard Merkin Room will be dedicated at a later date.
In addition to the named classrooms, there also is the J. Handel Evans Conference Room, which will be dedicated at a later date and recognizes the contributions made by J. Handel Evans, President Emeritus of CSUCI.
Parking for the grand-opening ceremony is complimentary and once on campus signs will direct traffic to the parking areas reserved for the event. Shuttle service to and from the parking areas will be provided. Additional parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station and complimentary transportation to and from the campus will be provided on the CSUCI VISTA bus.
An RSVP is requested for this event and can be made by calling 805-437-8420 or by emailing dianne.wei@csuci.edu, on or before Wednesday, April 2.
For media inquiries and more information contact Ceal Potts, Communications Specialist at CSUCI, 805-437-8940 or cecilia.potts@csuci.edu.
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CSU Channel Islands is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
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About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.