Norlin Architectural Record


	This was, of course, the most controversial addition. And it was controversial in its time, too. It took as long to plan and build this addition as it took to plan and build the entire 1939 building. But what it accomplished was to nearly double the bookstacks in the building, add a modern reference area, and to add a large periodicals room. So the 1960s addition was about study space, this addition was about bookstacks and services. The older building was intended to be used as reader space. The materials and major services were to be located in the modern addition.

	It also reoriented the building from the west entrance to a new entrance on the east facing the science buildings. The circulation desk was just as you walk into the building with the reference area to the right. A large, grand stairway to the left takes you to the main stacks tower. If you think about that layout, it does make sense. For example, there was elevator access all the way from 3C directly to the circulation desk. That’s nice design.

	The problem, though, is that the architecture is inflexible. If any one of those elements is moved—like the circulation desk being moved thirty feet to the left—then the whole entrance fails to function.