May 30, 2010

A Place to See and Be Seen (and Learn a Little, Too)

$109-million renovation of Ohio State's library reinforces its role in connecting the campus

Do Libraries Still Matter? Ohio State U. Has a Clear Answer 1

Brad Feinknopf, Feinknopf LLC

In the renovation of Ohio State U.'s main library, a central tower that once held closed stacks was stripped of concrete and now reveals open stacks behind glass.

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close Do Libraries Still Matter? Ohio State U. Has a Clear Answer 1

Brad Feinknopf, Feinknopf LLC

In the renovation of Ohio State U.'s main library, a central tower that once held closed stacks was stripped of concrete and now reveals open stacks behind glass.

By Scott Carlson

Columbus, Ohio

Library-renovation projects are often characterized by a central tension: Should the building emphasize the people it serves or the materials it contains? How can a renovation emphasize both?

An answer might be found in the recently completed renovation of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library at Ohio State University: transparency. It was quite literally a central theme of the project. Walk in the door and into the sunlit atrium and look up. You can't miss the central stacks