Fondren Library, Rice University: Renovation & Expansion Project

The Board of Trustees of Rice University accepted the Fondren Library Master Plan presented by the architectural firm of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott in May 1999. Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott will remain the project architects and Robert Venturi has been named design architect.

Before the expansion project can begin, a temporary, two-story building will be erected to house approximately 850,000 volumes. Some Circulation staff and most of the Technical Services Department will be relocated in the temporary building to be located to the northwest of the Student Center. The temporary building is scheduled for completion by spring 2001 with the move of the collection to be accomplished in early summer. Once the 1969 west wing of Fondren is vacated, Linbeck Construction will remove asbestos from six floors, and then demolish the structure to make way for the new wing. The original 1949 east wing facing the academic quadrangle will house the Brown Fine Arts collection, the Reference collection and Reference staff, Circulation/Reserve Desks, Woodson Research Center, Government Publications, SCIPPR, Interlibrary Loan and R.I.C.E. offices. Most of the Fine Arts Collection is presently housed in the wing scheduled for demolition and will need to be moved to the fourth floor of the original wing. Brown Fine Arts Library Circulation and Reserve services will be integrated with Fondren Circulation/Reserve during the summer of 2001. Staff of the Woodson Research Center will page rare books and flat folios during the demolition phase, as they will relocate to the third floor adjacent to the Brown Fine Arts Library. The Music collection will remain in the original Fondren Library until another library is built in the Shepherd School of Music. Projected opening date for the Music Library is summer 2002.

Demolition of the 1969 Fondren wing is scheduled for summer 2001. Once the new wing is completed, all the collections and staff housed in the original wing will be relocated to the new wing, allowing for renovation of the 1949 structure. Late summer to early fall 2004 is the targeted date to install the collections and staff into the new Fondren Library. The library should have 10 years of post move-in growth space. The new building will feature a digital library to support the University's new initiatives in digital technology and its collaboration with the International University Bremen. One unique design feature will be a two-story arcade running east-west through the center of the Library to visually connect the sallyport of Lovett Hall with the west end of campus. Robert Venturi will also redesign the east facade. There are eight working groups serving as advisory task forces to the Project Planning Committee. I currently serve on the Collections/Special Collections Working Group. Other task forces are the Temporary Library, Public Services, Digital Library, and Security Working Groups.