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| Students take advantage of one of the new study areas. |
CHESTERTOWN,
MD—Washington College will officially rededicate its newly renovated Clifton M.
Miller Library at a Grand Opening on Friday, Nov. 9, showing off the just-completed
$8 million makeover. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is slated to begin at 4:30
p.m., and the public is welcome.
The
library reopened its doors in mid-October while some final construction, most notably
completion of a new café, was still underway. Library director Ruth Shoge says it
was both a thrill and a relief to welcome students back to the fresh,
redesigned space after two months of providing services in temporary locations
around campus. “We can now serve our students and community members in a library
that is not only functional and efficient but also inviting and comfortable,”
she says. “The students are absolutely delighted to be back in the building. They
especially love the new study spaces on the second floor, and they are
certainly looking forward to the café opening for business.”
Many of the major
improvements to the library are essential infrastructure upgrades that are mostly
hidden from the eye, including a new geothermal system for climate control, a
new roof and storm water drainage system, an improved network for wireless
internet connectivity, and new plumbing and electrical systems. New ceilings
and flooring were installed throughout the building.
Among the
changes visitors will notice right
away is that brand new café—a first-floor
space with a wall of glass that looks out onto the building’s terrace. On the second floor, the biggest visible
changes are the new study areas, including contemporary lounge-like spaces for
individual study and enclosed rooms for collaborative projects and group study.
The
enhancements also include an expanded Washington College Archives, with a new
researcher’s room. The Archives area will be dedicated to the memory of
Benjamin G. Kohl, an Italian Renaissance scholar who served as a trustee of the
College and actively supported the Library up until his death in 2010.
During
the second phase of the construction, the library stored books and documents in
the former Board of Education building across Washington Avenue from the
campus. A special annex in that building will continue to house back issues of some
journals, magazines, and government documents.
The
Grand Opening will include a special display of books by Washington College
faculty members that have been published in the past three years. In addition,
two portraits will be officially unveiled: one of former College president
Charles John Merdinger, who served from 1970 to 1973, and the other of College
benefactor Duncan Miller, the son of the library’s namesake.
Fittingly,
the painting of Duncan Miller, who was a retired investment advisor at the time
of his death in 2010, will be installed near that of his father, Clifton M.
Miller, an investment banker who led the college’s Board of Visitors and
Governors in the mid-sixties and oversaw a campus expansion that included the
construction of the library that would one day bear his name.
