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The Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology is now providing students and faculty with sophisticated technological resources while ensuring easier access to Colgate's outstanding collections.
The approximately $57.5 million expansion and renovation allows texts and technology to coexist in a distinctive building that gives today's students what they need to succeed in the 21st century.
Multimedia 
Photos of dedication events
Photos of renovated interior
Time-lapse video of landscaping
Time-lapse video of building project
The project
Levels one through four of the library reopened March 18, 2007. The fifth floor, with its café and additional social and study spaces, opened in August.
A formal celebration and grand opening was held Oct. 5, 2007.
The main library had closed May 6, 2005, and circulation and reference services were moved to James C. Colgate Hall (Student Union).
Here is more information on this major capital project:
Details
• What: 51,000 gross square feet will be added; 101,000 gsf renovated
• When: Official groundbreaking was May 15, 2004.
• Why: To provide a center for a new information age that will give Colgate a building with a vibrant intellectual environment that supports academic excellence, fosters innovation, and enhances the quality of campus life.
• Who: Design architect: Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott Architects, Boston; architect of record: Kendall/Heaton, Houston; construction manager: Gilbane Building Co. and U.W. Marx Construction Co.; Colgate project manager: Joe Bello
Highlights
• The building houses not only Colgate's library specialists but also the information technology staff, creating a group of 70 educational experts working together under one roof.
• A new fifth floor with a separate outside entrance on the south side was added. It houses a café and a 24-hour study area and separate areas for videoconferencing, a multimedia production suite, and public computing. A walkway to the new entrance makes the building accessible to the upper quad.
• The existing west entrance was enlarged and a new east entrance created.
• Two new wings were added to the east and west sides of the building to provide additional floor space.
• Interior spaces were opened up to promote interaction and free flow of materials.
• A robotic storage/retrieval mechanism (LASR) accepts a student's order and delivers a book to the circulation desk in minutes. It is housed in a vault approximately 30 feet high by 115 feet long that holds about 500,000 books. The most commonly requested books will be kept on regular shelves for browsing; older materials will be placed in the robotic system.
New library layout
• Level One houses the conservation lab, government documents, network services, audio and visual studios, mechanical equipment rooms.
• Level Two: Rare book reading room and archives, Library of Congress collections, multimedia production rooms, faculty carrels, reader seating, and LASR.
• Level Three: East and west entrances, circulation services, interlibrary services, reference, Information Technology Services, library administrative offices, the Blackmore Archive of Recorded Sound, and LASR.
• Level Four: Balance of the Library of Congress collection, periodicals, technical services, IT offices, and LASR.
• Level Five: South entrance, cafe, flexible workrooms, two classrooms, the video conference center, and a large reading room. Mechanical systems also are housed in "attic" spaces above the fifth floor.