SECOND DEGREE: The new Law School Library

It may be just a pile of dirt right now, but if all goes according to schedule, the former Law School dormitory site on Sansom Street will be a brand new Law School Library by 1993. When built, the new five story, 100,000 square foot building will be home to both the new library and many Law student-related services such as the Registrar's Office, the law journals, two seminar rooms and a new dining room. Planning for the new library began in 1986, after the American Bar Association criticized the current library for being inadequate, according to Law School Dean Colin Diver. "We knew that our library was no longer adequate for our needs," Diver said last week. "[But it was] confirmed when the ABA did its regular reaccreditation review in 1986." Biddle Law Library, currently located in Lewis Hall on Sansom and 34th streets, is too small, does not have sufficient seating, and cannot accommodate such modern devices as computers and video equipment. "We didn't have a lot of things contemporary libraries have," said Library Director Elizabeth Kelly, who also chairs the Law School Building Committee. "[The new facility] will put us in the position where we finally have the right amount of space for our student body." "The net result will be a state-of-the-art library that is organized to accommodate traditional research in books and computer assisted research," Kelly added. At the current library's growth rate of approximately 12,000 volumes per year, the library has run out of space for books. The new library has "15-20 years worth of growth space." Kelly noted that the construction of a new building was also necessary because the current library has no more "adaptable space" for other services. "It's hard to retrofit this structure," she said. The new library will also boast new study spaces capable of accomodating as many as 500 computers, a variety of study environments and better lighting. When the new library opens in 1993, the current library space in Lewis Hall will be renovated into classrooms, faculty offices and semi-remote storage spaces for books. The demolition phase of the new project took place in July and the construction phase is expected to begin within the next few weeks. Although the actual $28 million budgeted for the project was approved by the University a year and a half ago, the construction phase was held up for four months due to the University's fiscal crunch. And Diver said that while the direct costs of the new building would be borne by the Law School, the University needed to come up with the funds to invest in a new kitchen and dining facility for English House before Law School construction could begin. The project's architect, Lew Davis, of the New York-based firm Davis, Brody and Associates, said that he forsees "a smooth construction" that will take about 18 months to complete. Davis said he views the new building in a historical context, since the current library's home, Lewis Hall, was built by the same turn of the century architects who worked on the Quadrangle and buildings at Bryn Mawr College and Princeton University. He said he used the same materials for the new building to keep the historical continuity. Davis also said last week that he and his firm were very concerned with designing a building that was not only attractive but pragmatic as well. "We were very involved with the user and the faculty of the Law School," he said. "[It] reflects their concept of how a law library should function." Law Dean Diver said he also believes that beauty and function should go together. "I think it's going to be a terrific building," he said. "Not only is it going to look good, but I think it's going to function well." In addition, the library building will form the Western boundary of a law school quadrangle with law buildings surrounding a courtyard on all sides. Though Davis said he foresees no difficulties, one problem sure to arise is the high level of noise involved with a project of this magnitude. University administrators said they thought they had dealt with the expected noise problem by closing the English House dormitory, located at the edge of the proposed construction site. But administrators and construction managers said last week that they seemed to have overlooked another problem -- Law School classes being held in Lewis Hall. "They neglected to tell us one day they'd be drilling into brick [right outside of a classroom]," Law School Registrar Gary Clinton said Friday. Clinton has been juggling classroom schedules since then to make minimum use of the noisiest classrooms, those which are literally two feet from the noise of the construction work. "It's better safe than sorry in a case like this," he said. Administrators looked at several locations for the new library such as the parking lots at Chestnut and 34th streets and Hill Field before choosing the law dorm site. The demolition of the "small, Spartan" housing, which was home to about 100 students, did not cause much debate, according to Diver. "I don't even think undergraduates live in such dormitories nowadays," Diver said. "[There is] nobody to mourn for those dorms." Law students who would have lived in the Law dorms now live in Graduate Towers or off-campus housing. Kelly said that while she feels that at this point in time the library is "more important," she would still like to see another form of housing just for law students. But while administrators and most Law students said they are not upset by the demolition of the Law dorms, former dorm resident Eric Costello said he feels differently. "I would have lived there for another year," said the third-year Law student. "As dorms go, they weren't bad and certainly they were convenient." And while he realizes that the Law School needs a new library, he said he wishes "they'd managed to figure out another place to put [law students]." "Be it ever so crumbled," Costello added, "there's no place like home." In addition, the old Law school dining room, which was inside the old dormitory, has been demolished. And since Stern Dining Commons in English House is closed this year for renovations, Law School students must eat their meals at Hill House or one of the other dining services locations on campus.

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