Case School of Law library getting makeover, new name
Renovation will create meeting rooms for students, additional reading rooms
December 31, 2004 | For more information: Jeff Bendix (216)-368-6070
The law library at Case Western Reserve University School of Law is getting a face lift—and a new name.
 The law school recently began a $5.5 million renovation to its law library, which will result in more open space, additional areas for group study and enhanced computer facilities. The law library is also being named in honor of the late Judge Ben C. Green, a 1930 graduate of the school, whose family gave a $2 million gift towards the project. It is the largest single gift the school has ever received.
Gerald Korngold, dean and McCurdy Professor of Law, said that the project is the centerpiece of the law school’s $25 million “Leading the Way in Legal Education” fund-raising campaign.
“This renovation will create a state-of-the art facility that will greatly enhance our students’ law school experience and create a more user-friendly environment suited to the needs of today’s students,” Korngold said. “It is a key element in the school’s strategic plan and will help enhance our reputation as one of the nation’s leading centers for legal education.”
Among the major changes to the law library will be:
- Creating a new, welcoming entryway by removing the service desk now at the library entrance and replacing it with a seating area and adding upgraded turnstiles.
- Creating new circulation and reference desks to provide enhanced services to students and patrons.
- Replacing the full stacks near the entrance with half stacks, so that people entering the law library will be able to see straight through to the windows.
- Creating a second reading area on the first floor.
- Moving staff offices from the first to the second floor, enhancing staff services.
- Adding group study rooms, including some with audio/visual equipment and technological enhancements.
- Enlarging the windows on the third floor to let in more natural light and replacing some of the full stacks with half stacks.
- Creating additional reading areas on the third floor and upgrading independent study carrels.
Craig Nard, professor and director of the Center for Law, Technology and the Arts, chairs the faculty committee that helped plan the renovation. “The library has a lot of good space that up to now has been underutilized,” he explained. “This was a great opportunity to transform the library into a place that is more inviting for students. Our goal is to provide a mixture of comfortable, communal places and places that can be used for private study.
“All libraries have to adapt to changing technology,” Nard added. “When you can use your computer to access a law review article from just about anywhere, why go to a library? We need to have inviting spaces students will want to use and be able to capture the synergies that occur when students work communally.”
Patricia Kost, assistant dean for finance and administration, said the project is the first comprehensive structural enhancement to the law library since George Gund Hall, the law school’s current home, opened in 1971. “Obviously the way students work has changed a lot since then,” she said.
One of the biggest changes is students’ use of personal computers for writing and research. For that reason, Kost said, the renovated library will contain many more electrical outlets. Students will continue to access the Internet via the university’s wireless service.
Web Site Updates Students on Progress
SmithGroup, a nationally known architectural firm based in Washington, D.C., planned and designed the project. The firm has designed libraries for numerous other law schools, including Vanderbilt, Catholic University and Indiana University. A local firm, Irie Kynyk Goss Architects Inc., is overseeing the project’s implementation.
Kost said students have been understanding about inconveniences caused by the renovation work. “It’s helped a lot that we’ve been communicating with them about the project and what it will mean for them,” she said. The law school has a Web site, linked to its home page, where students and others can go for information and progress reports.
The renovation project began in September when many of the library’s lesser-used volumes were moved to the Cedar Road Service Center. The second phase, currently underway, consists of renovating the south end of the third floor. After its completion in January 2005 it will reopen and work will begin on the north end. That is scheduled to end in June, when work will begin on the first and second floors. The project is due to finish in January 2006.
For a virtual tour of how the law library will look after the renovation, go to http://law.case.edu/tech_library/renovation/ and click on “Take a Tour.”
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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