Lilly Library

Reading Room renovation week 1

Temporary reading room in the Ball Room

The Library’s temporary reading room, set up in the Elisabeth Ball Room, is running smoothly this week. This room is arranged to accommodate up to four readers, and we have had a full house at times. In the top photo you can see graduate student employee Trevor Winn silhouetted against the window and one researcher at a table. Sir Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of the Irish poet Thomas Moore surveys the scene from above the fireplace.

Library staff have also been displaced during the renovation. Head of Reference and Public Services Rebecca Cape is camped out in the Byrd Room (the Public Services staff room) since her office is accessed through the Reading Room, and all employees are using a different entrance to staff areas of the Lilly Library, passing through the Lilly Room (home to me and Cherry Williams, Curator of Manuscripts) instead of the usual path through the Reading Room.

Reading Room renovation week 1

Renovation work kicked into high gear right away this first week of the project. Crews scrubbed the limestone window frames, removed carpet and padding, set up scaffolding, and started work on replacing light fixtures. In the bottom photo you can see holes in the ceiling where light fixtures have been removed. It is exciting to see things get moving so quickly!

— Erika Dowell, Public Services Librarian