Publication Date
Winter 2005
Abstract
Message from Jay:
"If we build it, they will come.” This paraphrased quotation from the movie “Field of Dreams” is often heard in the new Learning Commons. The transformation of approximately 23,000 square feet of the Main Floor of the W.E.B Du Bois Library over the summer months is like a dream come true for the many individuals on campus who worked to make the project successful. The heartfelt reward for us all is not the jubilant ceremony of the dedication, but seeing hundreds of students using this 21st century reading room on a daily basis. Engaging, renovated facilities are not the only exciting activity here at the Libraries. As you will read in this newsletter, a variety of exhibits, receptions and colloquia buttress our mission of fostering a diverse and inclusive environment in which to engage with ideas. Funding of these endeavors depends on generosity like that of the Friends of the Library. Your gifts will allow the UMass Amherst Libraries to continue creating exciting, new spaces and supporting the freedom of inquiry that is so central to the heart of the campus.
Jay Schafer,
Director of Libraries