AIA/ALA 2011 Library Building Awards

Two academic libraries are recipients of the biennial Library Building Awards from the American Institute of Architects and ALA's Library Administration and Management Association.

Ohio State University's William Oxley Thompson Library

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Library, Saudi Arabia

An interesting coincidence: Joseph Branin, Director of KAUST Library, was Director of Libraries at Ohio State U., 2000 - 2009. Branin was the subject of Library Journal's "A Day in the Life Series" in 2007 while he was overseeing the $106 million renovation of Thompson Library. (http://bit.ly/kxxVNp)

Ohio State's Thompson Library Featured in Chronicle of Higher Education

Scott Carlson's article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, dated May 30, 2010, calls the renovation of Thompson Library at Ohio State U. "one of the most ambitious on a college campus in recent years, and certainly one of the most important library projects in some time." The library re-opened last September amid some controversy over a $109-million renovation that involved the transformation of the old stack tower into a glass-enclosed atrium and required the removal of 700,000 books to off-site storage.

Links to:

WOSU-produced 5 minute video on YouTube

Pictures from the library's website

The 2004 planning document from the OSU Libraries task force called The Learning Group. Scott Bennett, author of Libraries Designed for Learning, was consultant to the group, which saw as its goal the development of "a strongly and pervasively student-centered view of the OSU Libraries."