Officials hope to complete design on the addition this year and begin construction in 1998. Growing institutions' The WVU Dean of Libraries said the school's library system is in a holding pattern because Wise cannot accommodate any new stacks or technology. The building can't accommodate the needs for technology and space. It was originally constructed as a library warehouse. The addition is scheduled to be built on the south side of the current library.
Tentative plans call for the structure to stand five stories high, with another floor underground.
It will be connected to the original library at the third and fifth floors with an atrium between the two buildings. The atrium will allow WVU to preserve the facade of the older building and keep the school's new Hogan Scholar Walkway intact. Although plans for the inside of the library are still in the design phase, both Jackson and Steve Showers, WVU assistant vice president for Facilities and Services, say they expect a building that can evolve in the future. We're trying to make sure the addition is highly flexible so it can be changed. Jackson said this flexibility will manifest itself in several areas that will use technology to bring information to students' fingertips.