Covering about 17,000 square feet, the Center fills a space that used to house the Reserve Room, Newspaper Room, and Language Lab. Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott, the firm that built the library itself, designed and completed the new project. Opening through a vestibule into the new Center, the Knapp entrance is accessible to individuals who cannot use stairs. Soft greens and leafy patterns on upholstered chairs and sofas echo trees seen through a window wall.
Wood is a foil for high-tech equipment, and black accents in carpeting and desk chairs add vibrancy.
Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning are new. A self-service scanner connected to the library's online catalog allows users to check out their own materials. Workstations contain flatbed scanners, VCRs and monitors for both US and foreign videocassettes, and laserdisc players. Pentium II Gateway computers or Macs operate a variety of current software, including Photoshop, Acrobat, Illustrator, Pagemaker, Persuasion, Premiere, Director, Authorware, and Flash. So that a class can take a language test or work on an assignment together, one of the carrels contains a console enabling instructors to control audio and video reception at all stations.