Some would try to make the case that in this era of instant Internet access to information, library buildings are becoming irrelevant to the user. In fact, paradoxically, the opposite is true. The Library as a place seems more important than ever. Use of reading rooms and other facilities is up.
Students especially seem to identify with their favorite place to study.
When the new Earth Sciences and Maps Library opened this summer, students immediately spotted a particularly welcoming niche, a window bench with a view to the Golden Gate Bridge, and have kept it steadily occupied ever since. As symbolic monuments to learning, new national libraries in both the United Kingdom and France represent a source of national pride and history. Ellen Meltzer , Director of the Teaching Library, tells me that Moffitt Library, in spite of its ragged edges and furniture worn out after 30 years of hard use, is another favorite spot. Students head for the solitude of the fifth floor stacks, with its wide window vistas, and find a cozy nook. Two Library projects, the Music Library and the East Asian Library and Studies Center , have been identified as top priorities in the University's current capital Campaign For a New Century .