Library
History and Mission
History
The Lucy Scribner Library, in its location as well as its purpose,
is at the heart of Skidmore College. The first academic building on the
Jonsson Campus, it was originally designed by O'Neill, Ford and Associates
and constructed in 1966 with 50,000 squarefeet of usable space and a capacity
for 400,000 volumes.
In the early 1990s, when that capacity was rapidly being approached,
it became clear that the existing structure would need to be expanded
and renovated in order to continue to serve the needs of the College.
Architects Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, a Boston firm noted
for its work on academic libraries, created a spacious design that captures
natural light and harmonizes with the surrounding landscape. With its
increased space of 75,000 square feet, there is ample book and study
space and capacity for the new technology of today's "virtual library."
Ground was broken in May 1994 and the renovated and expanded Scribner
Library opened its doors in August 1995.
Mission
The Lucy Scribner Library provides the resources and services necessary
to support the educational mission of Skidmore College. To this end,
we work to:
- Develop, preserve, and facilitate access to both physical and
virtual collections
- Educate library users to enable them to locate, retrieve, evaluate
and appropriately use information
- Create and maintain a physical and virtual environment appropriate
for the use of these resources
- Ensure the highest level of service to the Skidmore College
community by a responsive, highly qualified staff
- Widen the flow and bridge the gaps of communication between
faculty, students, and the library
- Create a library, both physical and virtual, that is simple
to use and that enables our users to be independent, self-directed researchers
- Establish the Library as one of the “intellectual centers”
of the community
- Develop an evaluation process that assesses continually library
services and resources
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Page maintained by: Elizabeth
Putnam
Lucy Scribner Library,
Skidmore College
Last updated: October 4, 2004
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