Livable Library

Corner of Waidner-Spahr gets a cozy makeover

August 26, 2008

College Archivist Jim Gerencser's renovations in the Waidner-Spahr Library have made for a cozier setting for visitors.

It won’t warrant a segment on ABC’s Extreme Makeover, but changes to a previously underused corner of the Waidner-Spahr Library have made for a more appealing retreat for students and visitors.

But there’s more to the new Friends of the Library Reading Area than soft chairs, plants and living-room-style lamps. Researchers and curiosity seekers can stretch out and pop open an old Dickinsonian newspaper, Dickinson Magazine, Microcosm yearbook or a specialty book to discover something new about Dickinson College.

“This area was so sterile before,” said College Archivist Jim Gerencser '93, who reorganized the space. “There were a few tables and seats and two portraits of long-dead trustees, but there wasn’t much else.”

Custom-made wooden tables and bookshelves were added, as were soft sofas and chairs featuring warm-colored fabrics: red, gold and yellow. The trustees were relocated and replaced with more plants.

“Now there is life,” Gerencser said.

The area, renovated this past spring, is named in honor of donors who, since the early 1970s, have contributed more than $500,000 to the library.

“It’s a nice space,” Gerencser said. “Not only did we give it a name, we made it a more inviting area.”

And more people are accepting the invitation, said Eleanor Mitchell, director of library services.

“The Friends of the Library Reading Area was intended to recognize the valued support this group provides for library resources and programs,” she said. “We furnished it with comfortable chairs and attractive reading lamps hoping to create an inviting space in which to relax and enjoy Dickinson yearbooks and newspapers from the past. We have found that not only does that area service this purpose, but it has also become a favorite place for students to use for study—and breaks from study!”