By Aedan Perry | September 30, 2024
Photo Credit: Aedan Perry / The ASP
The Presidential Reading Room at the University at Albany Uptown Campus library recently got a $43,000 overhaul at the beginning of the Fall 2024 semester.
The reading room, located on the second floor of the University Library, has long featured wax portraits of several of the previous presidents of the university, but many presidents had been missing, including current president Hávidan Rodriguez.
"We realized it didn't represent the number of presidents," said Dean of University Libraries Carey Hatch. "And the current president was number 19, and there was a sense that we needed to represent all the presidents. Upon that realization, we thought we needed to get them all up there."
The gallery now holds 20 pieces as a result, which are a mix of the original wax paintings, as well as color and grayscale photographs. There are also photos of several distinguished professors on the wall as well.
The new presidents display, picturing every president of the university.
Photo Credit: Aedan Perry / The ASP
In addition to the new pictures, UAlbany’s timeline has also been installed, which frames the northern and southern entrances to the room. New plants, tables, and chairs have also been added.
Some of the furniture was decided upon by students. Last spring, the Library held an event called Framing the Future, which invited students to take a look at various renovations that the library was considering. As part of this event, students sampled various chairs and other furniture items, and reported on which ones they most wanted the library to include, and according to Hatch, this directly impacted their decisions on what new furniture to buy.
Overall, Hatch is pleased with the result, saying, "I encourage students to come in and take a look at the room.”
“You turn out and look across the podium and you get a great view of the campus,” he said. “The libraries are really looking at fixing the aesthetics of the facilities, and making them more conducive to learning."
Comments