ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


88

New Building D edicated at 
Idaho State University

 Idaho State U niversity’s second library build in g
in a q u a rte r-c e n tu ry  was d e d ic a te d  on O c to b e r 
15, 1977, in Pocatello, w ith G o v ern o r John Evans 
o f Idaho as th e  principal speaker. T h e building, a 
fo u r-le v e l, 1 7 7 ,0 0 0 -sq u a re -fo o t s t r u c tu r e , w as 
p lan n ed  by U niversity L ibrarian Eli M. O boler, 
who also p lanned th e  1954 library building, four 
blocks away. O b o ler sta te d , “In 1954 I said that 
b u i l d i n g  w as p l a n n e d  fo r fle x ib ility  a n d  
functionalism , w ith  an ey e to econom y a n d  ef­
ficiency; this building has th e  basic qualities, plus 
a  v e ry  ad v a n c e d  e n e rg y -c o n se rv a tio n  d e s ig n — 
including fen estratio n , h ea tin g , v entilation, and

m ultiple energy source p o ssib ilities.”
In c lu d e d  in th e  b u ild in g — th e  larg est e d u c a ­

tional-purpose b u ilding in th e  state— is an e n tire  
level for audiovisual services. Among th e  facilities 
included are th re e  p ro jectio n  th e a te rs and th irty  
m u ltiple-purpose carrels.

T he new  library b uilding, located in about the 
exact geographical c e n te r o f th e  cam pus, has al­
read y  had a 25 p e r c e n t in c re a se  in use. W ith  
p lan n ed  co m p u terizatio n  a n d  data-base c o n n e c ­
tions, it sh o u ld  fu n c tio n  w ell for all p re se n tly  
conceived library technology advances. ■■

Above: new Idaho State U niversity library b u ilding opened A u g u st 1977. Below: view o f  th ird  flo o r  
b row sing room, fe a tu rin g  cam pus view , com fortable seating, carpeting, wooden bookstacks, a n d  a u ­
diovisual equipm ent.