Web Cast Gives Library Groundbreaking More Viewers

Roughly 50 invited guests and other spectators watched the event, which was broadcast live over the Internet, at the Carolina Inn.

"Technology is a focus of our renovation -- what better way to unveil this than over the Internet?" asked Carol Jenkins, director of the Health Sciences Library.

The library, built in 1971, began the first stage of its renovation in a ceremony that included a speech from Chancellor James Moeser and the destruction of an interior wall.

Because the groundbreaking was indoors and in a small space, people watched the ceremony through a live Web cast. Jenkins said this allowed officials to invite more people than they normally would have.

"We wanted to showcase our high-tech future vision," she said.

At the Carolina Inn ceremony, librarian Margaret Moore said the Internet broadcast "embodies what is most important to (librarians) in where we are going in the future."

The two-part renovation will cost $12 million and is scheduled for completion in spring 2004. The project's first phase -- which is expected to take about 14 months -- involves the renovation of the library's basement and the first three floors.

During the renovation, the library will triple the number of computer workstations, double the number of electronic information and reference stations and add five computerized study group rooms, said Sue Estroff, a professor of medicine and the Faculty Council chairwoman.

"It is going to be real state-of-the-art," she said.

Because the first part of the construction will close down part of the building, the librarians are prepared for a possible increase in the number of visitors to the library's Web site.

"The library will remain open," Jenkins said. "The first stage of the renovation has forced us to move all the people, computer stations and copy machines to the top three floors.

"We understand that this will make it difficult to host as many students as we are used to, so we are prepared to make any necessary changes to the Web site."

But Jenkins said a virtual library could not replace the actual structure.

Many people still visit the library even in the digital age, she said. The library allows them to do more than check out books.

They can meet with librarians, hold study groups and take classes.

Estroff also stressed the importance of a campus library.

"No facility is more important than the libraries," she said. "The campus could not function without the library. It is the heart of the University."

The Web cast has been archived, and it can be viewed at the Health Sciences Library Web site, http://www.hsl.unc.edu.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.