The Perkins Project
Phase I Summary and Facts

Fall 2005

The goal of the Perkins Project is to create a functional, aesthetically appealing, accessible, and welcoming library that supports the university's mission and the individual needs of faculty members and students.

In this first phase of the project, construction of the von der Heyden Pavilion and the Bostock Library has addressed the Duke libraries' chief priority: to increase space for student and faculty use. The informal areas, reading rooms, group study rooms and carrels, all attractive, well-lighted and well-appointed, and many with inspiring views of the campus, make the library a desirable destination for individual study and research, as well as collaborative work.

The continuation of phase I of the Perkins Project, in which the first floor of the Perkins building will be re-envisioned and completely renovated, will bring public services together at the physical center of the Perkins Library complex, in close proximity and relationship to services and collections on Bostock's first floor and lower level. The Perkins first floor will re-open in mid-2006.

Details of future phases of the Perkins Project are being finalized. These phases are expected to include renovation of additional floors and stack areas, re-positioning of the entrance to Perkins, and renovations of the older reading rooms along the main quadrangle. This carefully planned and coordinated pairing of renovation of existing buildings with new construction will produce a spatially and programmatically unified library, achieving the project goal.

Karl and Mary Ellen von der Heyden Pavilion(1 October 2005)

A jewel at the heart of the historic West Campus, this open, glass-walled space has been designed for gathering and studying, reading and writing, conversation and collaboration. The Pavilion is an elegant yet inviting building that will be a daily destination for students, faculty and staff as well as a venue for special events.

Named for Karl and Mary Ellen von der Heyden in recognition of their generous financial support and leadership at the university. Karl von der Heyden '62, currently a member of the university's board of trustees, chaired the library's Campaign for Duke committee.

Total size: 4,480 GSF
Informal seating: 59
Banquet seating capacity: 106
Theater seating capacity: 175
Reception capacity: 250

Bostock Library (12 October 2005)

The Bostock Library comprises five floors of services and collections configured to create an environment conducive to study, learning and research. Special features include the two-story Carpenter Reading Room, the Center for Instructional Technology, wireless and high-speed Internet access throughout the building, spectacular views of the Duke Chapel, and adjacency to both Duke's expanding science and engineering complex and the West Campus quad.Integral to the relationship between Bostock and Perkins are the gateway, which joins the two buildings, and the newly constructed Perkins Tower. The three levels of the gateway, with windows overlooking the campus, are furnished with chairs and study tables. The Perkins Tower features a meeting room, a classroom, and additional study space.

Named for the Bostock family, Roy '62 and Merilee '62 and their three children: Victoria Bostock Waters '85, Matthew Franklin Bostock '91 and Kate Bostock Shefferman '94, M.B.A. '02. The Bostocks have contributed significantly to the university, both financially and through their volunteer leadership. Roy Bostock is a former member of the board of trustees, and Merilee and Victoria are current members of the library advisory board.

Total size 122,275 GSF (includes the Perkins Tower)
Collection capacity 72,996 linear feet of shelving
Open seating 517 (includes the gateway and Perkins Tower)
Computer workstations 96
Individual carrels 87
Group study rooms 9
Reading rooms 7

Perkins First Floor (Completion mid-2006)

When the re-envisioned and renovated first floor of Perkins Library opens in the summer of 2006 as an information commons, it will be the center of the library's public services and instructional activities. Library users will find technological capability that goes beyond search and retrieval to encompass information creation and management. The information commons, which also encompasses technologically rich spaces in Bostock, will be under the direction of staff who will offer content knowledge, technical assistance, and instruction and guidance in the integrated use of resources--print, electronic, and digital.

A generous gift from The Duke Endowment supports this project.

Total size: 40,353 GSF
Collection capacity: 6,876 linear feet of shelving
Open seating: 134
Workstations: 63
Group study rooms: 5

Architects
Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott
Office of the University Architect, Duke University

Construction Manager
Bovis Lend Lease

Furniture
Thomas Moser
Alfred Williams

Sign System
Jon Roll & Associates

Landscape Design
Lappas + Havener

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
The Bostock Library has been constructed in accordance with LEED standards and has been registered with the U.S. Green Building Council.

For more information about the Perkins Project, go to http://library.duke.edu/about/perkinsproject/

Bostock Dedication on 11 November 2005

On 11 November 2005, Duke University will dedicate two additions to the William R. Perkins Library--the Bostock Library and the Karl and Mary Ellen von der Heyden Pavilion--and celebrate the ways in which they begin a transformation of the Duke University Libraries. The 11 November events, which are open to everyone, will explore the changing world of scholarship and learning and the evolving role of academic libraries in an increasingly complex environment.

A morning panel session focuses on "Scholarship in a Digital Age." Four distinguished members of the Duke faculty--James Boyle from the Law School; Matt Cohen from the English Department; Cathy Davidson, vice provost for interdisciplinary studies; and Timothy Lenoir, Kimberly Jenkins Chair for New Technologies and Society--along with Ivonne Wallace Fuentes, doctoral candidate in the Department of History, will discuss a variety of issues related to the theme of the session. The topics to be addressed include the impact of digital projects on research in literary studies; translating the traditional freedoms of the library into cyberspace; the social, institutional, ethical, and legal components of information; effects of digital resources on graduate study and undergraduate teaching; and problems associated with preserving digital materials for future generations of scholars.

After lunch in the von der Heyden Pavilion, a second panel, "Learning Places--The Library in the Academic Community," will look at the library as a place for learning and as an element unifying the broader community. Panelists consist of a member of the faculty at the School of Information and Library science at UNC-CH, David Carr; a principal of the architectural firm responsible for the design of the Bostock Library and the von der Heyden Pavilion, Geoffrey Freeman; the vice president of EDUCAUSE, Diana Oblinger; a former vice president for academic affairs in the Duke Student Government, Abhijit Prabhu '02; and Robert Thompson, dean of Trinity College and vice provost for undergraduate education. Their remarks will deal with student characteristics and habits, the changing nature of undergraduate education, and the dynamic quality of library spaces.

At 3:00 p.m. University Librarian Deborah Jakubs will welcome guests to the dedication and keynote address. Merilee Huser Bostock, member of the Library Advisory Board, Provost Peter Lange, and President Richard H. Brodhead will speak about the significance of the library expansion and dedicate the new spaces in support of the university's mission. The keynote address, "Old Books and E-Books," will be delivered by Robert Darnton, Shelby Cullom Davis '30 Professor of History at Princeton University and past president of the American Historical Association. As the author of numerous books and articles on the history of books and publishing--including The Forbidden Bestsellers of Pre-Revolutionary France, The Literary Underground of the Old Regime, and "The New Age of the Book," published in The New York Review of Books--and as a key figure in launching the AHA's Gutenberg-e Program and the History E-Book Project of the American Council of Learned Societies, Darnton is uniquely qualified to reflect on the significance of both print culture and digital publishing.

The afternoon will conclude with a reception and tours of the Bostock Library. The panel sessions and dedication will be held in the Carpenter Reading Room on the third floor of Bostock, and the reception will take place in the Periodicals Reading Room and the Nicholas Family International Reading Room on the first and second floors. Thus, during the day, guests will have opportunities to experience several of the grand spaces in Bostock and the von der Heyden Pavilion as they celebrate the value for the university community of this expansion of the Duke University Libraries.