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Spaces for Study and Community

Every eight seconds, someone walks into a Duke University library. Over the past decade, the Libraries have undergone an expansion that has greatly enhanced the research support and gathering space we provide for 21st-century students and scholars. The Duke Forward campaign will fuel our continued transformation through the completion of this ambitious project.

We have begun to renovate the Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, reimagining this important space to make it easier for scholars, graduate students and undergraduates to utilize the primary resources so essential to their work. Undergraduate research is a signature part of the Duke experience. More than half our students pursue a faculty-mentored research project, and they often rely on the rich special collections and expert assistance of the Rubenstein Library and its staff. We’ll create an expansive research room and reconfigure and renew spaces to facilitate both independent research and the collaborative exploration of questions and the exchange of ideas.

When the renovation is complete, the Rubenstein Library promises to be one of the crown jewels of Duke, as much a part of the complete Duke experience as Duke Chapel, Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.  With named spaces available at a variety of price points, you can help us complete the renovation and expansion while naming a space for yourself or for someone who's made a difference in your life. 

Praks and David FowlerThat's what Mark and Robin Prak did.  They wanted to honor David Fowler, who has been cutting the hair of Duke students, faculty, physicians, staff and alumni since 1959. Fowler also has been cutting Mark Prak's hair since Mark was a Duke undergraduate in the mid-1970s.

The Praks made a contribution to the Libraries' Perkins Project to honor Fowler, someone Mark calls "a true southern gentleman," and to help today's Duke undergraduates.  To show its appreciation, the Libraries dedicated one of the popular Group Study Rooms in the Link to David Fowler — "the Duke of Barbers for Over 50 years." 

Read the entire story in the Fall 2011 issue of Duke University Libraries, and explore a floorplan showing the various naming opportunities