Faculty and student feedback about the library interior reflects a national trend toward collaborative learning in many disciplines, an approach that dictates different configurations for libraries. The library's role as a learning center has also been intensified by the rapid growth of technology. Librarians now teach computer literacy and research skills to help patrons make the most of expanding resources within and beyond the library walls. These shifts in the way knowledge is gained highlight the need for libraries to create more varied space for learning and teaching.

The Smith College Libraries want to respond to these needs by relieving the demands on the Browsing Room with a new reading room, one we hope will give students and faculty a reason to rejoice in the library once again.

In the last 95 years, the library has undergone five major renovations and additions to accommodate expanding collections and adapt to new information technologies. Several grand spaces within the library were altered to make room for these improvements. Today, much of the interior of the William Allan Neilson Library lacks the atmosphere that once marked it as the center of intensive research and pleasurable reading. The Friends of the Libraries wish to reverse this course and restore the once-grand Periodicals Room.

The former Periodicals Room, located at the entrance to the library, is now used as the circulation department workroom. By renovating this space as a new reading room we will provide students, faculty and visitors with space that is functional and conducive to extensive library work.