In 1971, Warren Boes, then-director of Syracuse University libraries, called Bird Library “a library of the future.” Now, 50 years later, with seven floors of resources, study spaces and over 2 million research texts, Bird has entered the future.

Bird opened its doors to the public on September 5, 1972. Plans for the building, designed by King & King architecture, a local firm, had been in the works since the mid-60s. Bird was originally designed to be the antidote to the overcrowding — of both students and texts — at Carnegie Library. Christina Hatem, the marketing director, said the opportunity to celebrate Bird’s 50th anniversary was not one library staff wanted to pass up.

“It is such an important part of a campus community,” Hatem said. “We think of the libraries, and Bird specifically really, as being the academic hub.”

After assembling a planning committee of librarians, an archivist and other university staff members, Hatem said the team brainstormed what an ideal celebration of Bird’s 50th anniversary would look like. The final result included a two-hour celebration in Bird with trivia, speakers and cake, as well as pop culture displays around the library that show off music that was popular in the 1970s and the original design plans and model of the library.

The funding for Bird Library came largely from a $3 million donation by SU alumnus Ernest Stevenson Bird, the library’s namesake. The federal government, which contributed $3 million to the construction of Bird, SU alumni and donors also helped to offset the over $13 million price tag.

In the last 50 years, Bird has undergone renovations, additions and changes, all while maintaining the same familiar architecture.

On Wednesday afternoon, SU students, faculty, staff and alumni gathered in front of the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons for remarks on the library’s anniversary, socializing and cake. David Seaman, the dean of libraries and interim dean at the iSchool, kicked off the event with a brief opening statement.

“Of almost any time of day or night, (Bird) is a community center,” Seaman said. “I think we use the word community deliberately.”

Russ King, SU alumnus and lead architect of the library’s construction in the 60s, also attended the event, socializing with students and other attendees.

King, who still lives in Syracuse, has stayed involved with the campus community and said he wasn’t surprised to see Bird being used for its original purpose. He said that the process of creating Bird had been in the works for a decade before opening to the community, but along the way, Chancellor Tolley maintained a vision of what the library would be. King also said prior to building the library, the design team visited college libraries across the country to decide what would actually be added to Bird.

“The chancellor suggested we go around the country and examine all the libraries that had been built,” King said. “We went from MIT to UCLA and up and down, in between with some of the staff of the library.”

Bird Library is home to dozens of resources and staff members who keep the academic space running. Corinne Sartori, the accessibility specialist of the library, ensures university software is accessible for students and faculty use. Sartori, who also graduated from SU, said her work lies at the intersection of IT and policy — she is one of the people who keeps the library running behind the scenes.

Another staff member of the library, Dylan Mohr, works as the open scholarship librarian. Mohr said he is responsible for initiatives related to open access publishing and on campus. During Mohr’s time as a librarian, he said he’s seen a shift in how Bird is used, but that it maintains its original purpose.

“Some people still go to the library because it’s quiet and you can concentrate,” Mohr said. “But there are makerspaces in libraries now. You can do podcast recordings in the library, there’s video editing software. It’s totally different than what I was doing even 10 years ago.”

Now that the library has aged into the future Boes intended back in the 70s, Scott Warren, associate dean for research excellence, is sure there’s still more to come.

“The commitment lives on to keep reinventing it to meet the ongoing needs of students,” Warren said. “This is the space for academic intermingling and building community. We’re very proud to have this.”

Published on September 14, 2022 at 10:55 pm