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Hale Library Blog

Building update: Looking spiffy

We’re more than halfway through the semester, and the progress in Hale Library is astonishing to see. Currently, two of the four Great Room murals have been completely restored, and the upper floors of the library are looking put together. The excitement among staff and students is growing more and more as we get closer to January and the opening of the remaining floors.

A picture of various shelving on the third floor.
Shelving has been installed on the third floor for various types of items including books and other media.
A picture of multimedia shelving on the third floor.
These cabinets on the third floor will store CDs and DVDs.

Crew members have been hard at work on the third floor installing various types of shelving. While the bulk of the shelving on the third floor will be for books, the space will also include shelving for audiovisual materials such as CDs, DVDs and LPs. There will also be storage spaces for music scores, art and other large items. It is so exciting to see nice, new shelves back in the main library spaces. In addition, Stack C is a little over halfway filled with books now.

A picture of Stack C, completely filled with books.
Earlier this month, Stack C was being filled with books.

Throughout the office spaces and open areas on the fourth floor, crew members have been working on applying carpet glue and the carpeting itself. In addition, study alcoves have been built along two corridors on the fourth floor.

A picture of the carpeted fourth floor.
Crew members are working on carpeting the fourth floor main areas and offices.
A picture of wooden study alcoves on the fourth floor.
The study alcoves on the fourth floor will give students a quiet space to work.

In the events gallery on the third floor, the large space in between the graduate study rooms, the original 1927 terrazzo floor has been restored, cleaned and polished. Before the fire, the floor was covered with carpet so we’re excited to see it revealed.

A picture of the polished terrazzo floor in the event gallery space.
Terrazzo is a bright-colored material which is used for floor and wall treatments. It often consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite or glass. Our terrazzo is looking beautiful!

In the Great Room, work on the murals has continued at a very fast pace! As of right now, the Industry and Agriculture murals have been completely finished. The art conservationists are focusing their work now on the remaining two murals—the Arts and the Home.

A picture of the Industry and Agriculture Great Room murals.
Earlier this month, art conservators Tim Phebus and Rachel Gilberti worked quite a bit on the Agriculture mural, which is now completed.
An up-close shot of the Agriculture mural.
This photo shows the Agriculture mural completely restored. We think it looks amazing!

We want to say thank you to the crew members and art conservators who are working very hard as we near the end of Hale Library’s renovation timeline. As the “heart of campus,” the library means a lot to the K-State community and we are so appreciative of the people who have taken a special interest in this project and come to love the building as much as we do.