This blog details the three-year journey to renovate Hale Library after the May 22, 2018, fire.
This blog has allowed us to share our journey of recovery with the K-State and library communities both near and far. We will never forget the generosity and outpouring of support as we worked to rebuild and create a next-generation library.
We’re nearing the end of November, which means that we are only about two months away from completing the renovation of Hale Library!
All floors of the library will open on January 25, 2021. As we get closer to that exciting date, construction continues and many spaces within the building are nearing completion or having final touches added. Stacks A through C have been completely filled with books and staff are now working on filling Stack D.
On the fifth floor, carpeting is being added to the administrative suites and the Special Collections reading room. We are especially thrilled to see the finished construction of the reading room desk, where visitors will check in with staff to use special collections’ materials. Crew members also have delivered wood lockers that can hold patrons’ personal items while they research.
Crew members are installing baseboard and the wooden lockers in the Special Collections reading room.While the counter space is newly constructed, the darker-colored wooden desk to the right is the original Special Collections reading room desk. The newly constructed Kenneth S. Davis Seminar Room is located on the other side of the windows.
On the third floor, lockers have been installed in the graduate student study rooms and progress has been made on the event and gallery space outside the Great Room. Nearly all the new shelving on the upper floors has been installed as well.
New lighting has been installed in the event and gallery space on the third floor before entering the Great Room. The terrazzo floor is currently covered with a protective layer of masonite. Last week, crew members were working on installing shelving on the fourth floor. Shelving installation on both the third and fourth floors is nearly complete.
Further plaster repair is in the works on the first and second floors of the Historic Farrell Library. At the east end of the second floor, workers recently finished staining the original woodwork and doors.
Crew members work to repair plaster on the first floor of Historic Farrell Library. This space will be the Virginia Carlson Family Reading Room. It will house the juvenile literature and curriculum materials collection in addition to study space.The stained woodwork and doors at the east end of the second floor in Historic Farrell Library will provide a beautiful entrance to the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies. The restoration of the Great Room murals is complete and crew members are clearing construction materials from the room in preparation for carpet installation.
The first floor of Hale Library will be open during dead week and finals week. After that, the library will close as construction wraps up. We will then begin the tedious and exciting task of installing the furniture and technology for the third through fifth floors and the three floors of Historic Farrell Library. We expect everything to be ready the first day of spring semester classes, except for the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab, which will require a bit more time to get all the technology ready. The first phase of the Innovation Lab is scheduled to open in March 2021.
We wish everyone a safe fall break and Thanksgiving. We at the Libraries are forever grateful for all those who have made the renovation and restoration of Hale Library a possibility.
A very important part of Hale Library’s history and story is back in the building.
The “We Are the Dream” mural is an important record of the struggle of K-State’s underrepresented students to be seen and heard.
“We Are the Dream,” which was sponsored by the Black Student Union, Movimiento Estudiantil de Chicanos de Aztlan (MEChA, a Hispanic student group), and the Native American Indian Student Body, was dedicated on October 24, 1980, making this year its 40th anniversary. At that time, the fourth floor space was home to the Minority Resource and Research Center.
Harold Carter helped paint the “We are the Dream” mural. He was a senior in landscape architecture when the mural was dedicated in October of 1980.Here is the mural in the 1980’s in the Minority Resource and Research Center. The Center has since changed locations in Hale Library and is now named the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies. The mural remains in its original location which now house the Academic Learning Center, a study and tutoring space for student athletes.
The fire started on the roof almost directly above the mural. Subsequently, the mural suffered from significant water damage and soiling—it even had mold trapped behind it. The paint created a barrier that inhibited the moisture from escaping, and so to allow the wall to dry out, art conservators had to remove the mural from the wall for cleaning.
The mural was conceptualized and created by several students—their signatures are painted on the lower edges of the canvas.Rachel Gilberti, chief conservator at John Canning Company, looks over her paperwork after the first pieces of the mural are tacked into place behind her.
Rachel Gilberti, the chief conservator at John Canning Company, has been working with the damaged mural since June 2018. Initially after it was removed, the mural was taken to the third floor for some emergency cleaning and drying. After that, it was taken back to the company’s studio for another month of further work.
Rachel and her team came back to Hale Library this fall to begin final restoration work on the Great Room murals. Within the last few weeks, they also had the opportunity to put the We Are the Dream mural back in its original home and give the canvas a few final touches.
Dean of Libraries, Lori Goetsch, visited the mural to see the progress of the mural as it was returned to its original location.
Dean of Libraries, Lori Goetsch, said that saving the mural was an important goal of the Hale Library renovation and restoration project.
“The “We Are the Dream” mural has survived 40 years and represents an important moment in time at K-State and in our nation,” said Dean Goetsch. “It was essential to do the post-fire restoration, because many organizations and individuals on campus look to it as a significant symbol of diversity on campus.”
Part of the challenge of putting the mural back up on the wall was touching up the edges and making sure that the seams of the mural sections align. The mural was painted on burlap panels that were attached to wood backing that was in turn attached to the stone wall behind.
Part of the challenge of putting the mural back on the wall was lining up the seams correctly. Over time, the mural sections have shifted a bit so that some lean a certain way. As such, lining them up takes a bit of adjustment.Gilberti and David Gough, project manager, survey the first piece of the mural to be placed on the wall, the painting of Martin Luther King Jr., who visited K-State in 1968 for his speech, “The Future of Integration.”
“Over time, the original adhesive they used on the burlap started failing and so when we got here, you could see areas where the seams had started coming apart,” Gilberti said.
Fine arts conservator Dona Yu works on touching up the paint on the mural, giving an extra bit of life and color to the 40-year-old work of art.
One of the most obvious differences in the mural to those who had seen it before the fire was how absolutely vivid the colors are. The rich color and mixed artistic styles draws the eye and gives the mostly neutral 4th floor space a burst of personality and purpose.
“There is so much symbolism that is representative of a diverse student body here,” Gilberti said. “This is a great time in history to put this mural back on the wall. I think students will really appreciate having something that stands for unity, peace and diversity.”
With the entire mural now adhered to the wall, the conservators are working on final touches to the seams and edges.
We are excited to have the mural back safe and sound in the building, as part of our ongoing efforts to restore the library and the important artwork and architecture within. These efforts ensure that future generations of K-Staters can appreciate the history and stories of those who came before.
