By Kyla Wilkes
02/28/08
Students and faculty requiring Internet access for their studying and research can now venture beyond the first three floors of the Sciences Library. All 14 floors of the concrete library have been equipped with wireless Internet.
The SciLi proved particularly challenging for wireless Internet implementation, said Mark Shelton, leader of Media Services. The high book shelves and thick concrete walls absorb the signal. In order for the signal to be available at the edges of each floor, where patrons work in cubicles or chairs, more networking equipment, such as routers and cabling, was needed.
“Because of the way the building is made, putting in that infrastructure is difficult because you have to cut through the concrete floors,” Shelton said.

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By Claire Cushman
02/20/08
Contract magazine, a national interior design publication, has awarded the Friedman Study Center a top design award in the education category. The study center, which opened in January 2007, has already received gold medals for “Commercial Interior Design” and “Commercial Construction/Renovation” in the November 2007 issue of Rhode Island Monthly Magazine.
The New York City-based Architecture Research Office, which conducted the renovation, submitted papers detailing the new study center to a jury at Contract, said Brent Lang ’04, the library’s communication and marketing specialist. In Contract’s article about the award, panelists commented on the architect’s innovative use of materials, their effective use of a small budget, the “bright, energized, environment” and how the “integration of graphics and ideas brought a fresh new perspective.” The magazine praised the center’s combination of spaces for socializing and studying, calling it the “vibrant heart of the campus.”
According to a Feb. 13 press release, University Librarian Harriette Hemmasi said that while she is grateful to the panelists at Contract for recognizing the center, she is “most pleased that it is such a tremendous hit with the toughest jury of all – our students.” The award shows that “the Friedman plays an important role in the experience of all Brown students,” she said.
“It’s wonderful to get this kind of attention,” said Barbara Schulz, the library’s head of business and facilities services.
The magazine discussed the project with architects Stephen Cassell and Kim Yao in its article about the award. The architects told Contract that the idea behind the furnishings and use of space was to create a setting “for all of the activities that make up college life – flirting, hiding, creating and gossiping in addition to memorizing, cramming and discussing.” The architects named the flat, upholstered seats “flirtstones,” and the light-filled seating area the “tanning lounge.”
Lang remembers the Sciences Library basement as dank and dingy when he was a student as dank and dingy. “There was never anybody in there. The only plus side was that you could find a place to sit.” In the past, the Rockefeller Library typically got twice as many visits as the SciLi, he said. Last semester, the Friedman received 250,000 visits, whereas the Rock received about 200,000.
Not all students agree with the magazine’s evaluation of the study center. Jeff Sanford ’10 said he found it “impossible to concentrate because there are so many people. It seems like a lot of people just come to pass out on the couch in their sweatpants.”
“It’s like a chicken coop,” said Erik Font ’10.
Kemisha Williams ’08 said she studied in the basement before the renovation. “But now it’s too crowded,” she said.

By Colin Chazen
02/15/08
Comprising over 100 volumes and covering every country that issues stamps as postage, the John Hay Library’s George S. Champlin Memorial Stamp Collection is one of the world’s largest collections of international postage – and it’s about to get even bigger.
The University received two grants from the Champlin Foundations last month, which fund an array of projects on the condition that they benefit the public. A grant of $50,000, received annually, will be used for the continued support and expansion of the Champlin Stamp Collection. An additional grant of $200,000 will be used to fund display cases that will be placed inside the Hay’s reading room, and will increase the library’s exhibit capacity, according to the Library’s Web site.
The display cases are part of a proposed $4,000,000 renovation to open up the Hay Reading Room and restore it to its original size and purpose. The Reading Room currently houses Library staff offices and materials waiting to be processed, with the remaining one-third of the room open only to those working with the Library’s special collections. Once the renovation is complete, the special collections reading room will be moved and the Hay reading room will again be open to students seeking a quiet, elegant place to study.
“(The reading room) could be wonderful, as it once was and was intended to be,” said Harriette Hemmasi, the University librarian.
Though the proposed renovations are still millions of dollars in fundraising away, the installment of the new display cases should begin later this year, according to Hemmasi. The display space inside the Hay is currently restricted to a small exhibit room and a scattering of cases, an amount “inadequate for the amount of material in the Library,” Hemmasi said. The Library houses more than 2.5 million items.
Beginning in 1960, George S. Champlin, the president of a family-owned jewelry manufacturing company in Providence, began donating to the University a collection of stamps from countries around the world. He added to the collection almost every year, and by the time of his death in 1979, it had grown from six to 90 volumes.
“This was his great passion,” said Brent Lang ’04, the Library’s communication and marketing specialist. “He’d ask all his employees, when they went to various countries, to look for stamps.”
The Champlin Foundations’ primary goal is to “fund tax exempt organizations within Rhode Island that have the greatest impact on the broadest possible segment of the population,” according to its Web site. The foundation has a long history of supporting the University Library, and was awarded the William Williams award in 1997, the Library’s highest honor, according to a press release on the library’s Web site.
“We’re so grateful for the grant,” Hemmasi said. “The foundation has been a great supporter of Brown.”

By Jing Yi Hon
02/15/08
Alums who miss the familiar smell of dusty old books from the Rockefeller Library have cause for celebration – University library cards are now available to alums at a one-time cost of $15.
The service came into effect on Jan. 1 and will offer borrowing privileges free of charge to alums, according to the library’s Web site. Due to copyright issues, electronic books and journals will be restricted to in-library access only.
In the past, access to borrowing privileges had been available only to alums who paid the $75 annual membership fee and to non-alums who paid $400 annually.
This new adjustment in fees doesn’t affect fees for the general public.
“We thought it’d be nice if we could offer it as a sort of a promotion, or PR, for alums to connect with the University,” said Florence Doksansky, associate University librarian.
Doksansky hopes that the release of these new library cards will increase alumni awareness of the different programs offered by the library, including the “Friends of the Library” program, which organizes different talks and events regularly for members.
Only 33 alums have applied for the alumni library cards thus far. But Doksansky is optimistic about the service’s popularity – The library has sent letters to only about 100 alums since the program was launched, she said.
And she has reason to feel confident. “I know that there are interesting events happening in the library and in (the) John Hay (Library),” said Ari Savitzky ’06, a former Herald opinions editor and Providence resident.
“It seems like a great deal,” he said. “I haven’t been to get the card, but I’m going to make a point to do it.”

The Susan P. and Richard A. Friedman Study Center has been awarded “Top Design 2007 in Education” by Contract Magazine. Calling it “the vibrant heart of campus,” the magazine lauded Friedman’s mixture of spaces for study and socializing and eclectic design. Panelists heaped praise on the work by New York-based Architecture Research Office commenting on the “innovative use of materials. Bright, energized, environment. They did a lot with a little budget. Integration of graphics and ideas brought a fresh new perspective.”

“The Friedman Center is a bold and innovative addition to Brown’s campus,” said Harriette Hemmasi, Joukowsky Family University Librarian. “I am grateful to the panelists at Contract for recognizing and rewarding the hard work that went into its creative design and for selecting the Friedman Center to receive this honor. While I am happy that the Friedman Center has been heralded for its vibrant color scheme and seamless blend of spaces for study and hanging out, I am most pleased that it is such a tremendous hit with the toughest jury of all – our students. The packed computer clusters, crowded café area, and throngs of students studying independently or in groups are a familiar sight on any night of the week. To have an award is further proof that Friedman plays an important part in the experience of all Brown students.”

This is the second major design award for the Friedman Study Center, which received gold medals in “Commercial Interior Design” and “Commercial Construction/Renovation” in November’s issue of Rhode Island Monthly Magazine. The 24-hour study center is a locus of social and scholarly life on campus, receiving nearly a quarter of a million visits in the past semester alone.

A national publication from Nielsen Business Publications, USA, Contract Magazine covers the commercial design industry. To read the full text of the article, please visit: http://www.contractconnected.com/0108/index.php?section=2&article=7&page=0

The Brown University Library and the Department of Italian Studies are pleased to announce that the launch of Garibaldi and the Risorgimento, a web-based archive for the study of one the protagonists of Italian reunification and 19th century Europe. The centerpiece of this one-of-a-kind resource is a digitized version of the Garibaldi Panorama, one of the finest surviving examples of panoramic art. The archive can be accessed at http://dl.lib.brown.edu/garibaldi/.

Completed in 1860 and donated to Brown by the late Dr. James Walter Smith in 2005, the Garibaldi Panorama measures 4 ½ feet high and 273 feet long and is one of the longest paintings in the world. The Garibaldi Panorama isa “moving” panorama, meaning that audiences watched as illustrations of Garibaldi’s life were cranked out before them, including such seminal moments as his involvement in the Italian Risorgimento, escape to South America, failed defense of the Roman Republic in 1849, and triumphal expedition to Sicily, in 1860. In order to replicate this experience, Brown Library staff pieced together individual digital images of the painting into a seamless whole. Users can zoom in and out on specific scenes, listen to a voiceover narration based on the manuscript, in both Italian and English, and read explanatory notes about events depicted in the panorama. Accompanying the panorama is a collection of some 400 prints from illustrated newspapers that chronicle the movement for Italian Unification. The original manuscript narration has also been digitized. Enhancements to the site are ongoing.

“The panorama is a unique artifact, both as a historical source on Garibaldi and his times, and a fascinating specimen from the pre-history of cinema,” said Massimo Riva, Professor of Italian Studies. “An international team of scholars is currently working with the Brown Library to create a multidisciplinary resource, centered on the panorama and other visual materials, which will include historical essays, annotations and bibliographical references. Eventually, the site will be a tremendously valuable tool for scholars and students.”

“Garibaldi and the Italian Risorgimento is an invaluable resource for students of history, media, and popular culture,” said Harriette Hemmasi, Joukowsky Family University Librarian. “This is a testament to the ways that digital technologies have revolutionized how rare and archival materials can be accessed, utilized, and integrated into research and teaching. I am so pleased to be able to share this superb example of panoramic art with virtual visitors from around the world. My hopes are that it will encourage students and scholars to engage with the history of this time in a more dynamic manner and will inspire new lines of inquiry and research.”

The Library’s Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, the Department of Italian Studies and Vincent Buonanno, Class of ’66, contributed to the project’s funding. Original manuscript material is drawn from the private collection of Dr. David Kertzer.