William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library | |
---|---|
39°59′57″N83°00′53″W / 39.99925°N 83.01485°W | |
Location | Columbus, Ohio, United States |
Type | Academic |
Established | 1913 |
Branch of | Ohio State University Libraries |
Collection | |
Size | 1.25 million (on-site) |
Other information | |
Public transit access | 1, 2, 8, 22, 31, Night Owl |
Website | Thompson Library |
The William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library (commonly referred to as the Thompson Library) is the main library at Ohio State University's Columbus campus. It is the university's largest library and houses its main stacks, special collections, rare books and manuscripts, and many departmental subject libraries. The library was originally built in 1912, and was renovated in 1951, 1977, and 2009. It is named in honor of the university's fifth president, William Oxley Thompson.
The Ohio State University's University Libraries manages 15 locations on the Columbus campus, of which the Thompson Library is the largest. [1] In addition to housing the main stacks and serving as the central research library for the entire campus, the Thompson Library is home to many of the subject libraries in the humanities and social sciences, as well as reference, special collections, rare books and manuscripts, journals, and general interest periodicals. Departmental subject libraries include literature, foreign language by region, linguistics, philosophy, religion, theater, anthropology, history, sociology, and political science. Some subject libraries, such as science and engineering, architecture, agriculture, fine arts, law, health sciences, veterinary sciences, and geology, are housed in the university's other libraries. [2]
Of the system's 5.8 million volumes, the Thompson Library holds about 1.25 million volumes, including 250,000 special collections volumes. [3] [4] Additional book storage is provided by the university's off-site Book Depository, which also houses the University Archives.
When The Ohio State University opened in 1873, the library was located on the first floor of University Hall. In 1884, it was moved to the building's third floor, and in 1893 it was moved to the newly constructed Orton Hall. As early as 1897, university librarians voiced their need for a dedicated library building, and this eventually resulted in the construction of the Main Library (as the Thompson Library was originally known) in 1910. [5]
The original Beaux-Arts library building was built between 1910 and 1912. In 1910, the architectural firm Allen & Collens of Boston was selected through a design competition. Later that year, the architects submitted a formal proposal, which was accepted by OSU's Board of Trustees, and then a call for bids was put out for construction. Ground was broken on December 23, 1910, and construction was completed two years later on December 18, 1912. Following completion, books were moved, and the library was officially open to the university community on January 6, 1913. Since the initial construction, the library has been renovated three times, in 1951, 1977, and 2009. [6]
The library's first expansion was built in 1947–1951. [7] A 10-story tower was constructed for the library stacks, and single-story extensions were built north and south of the east facade. It was completed on June 2, 1951. [6] In the same year, the Main Library was renamed the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library in honor of the university's fifth president, William Oxley Thompson, who was in office when the original building was built. [5]
The library was again expanded in the 1970s, when a modern addition was built to extend the west wing. It was completed on January 5, 1977. [6]
The most recent renovation to the Thompson Library was a $108.7 million project that began on January 10, 2007, and was completed in the summer of 2009. [4] It was designed by the Gund Partnership with Acock Associates Architects as the architect of record. [8] The library's original east facade and Grand Reading Room were restored, while the 1977 west wing addition and 1951 north and south extensions were demolished. [4] A new 91,000 sq ft (8,500 m2) west wing was built, bringing the library floor space to 306,000 sq ft (28,400 m2). [7] Nearly 1000 seats were added to the library, but shelf space was decreased, so many volumes were moved to other locations. The renovation focused on opening up the library space to natural light and creating a more coherent space. Features added in the renovation include a new West Atrium and Buckeye Reading Room, glass walls for the lower floors of the 1951 book tower, exhibition space for the library's special collections, a café, and a ground-floor east–west passageway that extends the Oval's "Long Walk" through the building. The renovation was opened to the public on September 24, 2009. [4] [8] [7] [9]
Various art pieces were included in the restoration. The written-word piece VERSE was installed on the floor of the Buckeye Reading Room, [10] and 49 metal plates called "Foundation Stones" were set throughout the library, featuring engravings in a wide range of writing and graphic notation systems. [11] [12] Additionally, a new replica of the Winged Victory of Samothrace statue was commissioned and installed in the Grand Reading Room to replace an earlier replica from 1913 which had fallen into disrepair and was removed in 1959. [13]
The 2009 renovation received several awards, including a 2009 AIA Columbus Merit Award, [14] a 2009 ABC Excellence in Construction Eagle Award, [15] a 2009 Columbus Landmarks Foundation James B. Recchie Design Award, [16] [7] a 2010 SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture Renovation/Adaptive Reuse Special Citation, [17] and a 2011 AIA/ALA Library Building Award. [9]
The Ohio State University is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. The university consists of sixteen colleges and offers over 400 degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The main campus has grown into the fifth-largest university campus by enrollment in the United States, with nearly 50,000 undergraduate students and nearly 15,000 graduate students. The university also operates regional campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark, and Wooster.
German Village is a historic neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, just south of the city's downtown. It was settled in the early-to-mid-19th century by a large number of German immigrants, who at one time comprised as much as a third of the city's entire population. It became a city historic district in 1960 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, becoming the list's largest privately funded preservation district, and in 2007, was made a Preserve America Community by the federal government. In 1980, its boundaries increased, and today it is one of the world's premier historic restorations.
Ohio Stadium is an American football stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on the campus of Ohio State University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is also the site for the university's Spring Commencement ceremonies each May. Common nicknames for the stadium include "The Horseshoe", "The Shoe", and "The House That Harley Built".
1 Spadina Crescent, also known as the Daniels Building, is an academic building that houses the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building is situated in the centre of a roundabout of Spadina Avenue, north of College Street. Its location provides a picturesque vista looking north up Spadina Avenue; it is an axial view terminus for Spadina Avenue.
Howard Dwight Smith was an architect most known for his designs of Ohio Stadium for which he was awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Public Building Design.
William Oxley Thompson, D.D. was the fifth President of The Ohio State University.
SMBH, Inc. is a full-service structural engineering firm located in Columbus, Ohio. Providing structural engineering services for architects, contractors and building owners, SMBH, Inc. has experience designing educational facilities, medical centers, courthouses and commercial and residential buildings. Since 1972, SMBH, Inc. has served the architectural and construction communities in Ohio and surrounding states. SMBH, Inc. has worked with architectural firms such as Graham Gund's Gund Partnership, Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, Peter Eisenman, and Robert A.M. Stern.
Florence Kenyon Hayden Rector (1882–1973) is known as the first licensed female architect in the state of Ohio, entering Ohio State University in 1901. She was also the only female architect practicing in central Ohio between 1900 and 1930. She was also active in the women's suffrage movement.
Stephen J. Carter, AIA, NCARB, LF'82 is an American architect.
Knowlton Hall, located in Columbus, Ohio, United States, is the current home for the three disciplines that comprise the Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture (KSA) at The Ohio State University. The building was completed in 2004. The School of Architecture offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and City and Regional Planning. Knowlton Hall serves as the replacement for Ives Hall, the previous home of the school of architecture which was demolished in July 2002. The namesake of Knowlton Hall is Austin E. "Dutch" Knowlton. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1931 with a Bachelor's in Architectural Engineering and provided a $10 million donation that spearheaded the funding for the creation of the building.
The Ohio History Center is a history museum and research center in Columbus, Ohio. It is the primary museum for Ohio's history, and is the headquarters, offices, and library of the Ohio History Connection. The building also houses Ohio's state archives, also managed by the Ohio History Connection. The museum is located at the Ohio State Fairgrounds, site of the Ohio State Fair, and a short distance north of downtown. The history center opened in 1970 as the Ohio Historical Center, moving the museum from its former site by the Ohio State University. The building was designed by Ireland & Associates in the Brutalist style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with the Ohio Village in 2023.
Simons Architects (SA) is a fifteen-person architecture, design, and planning firm located in Portland, Maine.
Columbus City Hall is the city hall of Columbus, Ohio, in the city's downtown Civic Center. It contains the offices of the city's mayor, auditor, and treasurer, and the offices and chambers of Columbus City Council.
Ballinger is an interdisciplinary design firm, one of the first in the United States to merge the disciplines of architecture and engineering into a professional practice. The firm's single office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania houses a staff of over 250 people. Ballinger is one of the largest architectural firms in the Philadelphia region and known for its work in academic, healthcare, corporate, and research planning and design.
Indianola Junior High School is a historic school building located on 19th Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. The building opened in 1929 after the school moved out of its previous location on 16th Avenue. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Atlas Building, originally the Columbus Savings & Trust Building, is a high-rise building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, built in 1905 and designed by Frank Packard. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The building has seen two major renovations, in 1982 and 2014.
The Main Library of the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) system is located in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, United States. The public library is the largest in the library system and holds approximately 300,000 volumes. It includes numerous rooms, including separate spaces for children, teens, an adult reading room, newspaper room, auditorium, gallery, gift shop, and a cafe. The third floor includes a computer lab and houses the Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society.
Kliment Halsband Architects (KHA) was founded in New York City in 1972 by Robert Kliment and Frances Halsband. The New York City based firm is known for their architecture, master planning, interior design, adaptive reuse, historic preservation and transformation of institutional buildings. KHA's work expertise includes cultural, educational, governmental, and most recently healthcare buildings. In 2022, Kliment Halsband Architects joined forces with Perkins Eastman to become "Kliment Halsband Architects—A Perkins Eastman Studio."
The architecture of Columbus, Ohio is represented by numerous notable architects' works, individually notable buildings, and a wide range of styles. Yost & Packard, the most prolific architects for much of the city's history, gave the city much of its eclectic and playful designs at a time when architecture tended to be busy and vibrant.
77 North Front Street is a municipal office building of Columbus, Ohio, in the city's downtown Civic Center. The building, originally built as the Central Police Station in 1930, operated in that function until 1991. After about two decades of vacancy, the structure was renovated for city agency use in 2011.