Georgia Southern University Celebrates Expansion of Henderson Library

January 21, 2009

Georgia Southern University celebrated the expansion and renovation of the Zach S. Henderson Library with a ribbon cutting today in the library atrium.

The ribbon cutting culminated a major capital project that began in the summer of 2004. The $22.75 million expansion/renovation added 101,000 square feet to the library’s original 132,000.

‘It is tremendous to see this dream come true and be so enthusiastically received by students and faculty,” said Bede Mitchell, dean of the library.

‘This is a critical project to the university and has significance beyond what most people can imagine,” said University President Bruce Grube. ‘When we can improve the major academic resource on campus, we can improve everything we’re doing academically.”

The library has come a long way since Georgia Southern’s days as First District A&M School  when the first library was housed in a small room in the Marvin Pittman Administration Building and contained 1,000 volumes, pamphlets and bulletins, and 50 magazines and periodicals. The Rosenwald Library opened on Sweetheart Circle in 1938, and the Zach S. Henderson Library opened in today’s location in 1975.

The library Georgia Southern enjoys today opened to the public on September 22, 2008. It houses more than 600,000 books and bound periodicals, 890,000 microform units, almost 750,000 government documents, and more than 46,000 electronic journals. The library has more than 300 hard-wired computers, and wireless is available throughout the building.

‘We offer attractive and comfortable spaces conducive to group or individual study, a wide range of learning technologies and traditional library collections, and personnel who have the expertise to assist patrons in finding information resources best suited to their needs,” Mitchell said.

Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University, offers 116 degree programs serving nearly 18,000 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. The University, one of Georgia’s largest, is a top choice of Georgia’s HOPE scholars and is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit: www.georgiasouthern.edu.

Zach S. Henderson Library

Expansion/Renovation Fact Sheet

• The Zach S. Henderson Library is as large as a city block.

• The expansion/renovation began in summer 2004, and the expanded portion of the library opened to the public on September 22, 2008.

• The $22.75 million project added 101,000 square feet to the original 132,000.

• The expansion/renovation more than doubled the library’s seating capacity, to over 1,900 seats. The library also has 29 group study rooms.

• Henderson Library now offers more than 600,000 books and bound periodicals, 890,000 microform units, almost 750,000 government documents, and more than 46,000 electronic journals. The library has more than 300 hard-wired computers, and wireless is available throughout the building.

• The Automated Retrieval Collection (ARC) is currently capable of storing about 800,000 items in 5,848 separate bins that are stacked 45 feet high. While most of the library collection is shelved in publicly-accessible stacks, the ARC guarantees more than seven decades worth of collection growth space without having to reduce public seating or store materials outside the library.

• During fall and spring terms, the library is open 143 out of 168 hours each week. It is closed only from 10 p.m. on Friday to 9 a.m. on Saturday, and from 10 p.m. on Saturday to noon on Sunday.

• The expansion/renovation project was carried out by McKnight Construction of Augusta, Ga., the same contractors that completed the original Henderson Library building.