Harold F. Johnson Library: the Heart of the Campus
“The Library proper is far more than the ordinary conception of a library. It is the educative aorta of the College. It should be by far, in every sense, the major building on the campus…. It should not be monumental, but it must be beautiful and alive, with the promise of the excitement of learning, with the civilized pleasure of being with other people who are learning, and with being in the midst of treasures of intellect and culture.”
Patterson, Franklin, and Charles R. Longsworth. The Making of a College : Plans for a New Departure in Higher Education. M.I.T. Press, 1966.
Several students worked on the project throughout the fall semester. Rachel Beckwith, Director of the Library, and Lorenzo Conte, Gallery Director, helped them to refine their ideas collaboratively toward how we envisioned the quote. The result is that 2 students, Kat Brown (Hampshire Fall ’23) and Catherine Kazel (Mt. Holyoke College, graduating this May 2024) are spending this spring semester making their ideas come to fruition!
See below for details! The 2 components of the project will be installed on the first floor of the Library by the end of summer, so keep an eye out for that soon! And, in the meantime, Kat Brown designed T-shirts to help raise funds to pay for the project. You can buy a T-shirt in the Hampstore or online here.
Thank you for helping us to fund this wonderful student project that will celebrate Hampshire’s history and the continued importance of the Harold F. Johnson Library as the heart of the campus.
