Fleet Library at RISD

When FleetBoston Financial Corporation donated an Italian Renaissance-stylebanking hall and the floor above it to RISD in 2002, the gift presented both a remark-able opportunity and a true challenge. The college had been in search of a site toexpand its overcrowded library for over a decade, and faculty had repeatedly movedthe need to the top of the priority list. The proffered banking hall across the riverfrom the RISD Auditorium was breathtaking, designed in 1917 by the renowned archi-tectural firm York & Sawyer and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.But clearly it was in need of a comprehensive design solution and substantial reno-vations to transform it into a vibrant art and design library for the 21st century (seepages 2–3).

Thanks to the dedication of the many people who collaborated to redesign the spaceand raise funds for the renovation, the Fleet Library at RISD now offers students,faculty, alumni and the public ready access to its specialized collections in a majes-tic, yet warm and welcoming space. Through the use of innovative design, RISD hascreated a stunning new home for its library equal to the caliber and scope of itsextraordinary collections.

contents

Rhode Island School of Design

2 design + renovation

4 main floor

8 balcony

10 second floor

14 context

15 access + membership

16 thank you

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highlights of new facility

• 55,000 square feet of usable space (versus 14,000 sf in the old library)

• 90% of collection on open stacks (versus 65% in the old library)

• a versatile Circulation Center with a distinctive, user-friendly design

• a multifaceted Study Pavilion with flexible workspaces

• Graham Visual Resources Center with 685,000 holdings and dedicatedviewing rooms

• Archives and Special Collections in climate-controlled storage, with a large, inviting reading room

• Dale Artists’ Books Reading Room, thefirst space dedicated to the study andstorage of this exceptional collection

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BEYOND THE BANKTo handle this sensitive assignment in adaptive reuse, President

Mandle appointed a Design Review Committee (see sidebar p.3)

to work with the Boston-based architecture studio Office dA

in transforming the grand banking hall into a highly accessible,

user-friendly library. RISD addressed the significant funding

required for the renovation by making the library a key compo-

nent of the Future by Design capital campaign, one of the largest

comprehensive fundraising efforts completed by a college of art

and design. Enthusiasm for the project quickly gained momen-

tum, especially after the decision was made to transform the

upper floors of the building into an appealing new residence

hall for 500 students. In the four years following the FleetBoston

gift, additional contributions from individuals, corporations and

foundations (see back page) helped meet the total project cost of

$11.2 million. Support from Rhode Island Congressman Patrick

J. Kennedy and the Small Business Administration also proved

pivotal in helping RISD to retrofit the space.

From the beginning, office dA principals Nader Tehrani BARCH

’86 and Mónica Ponce de León understood that creating a con-

temporary library within a classical building housing almost

a quarter of RISD’s students would have “a radical impact on

student life.” To make sure that impact would be a positive one,

the project team at Office dA undertook “a vast collaboration”

with the design committee to address all aspects of the complex

program in a distinctly RISD manner.

“We wanted to acknowledge the historic value of the space but

also the era we’re living in today,” Tehrani says. “From an archi-

tectural point of view, there were many issues, not least of which

was: How do you bring a space of this historic value up to code

in terms of accessibility, acoustics, lighting, seating and so forth,

but do it invisibly?”

Office dA also sought to do this sensibly and sensitively, paying

close attention to RISD’s fundamental values in upholding sus-

tainability, honest design, care with historic preservation, respect

for tradition and the innovative use of materials. Faced with the

need to maximize the space available for stacks, seating and study

carrels, the studio also wanted to create a sense of intimacy and

comfort within the cavernous hall.

“At a certain point in the design process it became clear that we

could not fulfill the square footage requirements of the entire

program within this existing space unless some type of pavilion

or larger furnishings were placed in the banking hall,” Tehrani

says. With that in mind, the studio conceived of an innovative

combination of structural solutions, custom-designed furnishings

and a clever floor plan — all as a means of making 90,000 volumes

accessible in open stacks and providing comfortable seating for

more than 200 visitors in the main reading room alone.

The two primary structural solutions — the Study Pavilion and

the Circulation Center (see page 4) — also create intimate spaces

and add a contemporary edge to the interior, as does the selection

of materials and furnishings (see right). All in all, Tehrani notes,

“a good project is the result of a good client, not necessarily a

good designer. If people appreciate the new library as much as

we hope they will, that will be the reason why.”

GOING GREENIn developing its materials palette, Office dA balanced issues of

sustainability with strict budget constraints and a desire to com-

plement and accentuate the hall’s ornate architectural details.

The studio chose durable cork flooring tiles, for instance, for

their acoustic properties along with their environmentally neutral

impact and aesthetic appeal; with a naturally occurring surface

design review committee

2003 – 2005

from Office dA:

Nader Tehrani BARCH ’86 principal

Mónica Ponce de León principal

Daniel Gallagherproject architect

Arthur Changproject manager

Sean Bacceiproject team member

from RISD:

Dima Abulhusn ’06 ARstudent

Chris Bardt BARCH ’83 associate professor of Architecture

Deborah Bright professor of Photography

Christina Hartley director of Special Events + Donor Relations

Nick Heywood ’08 IAstudent

Brian Janes director of Residence Life

Fran Gast associate vice president of Facilities Planning (through March 2006)

James Hall MLA ’94 director of Campus Design + Exhibitions

Paul Mullen construction project director

Maureen O'Brien curator of Painting + SculptureThe RISD Museum

Liz O'Neil director of Design MarketingCollaborative

Joan Ress Reeves honorary trustee

Carol Terry director of Library Services

John Terry dean of Fine Arts

core materials used in interior design

CNC-routed Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF)

Expanko cork flooring

Russian birch plywood

brushed cold-rolled steel

Glass Fiber-Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG)

tempered glass with 3M translucent film

pattern akin to the swirls of the marble columns, the dark coffee-

colored cork and speckled lighter tiles complement the stately,

blush-colored columns and, at the same time, provide an effective

contrast of classical and contemporary materials. Cost, durability

and newly rigorous fire codes also played into the team’s choice

of medium-density fiberboard as the material of choice to build

the two distinctive structural solutions or “architectural interven-

tions.” Office dA designed height-adjustable workstations for the

periphery of these structures to address ergonomic issues as well.

FURNISHINGSAs a leader in art and design education, RISD is committed to

showcasing examples of top-quality design throughout campus,

including in the new library. Among the new furnishings selected

for the Fleet Library at RISD are benches on the balcony and in

the Graham Visual Resources Center designed and built by

Tucker Houlihan MFA ’02 FD, a RISD faculty member and tech-

nician. The Knoll chairs in the “living room” area of the main

reading room are upholstered with Graffito from Pallas Textiles’

Jottings Collection, inspired by the designs of Graphic Design

Professor Jan Baker. And many interior details — from the

Reference and Circulation desks to the exhibit cases and the

intricately milled panels on the sides of the pavilion — were

designed by Office dA. Throughout the library visitors will also

appreciate chairs designed by Dakota Jackson and Mies van der

Rohe, tables and chairs by Knoll, workstations by Steelcase and

lamps by Tolomeo Mega.

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“RISD jumped at the opportunity to revitalize one of downtown Providence’s most

beautiful buildings as our new library. Our distinctive collections truly deserve the type

of preservation and presentation this new facility affords.” — Roger Mandle, president, RISD

Milled panels on the Study Pavilion subtly reveal

an eclectic list of artists, architects, art historians

and others representing the fields taught at RISD.

Office dA Principal Nader Tehrani BARCH ’86

helped create a palette of contemporary materi-

als that plays off the classical interior, including

bolted MDF planks referencing the coffering on

the vaulted ceiling and upholstery inspired by

the work of Graphic Design Professor Jan Baker.

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ESTHER CHESTER ENTRANCEWAYOnce a scholarship recipient herself,

Esther Chester ’41 AE has consistently

given back to RISD through the College

Annual Fund and several planned gifts.

Throughout her life she has pursued

dual passions for painting and piano

playing, and met her husband Sam

through a mutual love of music. To

honor Esther’s creative spirit and the

role RISD has played in her life, the cou-

ple made a leadership gift in support

of the innovative living and learning

center at 15 Westminster Street, which

is helping today’s students to have as

“wonderful” an experience at RISD as

she had almost 70 years ago.

CIRCULATION CENTERLocated to the right of the main

entrance, the Circulation Center offers

a convenient area for general informa-

tion, books on reserve and check-out.

Library staff members are available here

to answer questions and provide assis-

tance. Industrial Design alumni Aidan

Petrie MID ’85 and Stephen Lane BID

’85 of ITEM New Product Development

in Providence provided funding for this

innovative structure, which houses sev-

eral staff offices and is topped with an

open weave of fiberboard planks that

reference the coffering of the hall’s

vaulted ceiling.

GOLDBERG CLASSROOMThanks to the generosity of Stephen

and Diana Goldberg, parents of Brian

Goldberg MARCH ’00, this enclosed

room offers space within the library

for instruction and class discussions.

With the Reference and Readers’

Services offices nearby, library staff

members are easily able to offer

research assistance to students

and others as needed.

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“LIVING ROOM”+ BEYONDWith 500 RISD students housed on

the floors above and no student union

on campus, the library was designed to

function in part as a site where students

could gather outside the studio to relax

and exchange ideas. Office dA created a

sense of intimacy within the 114 x 180-

foot hall by clustering furnishings in

this “living room” area and other less

open spaces. From couches and lounge

chairs to large rectangular tables and

chairs, the expansive main reading

room offers a wide variety of seating

options and levels of privacy in close

proximity to its open stacks.

STUDY PAVILIONA key component of the main reading

room, the Study Pavilion maximizes

usable space by offering different sizes

and configurations of work spaces

under, around and on top of its stepped

structure. The steps themselves also

offer bleacher-style seating and an

informal stage for readings and per-

formances. A group study room made

possible by the generosity of alumnus

Paul M. Warner ’58 ID and another,

funded by the LEF Foundation, are

tucked underneath the pavilion,

offering private areas for small group

discussions and collaborative work.Westminster Street

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Upholstered chairs in the “living room” area

and broad stairs on the Study Pavilion behind it

offer distinctly different types of seating. With

its interesting shape, brushed steel surface

and layered construction, the large desk in the

Circulation Center is eye-catching and eminently

practical. Study carrels under the pavilion

provide privacy and visual appeal.

“With campus housing on the floors above, the library will function like the students’

living room. It will be a much more social space – a central part of their lives.”

— design architect Nader Tehrani BARCH ’86, principal, Office dA

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VIDEO VIEWING ROOMSThe new library offers two rooms dedi-

cated to previewing videotapes, laser

discs and DVDs. Its growing collection

of more than 2,000 titles encompasses

the fields of animation, poetry, drama,

experimental video and art documenta-

tion as well as musical performances

and theater productions. RISD faculty

members may borrow videos for class-

room use, but otherwise the collection

is available exclusively for viewing in

these two rooms.

REFERENCE DESK/READERS’SERVICESCentrally located near the Circulation

Center, the Reference Desk is staffed at

all times to help visitors with research

and related questions. Reference and

Readers’ Services librarians offer assis-

tance with online catalog searches, inter-

library loan requests and locating mate-

rials from the open stacks. They are also

available for individual consultations

regarding in-depth research and for

individual and group orientation

sessions on using the library.

MACAULAY CONFERENCE ROOMThe author of The Way Things Work and

dozens of other bestsellers, David

Macaulay ’69 AR supported the library

renovation because he recognizes the

fundamental value of a resource like

this to RISD students. The Macaulay

Conference Room, with its multimedia

presentation and video viewing equip-

ment, was a natural for funding by the

veteran of many campus meetings, who

has served as a trustee, department

head and faculty member. As National

Campaign Chair of the Future by

Design, he led by example in both

giving and helping to raise funds for

the library, scholarships and other

fundraising priorities.

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REEVES OFFICE OF THEDIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICESEasy to locate, this corner office makes

the director readily accessible to stu-

dents, other visitors and library staff

members. Longtime RISD Trustee Joan

Ress Reeves, a national advocate for

libraries and now an honorary trustee

at RISD, provided funding for this space

in memory of her husband, William E.

Reeves, and his parents Joseph W. and

Anne Gordon Reeves. In supporting the

director’s office, Reeves also wanted to

pay tribute to Library Director Carol

Terry, whom she helped hire in 1987.

For over a decade, the two have worked

together to find a viable solution to the

library’s space needs.

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Professor of Philosophy Yuriko Saito (shown here

at the computer) finds the electronic and other

resources available to be invaluable, both for

class preparation and her own research. While

some students prefer to work at large tables

with task lighting, others make themselves

comfortable on the stepped Study Pavilion or

at workstations set at various heights.

“The grand architecture and sheer exuberance of the space beautifully complement our

collections and inspire our students’ creativity.” — Carol Terry, Director of Library Services, RISD

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VAN BEUREN PERIODICALSREADING BALCONYOverlooking the main reading room,

this long strip of balcony offers an

ideal spot to sit and browse through

American and international magazines

and journals covering the latest develop-

ments in art, design, architecture and

culture. Thanks to the generosity of the

van Beuren Charitable Foundation, a

family foundation established by John

A. and Hope H. van Beuren and their

family, this attractive space is furnished

with comfortable lounge chairs, study

tables and well-designed shelving to

house current and recent issues of

approximately 400 periodicals titles.

STUDY TERRACE/BRIDGE Support from the Pevaroff Cohn Family

Foundation allowed for the top surface

of the Study Pavilion to provide an alter-

native type of seating configuration,

with a series of large tables and chairs

that accommodate up to 35 students

and other visitors. At xx feet above the

ground floor, it was built to the same

level as the balcony and provides an

additional means of access to the peri-

odicals collection — via a short glass

bridge designed by Office dA.

1 2 3 BIERMAN CONFERENCE ROOMRecognizing the value of conference

space for staff members, interior archi-

tect and RISD alumnus Bruce Bierman

BARCH ’76 funded the Bierman

Conference Room, a lovely corner space

with large windows overlooking the

Providence River. This lounge/meeting

room offers a ceiling-mounted projector

and an adjacent restroom, making it

perfect for small group gatherings,

presentations and the preparation

of exhibitions.

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“As a graduate student I’m really thankful to have these resources.

To be able to keep up with technology, books, videos — it’s fantastic.”

— Roger Wei MFA ’07 FD

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The van Beuren Periodicals Reading Balcony

provides efficient shelving for storing and dis-

playing roughly 400 journals and magazines.

Here, students can find a comfortable perch

with a view of the Providence River and RISD

buildings beyond. Tables and chairs atop the

Study Pavilion allow for as many as 35 visitors

to take a seat overlooking the main floor.

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ARCHIVES + SPECIALCOLLECTIONSFormerly housed at separate sites,

RISD’s Archives and Special Collections

have now been united in space designed

to accommodate their holdings. Support

from The Champlin Foundations pro-

vided for strict temperature and humidi-

ty controls to govern the shared storage

area for these sensitive materials, which

are kept in boxes, flat files and a safe

to protect especially valuable archival

materials and rare books.

1 2 ARCHIVES + SPECIALCOLLECTIONS READING ROOMAmong the diverse materials in the

Archives are administrative records,

biographical files, 19th- and early 20th-

century photographs, audio- and video-

tapes, films, scrapbooks, historic publi-

cations (including student newspapers)

and several collections of personal

papers of individuals associated with

RISD. The 12,000 important and rare

books in Special Collections include

the Lowthorpe Collection of Landscape

Architecture books, late-19th- and early-

20th-century design portfolios, an

archive of graphic design and illustra-

tion holdings, and research materials in

the decorative arts. Since The Champlin

Foundations funded a dedicated Archives

and Special Collections Reading Room

— replete with large tables, plenty of

chairs and the 1937 walnut reference

desk from the old library — students

and other visitors can now fully explore

everything these lesser-known, non-

circulating collections have to offer.

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“When our students use the library, it’s not really about finding the one book that

will essentially ‘write’ their paper for them; it’s more about having their feelers

out for a lot of different things.” — Laurie Whitehill Chong ’70 IL, Special Collections Librarian

MURPHY FACULTY COMPUTER LABThanks to RISD Trustee Stuart Murphy

’64 IL and his wife Nancy, the Murphy

Faculty Computer Lab offers a dedicated

space within the library for specialized

computer training, individual work and

class preparation. As a visual learning

specialist who creates textbooks to

explain mathematical concepts through

pictures, Murphy understands the value

of ready access to rich visual resources

as a means of supporting and enriching

studio work. The lab he named is outfit-

ted with essential tools for today’s facul-

ty members: four high-end workstations,

scanners and a digital projector donated

by Apple.

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vaulted ceiling

Rare books, historical documents and other bits

of ephemera are housed in a large climate-con-

trolled area on the second floor. A comfortable

Archives and Special Collections Reading Room

provides an area where visitors can explore

items from these non-circulating collections.

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GRAHAM VISUAL RESOURCES CENTERWrapping the northeast corner of

the second floor, the Graham Visual

Resources Center includes both the Slide

Collection and the Picture Collection.

New York-based Trustee Cathy Graham

’76 PT and her husband Stephen were

drawn to this “incredibly wonderful

project” in part because she collects art

and design books and holds a special

fondness for libraries. “I know the old

Hospital Trust building well from my

student days at RISD when I used to do

my banking there,” she says, “and have

always thought it was an extraordinary

space.” The long, narrow room for the

Slide Collection now houses 165,000

images of art, architecture and decorative

arts and provides multiple light tables

for previewing slides. In the Picture

Collection around the corner students

and others have ready access to 470,000

circulating reference images — clippings,

photographs, mounted art prints and

other ephemera — all arranged by sub-

ject in 30 file cabinets. The facility offers

photocopying, scanning, laminating and

assistance from staff members in locating

appropriate image files. And an added

boon: the room’s original decorative

plaster ceiling was uncovered and

restored as part of the renovation.

TECHNICAL SERVICES AREAThis section of the second floor, off-

limits to visitors is equipped with work-

stations for staff members who enter

data and order, receive, catalogue, label

and mend collection materials. The

behind-the-scenes work that takes place

here is essential to keeping the collec-

tions circulating and in good shape.

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DALE ARTISTS’ BOOKS READING ROOM As students, RISD Board of Trustees

Chair Clara M. Dale BARCH ’75 and her

husband John Dale, Jr. BARCH ’75 both

frequented the former RISD library for

inspiration. With their gift to the Future

by Design campaign, they chose to sup-

port the library renovation because they

wanted to help open this valuable

resource to a broader public. The read-

ing room named for them is the first-

ever dedicated space for the study and

storage of RISD’s extraordinary collec-

tion of 1,200 artists’ books, objects and

zines. It will enable students and other

artists, educators and researchers inter-

ested in this genre to explore these indi-

vidual works of art in a comfortable,

well-lit setting.

“The material is visible and accessible in the new

library. I see what interests me and feel there’s a lot

more behind what’s on view, which makes me want

to ask more.” — Patrizia Pilosi MFA ’07 GD

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vaulted ceiling

A decorative ceiling adds character to the Picture

Collection Reading Room. The library now offers

a dedicated space for one of its most prized

collections in the Dale Artists’ Books Reading

Room, where visitors have hands-on access to

one-of-a-kind works of art like those shown

here. In the Slide Collection room around the

corner (far right), Professor Gareth Jones is

shown (standing) selecting images for a class.

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A BRIEF HISTORYSince its founding in 1878, the library has been an essential

resource for students. Then, all of its holdings fit in a single

bookcase; by 1909, however, the library had expanded to occupy

two rooms and its collection had grown to include more than

2,000 books, 6,000 photographs and 300 lantern slides.

In 1937 the library moved to RISD’s newly built College Building

on Benefit Street, where it had ample space — roughly 12,000

square feet — to house its collection of 12,000 books and bound

periodicals. The charming Reading Room on the second floor

became a favorite spot of generations of RISD students. However,

the library’s collections continued to grow along with the college

itself and by the late 1990s it was noticeably overcrowded, with

almost a third of its holdings needing to be stored off-site.

Locating a site to build a larger library had become a daunting

challenge but also a top priority at RISD — one that in 1998 was

incorporated into the fundraising goals of the Future by Design

campaign. In 2002, when FleetBoston agreed to offer RISD a

portion of its former bank building, the site issue was finally

resolved and fundraising began in earnest to meet the costs of

renovating the space.

Now that the Fleet Library at RISD provides nearly four times the

space available before, all of the collections have been consolidat-

ed into a single, convenient center for research and study. These

collections offer unusual depth and richness in the areas of art,

design, architecture and photography, providing strong histori-

cal and contemporary perspectives on the broad range of disci-

plines taught at RISD.

LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT DEDICATIONJames Hadley Billington, America’s Librarian of Congress, will

deliver the keynote address at the dedication of the Fleet Library

at RISD on Saturday, October 7 at 4:30 pm. A graduate of

Princeton University, Billington was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford

University, where he earned his doctorate. He taught history at

Harvard and Princeton for almost two decades before becoming

director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

in 1973. Since being sworn in as the nation’s lead librarian in

1987, Billington has championed a variety of online services that

make the Library of Congress collections more accessible to the

public worldwide. He has also written five books, including The

Face of Russia (1998), the companion book to a three-part TV

series by the same name that he wrote and narrated for PBS.

JENNY HOLZER PRESENTS FOR RISDInternationally known conceptual artist and RISD alumna Jenny

Holzer MFA ’77 PT is commemorating the dedication of the new

Fleet Library at RISD with a site-specific light projection that will

be shown after dusk on October 7, 8, 9 and 10, 2006. Called For

RISD, the piece will feature an ongoing series of messages in the

form of poetry and writings of her own, selected specifically

for the RISD context. Projected words will stream across the

riverfront facade of the 15 Westminster Street building and

Providence City Hall from approximately 7 pm to 1 am each

evening. Like the projections Holzer has done all over the world

— in Vienna, Venice, London, Dublin, New York, Paris, Berlin,

Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro — this one is expected to attract

plenty of attention and will serve as a fitting tribute to a commu-

nity resource that champions the written word. On Wednesday,

October 11, the artist will culminate her visit to RISD by deliver-

ing the annual Gail Silver Memorial Lecture at 6:15 pm in the

RISD Auditorium.

BORROWING PRIVILEGESLibrary materials circulate to all members

of the campus community (RISD and

Brown students, faculty, staff) as well as

Providence Athenaeum members. Since

the collection includes a range of visual

resources and rare books and objects,

certain items cannot circulate and are

restricted to on-site use.

LIBRARY ACCESSBecause the Fleet Library at RISD is

housed beneath a student residence

hall, everyone entering the building

must check in at the Public Safety desk

just inside the door. A photo ID or one

of the following cards must be presented:

• RISD alumni card

• Fleet Library at RISD membership card

• CRIARL (Consortium of Rhode Island

Academic and Research Libraries) card

• Providence Athenaeum card

• Brown University ID

legacy of leadership

Since the library hired its firstdirector in 1909, it has enjoyedstability of leadership, with onlynine head librarians in 97 years(RISD itself has had 16 presidentssince its founding in 1877). CarolTerry, the current director ofLibrary Services, recentlybecame the longest-serving head librarian in RISD’s history.

1909–11Eliza Buffington

1911–29Mary Shakespeare Puech

1929–42Evelyn Chase

1942–46Ruth V. Noble

1946–48Barbara Sessions

1948–55Jeanne MacCready Borden

1955–70Alice McGrath

1970–82Jeanne MacCready Borden

1982–87James A. Findlay

1987–Carol S. Terry

Special Collections Librarian Laurie Whitehill

Chong ’70 IL and Director of Library Services

Carol Terry appreciate the value of their holdings

to RISD students and scholars in various fields.

The Fleet Library at RISD now occupies the first

two floors of the former Rhode Island Hospital

Trust bank building, which was recently renovated

as a residence hall for 500 RISD students. Across

the lobby from the library, the 110-seat Portfolio

Café offers a comfortable spot to eat and relax.

“Even though there is a heavy focus on the visual and haptic aspects of working

in the studio, books and research are very much at the heart of learning at RISD.”

— John Dunnigan MFA ’80 ID, professor and head of Furniture Design

“I loved the old library, but the

layout of this one is fantastic.

It’s a lot better for everyone.”

— Laura Worrick MFA ’08 IL

MEMBERSHIPVisitors outside the campus community

can borrow books by buying a library

membership. Annual fees are:

• $25 special rate for RISD alumni,

Continuing Education students, Rhode

Island K–12 art teachers (NEA-RI

members)

• $100 individual

• $125 nonprofit (transferable among

four individuals, but one person must

be designated as responsible for use of

the card and each card admits only one

person at any given time)

• $225 corporate (transferable among

four individuals, but one person must

be designated as responsible for use of

the card and each card admits only one

person at any given time)

• $1,000 corporate sponsor (four indi-

vidual cards; private receptions may be

booked in the library)

For more information about library

memberships, policies and procedures,

go to www.risd.edu/library.

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PROJECT DONORS

Anonymous

Apple Computer, Inc.

Bruce Bierman BARCH ’76

Ronald Binks ’56 PT

The Champlin Foundations

Esther ’41 AE + Sam Chester

Lisa Pevaroff Cohn ’83 TX

Melanie + Peter Cross

Clara BARCH ’75 + John Dale, Jr. BARCH ’75

Nell Daniel ’92 PH

Fleet Boston Financial Corporation

Rosalie ’59 GD + Corwin Frost ’59 AR

Judith Funkhouser ’63 IL

Garden Holmes Management Co.

Diana + Stephen Goldberg

Cathy ’76 PT + Stephen Graham

David Greenewalt Charitable Trust

Kathryn + James Heffernan

Joan Kokkins Herron ’64 GD/MFA ’98

Stephen Lane BID ’85

LEF Foundation

Joan + James Macaulay

Joseph Melo

Nancy + Stuart Murphy ’64 IL

Ruth Murray ’90 IL + David Macaulay ’69 AR

Nancy + Dana Newbrook ’63 AR

Elena Pascarella BLA ’75

Donald Perry

Aidan Petrie MID ’85

Paul Pietz BARCH ’74

Joan Ress Reeves

Pamela Richardson ’78 TX

Steven Schwartz

Small Business Administration

Sandra Smith BARCH ’69

Carol Terry

John Terry

Lisa MA ’76 + Chris Van Allsburg MFA ’75 SC

van Beuren Charitable Foundation

Paul Warner ’58 ID

Jane + Stephen West

Patricia White ’64 IL

DESIGN ARCHITECT

Office dA, Boston, MA

project leaders:

Nader Tehrani BARCH ’86, principal

Mónica Ponce de León, principal

Daniel Gallagher, project architect

Arthur Chang, project manager

project team:

Ghazal Abassy

Sean Baccei

Kurt Evans

Anna Goodman

Lisa Huang

Ahmad Reza Schriker

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Shawmut Design and Construction

Matt Dempsey, project manager

CAMPUS COORDINATOR

Paul Mullen, construction projectdirector, RISD

Many people worked very hard over the past decade to find a suitable home for RISD’s libraryand to transform what was once a private bank into a public destination. Although we cannotacknowledge everyone who has played a role in making the Fleet Library at RISD a reality,special thanks are due to the following individuals, corporations and foundations whose generosity enabled the college to dedicate this stunning new space on October 7, 2006.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID O’CONNOR UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED

Fleet Library at RISD

15 Westminster Street

Providence, RI 02903

p 401 709–5900

f 401 709–5903

risdlib@risd.edu

Monday–Thursday 8:30am–11pm

Friday 8:30am–8pm

Saturday 10am–6pm

Sunday 12–11pm

closed Thanksgiving and Christmas

www.risd.edu/library