Dive Summary:
- After nearly six years in an interim library, Salem State University's students, faculty and staff are just weeks away from the Sept. 3 opening of the new Frederick E. Berry Library—named for former state Sen. and Peabody native Fred Berry.
- The new facility has 122,000 square feet of space and was built more for students than books, featuring 1,000 study seats, 150 PC computers, 12 group study rooms, "Idea Paint" that turns almost anything into a dry-erase surface and a "Learning Commons" that brings together several academic services.
- Construction began in 2010, and the school's previous library was shut down in 2007 due to structural problems.
From the article:
... “The past issue is a 40-year old issue,” said Salem State University President Patricia Meservey. “There are number of buildings in the Commonwealth where the structure of buildings was poor and unfortunately we had one of those buildings on our campus.”
The success of the new library wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of the various staff members, Meservey added. ...