Library Awarded Funds

A recently awarded $750,000 grant to Radcliffe College will help rennovate and expand the Schlesinger Library in order to accomodate a surge of visitors and materials.

The library, which is one of the University's few resources for women's studies, is in need of repair and expansion to accomodate the flow of more than 5000 visitors each year, Radcliffe spokesman Abigail Heim said.

The grant given by the Pew Memorial Trust starts the drive to raise the $3.4 million needed to cover the cost of the expansion, said library director Patricia King '59. The Philadelphia based trust has also donated money for the renovation of other Harvard libraries.

The renovations are scheduled to begin in 1987 and will effectively double the size of the library to include new reading rooms, additional open stacks, climate controlled storage areas, a conference room, audio-visual equipment, and better access for the handicapped, said Heim.

King said she hopes to raise the rest of the money through individuals, corporations, and foundations before 1987.

Established in 1943, the library is one of the nation's leading resources on the study of American women, King said.

The library has seen a "dramatic increase in student usage in the past few years. It's a very unusual library. People come from all over the country to use its resources," said Heim.

King said the library's collection of materials has been growing rapidly with the expanding interest in women's studies over the last 10 years and the library needs more space.

Renovations, however, must wait until Radcliffe's Bunting Institute moves to its new quarters on Concord Ave., which are currently under renovation. The Bunting Institute now occupies the third and fourth floors of the library's building in Radcliffe Yard.