The construction site for our new Library addition is changing rapidly. The elevator shaft is up and grading is in progress for the new ramp. Take a look at these crow’s eye view movies to get a sense of the excitement we feel. (WARNING – The work site is noisy. You may want to turn down the sound before you play these movies!)

Movie 1

Movie 2

Movie 3

The crows who check on the Fletcher parking lot daily have kept each other up to date on the library construction progress as it happens, but our Sweet Briar alumnae and Friends of the Library who live far away have not been so lucky.

Thankfully technology is here to rescue everyone from experimenting with hot wax and stolen feathers. Now we can all simply direct our browsers to a handy URL to spy crow-like on the progress, live:

http://198.28.63.50/control/userimage.html

Thanks go to our always-amazing Director of Libraries, John Jaffe, for making the most of our digital possibilities! I’ll continue posting still photos – old and new – every week for everyone to enjoy and reminisce.

Well kids – its time to learn the proper words for heavy equipment. Here in the library today we have enjoyed the near constant pounding of a Yanmar crawler excavator with a jackhammer attachment as it took apart the sidewalk and some of the concrete steps beside the library.

Yanmar’s buddy, the Komatsu crawler excavator, has been busy shoveling together piles of broken concrete and asphalt.

You can see here how the maple and mulberry trees that gave us much welcome shade in the parking lot for many years have been removed.

There is a smooth drum compactor (which we used to call a “steam roller” when I was a kid) in the center of this photo. Not pictured is a Gehl crawler skid steer loader that’s beeping around carrying away piles of rubble as they accrue. We can hardly believe it’s finally happening!

Much thanks to An Officer’s Guide to the Proper Identification of Construction Equipment  . . . Vol. 5 for helping me out with new and useful nouns!

The Fletcher parking lot beside the Cochran Library was cordoned off by a chain-link fence last week so that the Library renovation project could begin in earnest. Here is our familiar and beloved parking lot as it was 2 weeks ago.

And as it appears today:

The “vintage” view of security and other vehicles snugly parked where we are so long accustomed to seeing them.

And today’s view:

No one can walk down the stairs next to the library to get to the Fletcher lot because that’s where construction will soon begin.

Small pines trees near the library (directly across from MMC) were removed to accommodate the arrival of the construction office:

The office arrived today as you can see in this photo from MMC:

More photos to come soon, as we watch our exciting new space develop!

As we ready for library renovation, this morning these photos of the original library construction in 1928 showed up. What a find! Click on the image to see them larger.

Two images of the 1928 library construction.

Our students are working hard this summer shifting, moving, and cleaning. Every day they are challenged to build, tear down, lift and / or interfile. It’s not a job for the easily confused, faint of heart or weak of back! The following photos show the piles of trash we got rid of just today . . .