The rededication of the expanded and renovated Swem Library on February 5, 2005 marked the official end of a long and exciting endeavor to create �a new library for a new century.� In Timothy J. Sullivan's 1992 inauguration speech as President of William and Mary he specifically stated that one of his goals was to �find the means ... to create a library worthy of a great university in the technological age.� After several years of planning and effort, on March 17, 1998 the State allocated $25 million for the expansion and renovation of the Earl Gregg Swem Library, igniting a huge multi-year project of construction and change. The dream has become a reality.
The architectural highlight of the new Swem is the 800-pound, 8-foot window of Honduran mahogany on the building's façade. Installed on April 15, 2003, the window duplicates the rings and spokes design of the library logo and is centered in the building prow above the main entrance. Funded by a donation from Janet (�49) and Cliff Foster of Evans, GA, the Swem Window is an adaptation of the round windows in William and Mary's historic Wren Building and symbolically links the past and the future. Two smaller, complimentary, rectangular windows were placed on the floor below.
In these Swem building project pages we are attempting to share with you our excitement in having a library worthy of the College of William and Mary. Browse through the various pages for photographs of the different areas to get a feel for the space. Check out the facts and history of the project. Watch for a photographic archives of the demolition of the walls and features in the old building and its renovation and the creation of a new wing.
Photographs throughout these pages taken by Lee Brauer Photography and Karen McCluney
Computer-generated rendering by Digital Sky Studios in 2000 showing how
the finished building would look.
