Dear Friends:
In 1992, the College of William and Mary set forth a bold goal of creating �a new library for a new century.� Our aim, simply stated, was to build a library worthy of the College. Thirteen years later, I am happy to report that the building project has reached its magnificent conclusion.
Today's Swem Library is a bright, welcoming place, full of comfortable chairs and couches, designed to encourage people to work and learn together. Its state-of-the-art Information Commons provides an exciting site for collaborative, interactive learning; the Reeder Media Wall features the latest news and information throughout the day; and the Mews � the library's café � offers visitors the sustenance they need to keep at their work. The building's new Warren E. Burger Special Collections Wing provides a beautiful, climate-controlled home for Swem's rich collections of manuscripts and rare books and the University Archives.
Our vision of �a new library for a new century� would not have been realized without the kindness and generosity of our many devoted library supporters. Our gratitude extends to the past and current members of the Friends of the Library Board, the former law clerks of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, the foundations and corporations that supported this project, and the many Friends of the Library. To ensure that this new facility may serve the College for many years to come, we will continue to raise funds for collections and services, including equipping and staffing the College's urgently needed Media Center.
Swem Library � with its twenty-first-century technologies and faithful stewardship of books and records of the past � is a uniquely inviting space for the College's students and faculty and members of our community. I hope that seeing the improvements we have made at Swem will inspire you to spend some time in our library very soon. As the intellectual heart of the College of William and Mary, it is now � and will long be � a place of which we may all be very proud.
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Entrance to library administration on 3rd floor | |||
| William and Mary students named the library's café �The Mews�-- �Swem� in reverse. Situated at the very front of the library, the Mews features Starbucks® coffee and a 24-hour study lounge. |  |
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A vital component of the new Information Commons, Swem's Reeder Media Wall consists of six display cubes that stream video of national and international news and campus and community events. Students might watch a CNN broadcast on one screen while another features weather reports or a history program. The Reeder Media Wall was made possible by a gift from Sharon Reeder McCarthy '69, in memory of her father, LCDR (USN Retired) Charles W. Reeder, founder and director of Swem's audiovisual services department from 1965 through 1978. | |||
