Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University representatives will gather with building contractors and partners to mark the official opening of the campus’s newly renovated Kreitzberg Library on Tuesday, September 1. A ceremonial ribbon-cutting event will be held at 3:15 p.m. inside the library foyer to celebrate the occasion, followed by guided tours of the new facility. The $6.8 million renovation is the first completed project under the Forging the Future campaign. Announced at Homecoming in 2014, the university’s largest comprehensive fundraising effort aims to raise $100 million in the five years leading up to the university’s bicentennial in 2019.
A state-of-the-art library when it was built 23 years ago, Kreitzberg Library serves as the main student and faculty library on the Norwich campus. The library is named for principal donors Barbara and Fred Kreitzberg ’57. The original library was completed in 1993 at a cost of $8.1 million.
Computer and information technology has radically changed modern university libraries in the years since, transforming libraries from cathedrals of the book to cathedrals of learning.
The new renovations place Kreitzberg Library at the forefront of the latter category.
“Barbara and I have loved this library since its dedication in 1992,” Fred Kreitzberg ’57 said. “We know that students have enjoyed using this library and hope that with the new renovations it will be even better-suited for our technologically advanced students.”
While celebrating at the Sept. 1 event, the Norwich community will tour the library’s major enhancements, including new workstations, group-study and collaborative-learning areas, new technology-enabled classrooms and a café.
Additional improvements include two new conference rooms, and a 77% increase in the number of seats, from 249 to 440. The new library also boasts a 10-fold increase in data speeds and capacity and state of the art collaborative tools, thanks in part to a $125,000 grant from the George I. Alden Trust to support technology upgrades.
Construction began Dec. 17, 2014, with approximately 40 Vermonters working on site on an average day. At times that figure climbed to 60. The construction was primarily completed by Vermont firms employing Vermont workers, including EF Wall, Bates & Murray Electrical, Vermont Mechanical and Red Thread.
Demonstrating Norwich’s commitment to sustainability, the vast majority of installed lighting use LED bulbs, subsidized by Efficiency Vermont, with an estimated energy efficiency of 80%-90%. In addition, air handling units were upgraded, low volatile organic compounds (VOC) paint was used, and virtually all construction debris was recycled.