Miller Library Under Construction

Fifty-three years ago this fall, students, staff, and faculty were welcomed back to campus to the sights and sounds of ongoing construction around the library- just like last week.

Though the current construction project is not as ambitious- or disruptive, fortunately- an undertaking as the 1970 project, which involved the demolition of the Cain Gym and the construction of the Clifton M. Miller Library, it has been as highly anticipated.

The construction of Miller Library, designed by famed library architect J. Russel Bailey who was a principal in the architectural firm of Bailey and Gardner and an early proponent and adapter of modular design, was a major undertaking for the college. With a price tag of $1.3 million- and that is in 1970s dollars, mind you- the site for the new library was chosen and blueprints were designed based on the central location and potential for expansion.

Though no major expansions have been made to Miller Library since its initial construction, there have been countless changes and renovations over the years- in both big and small ways. Last semester, the inside of Miller Library received a facelift through new furniture and this summer marked the beginning of the terrace construction. This project will provide the library terrace with a much-needed update that will make the terrace a safer and more accessible place for all of the Washington College community. In the meantime, Miller Library is open via Sophie’s Café, with full-time fall hours. All library offices- from OAS on the second floor, to Vardis, Ideaworks, and the Archives on the ground floor are open, and look forward to having you back in the building!