Bostock Library, von der Heyden Pavilion Dedicated

User friendly: Carpenter Reading Room during exam week Photo: Les Todd

Duke celebrated the long-awaited dedication of the new Bostock Library, the last of several new buildings on campus to be officially dedicated. The library, along with the adjacent Karl and Mary Ellen von der Heyden Pavilion, opened to students on October 12, marking the completion of the first stage of the Perkins Library expansion and renovation project.

The two buildings, along with a tower addition to Perkins and a three-story gateway joining Perkins and Bostock, increase Perkins' size by more than 120,000 square feet. The new library boasts several large reading rooms, group study rooms, and informal seating areas, as well as wireless Internet and more than ninety computer workstations. The glass-walled pavilion, which sits in the nook between Perkins and the Languages Building, was designed for use as an informal study space and cafÈ, but will also host special events.

The dedication ceremony in November featured panel discussions on scholarship in a digital age and the changing role of the library in the academic community, as well as remarks by President Richard H. Brodhead, Provost Peter Lange, and Merilee Huser Bostock '62. Speakers focused on the importance of libraries being dynamic and prepared for change as the Internet and other technologies affect the ways that students conduct research.

The five-story Bostock Library is named for Roy Bostock '62 and Merilee Huser Bostock; their children, Victoria Bostock Waters '85, Matthew Franklin Bostock '91, and Kate Bostock Shefferman '94; and several members of their extended family who are Duke alumni. Naming the new library after the Bostocks is intended to recognize the family's contributions to Duke, which include generous financial support and years of volunteer leadership service. Roy Bostock, chair emeritus of BCom3 Group Inc., one of the world's leading advertising and communications holding companies, served two terms on Duke's board of trustees, beginning in 1991.

The pavilion was named in honor of Karl M. von der Heyden '62 and Mary Ellen von der Heyden of New York. Karl von der Heyden, a former vice chair of the board of directors of PepsiCo, Inc., was elected to Duke's board of trustees in 1995 and now serves as vice chair.

The Bostock and von der Heyden additions are only the first stage of the Perkins project. When Bostock opened in October, the first floor of Perkins was closed immediately for renovations, slated to be completed this summer. Future phases of the project will include renovating additional floors and stack areas, repositioning the entrance to Perkins, and renovating the Gothic and Deryl Hart reading rooms.