At West Virginia University many new students (and some faculty members), are unaware of an entire building that is hiding in plain sight. The Wise Library, the building within a building, has a unique history, including a love story, that many students are unaware of.
The Downtown Library is a familiar place to many students at WVU, but not many know that it is actually two libraries. The original library, The Wise, was built in 1931 and was designed with plans for an increasing amount of students. After 70 years the design could no longer support the student body; a new library was needed. In the summer of 1999 construction began on an expansion of the Wise Library.
By the 1990’s the Wise Library was, “Not the right type of space,” as Associate Dean of Libraries Myra Lowe states, “the primary focus of the Wise Library was to hold books and could not be the space the students needed without proper modern amenities.” Also, the library was designed for individual study practices, whereas today many classes are group oriented creating a need for areas where people can meet and work together.
Walking to the back on the Downtown Library, up a quick flight of steps, the original façade of the Wise Library is still in its glory. When the decision to increase the size of the library was finalized, three plans were introduced; it was decided that the Wise Library would continue to stand and additions were to be made around the building. Part of the reason was due to the structural design of Wise, its bookshelves doubled as structural support for the building. Another reason was the nostalgia factor that many alumni experienced when seeing the original building that they spend so much time in as students. The two libraries are connected via an expansive atrium.
When entering the Wise Library through the atrium, warm, green marble directs students to the Milano and Robinson Reading Rooms. The worn in tables and chairs have seated thousands of students since they were placed in the rooms in 1931 and continue to give students at WVU a quiet place to study. At one of the tables in the Milano Reading Room a man met a woman who he later married. He and his wife, for whom the room is dedicated to, donated $500,000 to the University. The rooms have been restored so that they resembled how they were when they were built giving them an antique but yet homely feel.
The Wise Library has been a part of West Virginia University for 85 years and with the additions made to create the now standing Downtown Library it still continues to support the interest of students for many years to come. As Lowe believes, “The libraries will continue booming because although many things are becoming digital, there is still a need for the facilities that the library offers. As we continue to grow as a university, the libraries will continue to be a very busy place.”The Wise Library has a deep history on campus and is appreciated by many students, but the next time you stop by to study or do some research take a second to think of all the people that have also appreciated this scholarly structure.
