Yale To Unveil Newly Renovated and Renamed Library

The newly renovated and renamed Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Library (formerly known as the Cross Campus Library) will open its doors on October 19 after undergoing extensive renovations.

The newly renovated and renamed Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Library (formerly known as the Cross Campus Library) will open its doors on October 19 after undergoing extensive renovations.

Members of the Yale community will get their first glimpse of the Bass Library at a preview event on the night of October 18. The event also marks the launch of the new Library Café, which offers a sustainable menu of locally sourced food.

At midnight, a group of students, faculty and staff will carry the first 20 books from the new Wright Reading Room in the basement of Sterling Memorial Library to the shelves of the Bass Library. The ceremony is designed to recall both the meeting of the ministers who in 1701 gathered to donate books for the creation of a college (now Yale) and the procession of books in 1930 that marked the move from Yale’s Old Library (now Dwight Hall) to Sterling Memorial Library.

The remainder of the library’s collections will be moved to the Bass Library in the next few days, and finishing touches will continue over the coming months.

Named to honor the generosity of Anne T. and Robert M. Bass ’71, the library has been completely renovated and redesigned to better serve the needs of Yale students, teaching faculty and staff.

It features new group study rooms, individual study carrels and custom-designed furnishings. The library will house intensive-use and reserve collections needed by readers on a daily basis. It will also be home to the new Collaborative Learning Center, an evolving partnership between the Yale University Library, the Instructional Technology Group, the McDougal Graduate Teaching Center, the Yale Center for Language Study and Yale Information Technology Services.

The Library Café, operated by Yale Dining Services and the Yale Sustainable Food Project, will officially open for business on October 23. The Café will be open to the public as well as to the Yale community.

The renovation of the Bass Library is part of the University Library’s wider Phase 2a Renovation Project, which saw the complete transformation of the former Cross Campus Library in its entirety and a portion of the basement of Sterling Memorial Library. Construction on the project began in May 2006. For more information, visit Phase 2a Renovation Project online



Share this with Facebook Share this with X Share this with LinkedIn Share this with Email Print this

Media Contact

Dorie Baker: dorie.baker@yale.edu, 203-432-1345