To: The Wellesley College Community
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: Update on Renovation of Clapp Library
Date: April 27, 2023
I am pleased to announce that the Wellesley College Board of Trustees approved an expanded Clapp Library renovation project at its April 21 meeting. This project will include critical repairs, including the replacement and updating of building systems outlined in the plan we shared with you last December, as well as a range of improvements that the ad hoc faculty advisory committee, LTS staff, and students have identified as priorities.
This larger-scale project will result in a library that will be fully accessible and comfortable for all users, will restore Clapp to a more central place in the daily life of our community, and will allow us to better serve students and faculty for years to come. We appreciate the extraordinary planning by the LTS and Facilities teams and our architects at Shepley Bulfinch that led to this outcome.
It may be helpful to remind you of the path we have taken to reach this point. In April 2022, the board approved a renovation scope for Clapp Library to renew its failing building systems. In December we learned that we were facing a significant unavoidable increase in project costs related to the HVAC and electrical systems. After discussions with the board, we decided to explore two possible options: an expanded scope to include limited but important programmatic enhancements, which would entail spending more in order to achieve a better outcome, or a reduced scope that would address a limited subset of critical repairs. We asked faculty, LTS staff, and students to suggest changes that would improve the library experience for the entire community.
These suggestions were then integrated into the expanded scope option. The resulting project will add instructional and research space to Archives and Special Collections; upgrade the first floor makerspace with a fabrication shop, workshop, and virtual-reality laboratory; introduce a café adjacent to the makerspace; enhance the charm and functionality of the “presidential portraits” reading room on the second floor; create a space in which to administer exams for students with accommodations; and upgrade gathering spaces throughout the building with comfortable furniture for students studying in groups and individually. To bring Clapp Library into compliance with accessibility standards, we will widen the aisles between the book stacks, which will require us to marginally reduce the general collections held on site.
The board has now enthusiastically endorsed the expanded plan, which is estimated to cost $97 million. Thanks to the progress we have made in recent years toward achieving consistently balanced budgets, the College is in a position to undertake these renovations without drawing on the endowment beyond what the board previously approved in April 2022.
The project is expected to begin in late December 2023 and to be completed in January 2025. The LTS and Facilities teams have designed plans for the closure that will transition the library’s essential services to other campus locations.
During the next few months, LTS plans to communicate directly with the community to explain how library services will be provided during the renovation period. LTS staff will work with the community to identify which materials should remain on campus, and are committed to ensuring ongoing access to materials that support teaching and research.
I want to thank the ad hoc faculty committee, LTS and Facilities staff, and students who contributed to this exciting vision for Clapp Library. We look forward to sharing details of the transition plans during the fall semester.
