Susan A. Henry
The Ronald P. Lynch
Dean of Agriculture
and Life Sciences
eCALSconnect - Vol. 14-1 / October 2007
Message from the Dean
Many thousands of CALS alumni will remember passing through the front door of Mann Library in all kinds of weather to study, research a project, or meet up with friends. That doorway at the east end of the Ag Quad, surmounted by the bas-relief sculpture of the arms of the State of New York, served for decades as the point of admission to one of the few experiences common to all students and faculty members of our very diverse college: a trip to the library.
For the past seven years, though, that doorway has not opened onto a circulation desk or provided access to Mann’s once-towering stacks. When I began my tenure as CALS dean in July 2000, Mann’s collections had been moved out in anticipation of the building’s renovation, and the library had entered its interim phase in a newly completed addition on the back of the original building.
The long-needed modernizing of Mann Library was delayed for several more years when it was pressed into service as temporary quarters for the faculty and staff displaced by the need to demolish the north wing of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall. In 2003, old Mann was finally closed for asbestos removal and then gutted, arduous preludes to a complete and dramatic makeover.
The renovation is now nearly complete. The chainlink fence and construction trailers are gone from the Ag Quad, and, though finishing work is still going on, life has returned to Mann Library. The gleaming green marble columns still stand in the lobby, and one floor above, the inlaid wood paneling and the 31-foot frieze carved by Elfriede Abbe are still intact.
Read more about the newly reopened Mann Library in the full dean's message.
Featured photo
photo/provided
A cappella singers perform at the Mann Library Open House, Aug. 24, 2007
See more photos from around the College.
Features
- Mann Library reopens old doors to new library
- The newly renovated Mann Library hosted an open house with food, music, and fun.
- Geneva’s 125th anniversary open house: Celebrating a spectacular team effort
- Fifteen months of effort came to fruition in a two-day open house that drew more than 5,000 people to Cornell’s Geneva campus.
- Farm Aid visits Dilmun Hill
- An entourage of officials from Farm Aid visited Dilmun Hill Student Organic Farm and Experiential Learning Center.
- Adding up to something special: UBP expands course offerings
- A recent gift from the accounting firm of Ernst & Young means CALS will offer advanced accounting courses.
- New research and extension projects receive USDA funds
- More than $1.9 million will be disbursed to new research and extension projects.
- CaRDI awards recognize work in community and economic vitality
- Recipients of the 2007 David J. Allee and Paul R. Eberts Community and Economic Vitality Award announced.
- Forensics reestablishing national prominence
- Growing in popularity and success, the Cornell Policy Debate Team is now ranked 13th in the nation.