SALEM — Salem State College has selected a site for a new library.
The college plans to build the new facility on the North Campus in an open area between the existing library and the Ellison Campus Center, according to college spokeswoman Karen Cady.
Designs are still being finalized, so the college doesn't know how much construction will cost, she said.
The library will be four stories high, but because it's on the bottom of a slope, it won't rise higher than Meier Hall, she said. It will be a 120,000-square-foot facility, which is slightly smaller than the existing library.
It will feature 21st-century technology, Cady said.
"Libraries that are built in today's world are vastly different than 30 or 40 years ago," she said. "A lot of that has to do with technology."
Salem State has to build a new library because the existing one was deemed structurally unsound in October 2007 and has been closed ever since. In fact, it will never reopen — the college plans to tear down the approximately 40-year-old building.
What will go in its place?
Cady said there has been "preliminary discussion" about adding on to Meier Hall and upgrading science labs, which has been a priority at the college.
"It's very visionary at this point," Cady said.
Salem State is a college under transformation. A new residence hall is already under construction. Cady expects the new library project to start around the time construction is wrapping up on the dorm.
