Renovation

Information about major library renovation projects.

Join us for the grand opening!

All are welcome to join on Thursday, April 4 for a grand opening celebration of The Edgar Shannon Library! 

An in-depth look at the new library

After being closed for nearly four years, Alderman Library — now The Edgar Shannon Library — reopened in early January, with 100,000 square feet of renovated space and 130,000 square feet of new construction replacing the previous stacks towers.

Before and after: looking at the library pre- and post-renovation

In advance of the grand opening celebration of The Edgar Shannon Library on April 4, we’re taking a deep dive into historical photos of the building and comparing them with the renovated space today.

Board of Visitors votes to name renovated library The Edgar Shannon Library

A nighttime photo of multistory brick building with large windows illuminated from within.
A new entrance to The Edgar Shannon Library makes the building easily reachable from the growing northern corridor along University Avenue.

Updates from Alderman: Books in stacks, a new cafe, and more

Good news for bibliophiles: the books in Alderman Library’s fifth-floor stacks are now fully moved in and available to patrons! Browse the shelves to your heart’s content and, when ready, take your selected books to a circulation desk on the second or fourth floors for checkout. (Throughout the renovation, these books were available in Clemons or “by request” through Virgo.)

Open doors: First patrons explore the renovated main library

Students, faculty, staff, and community members streamed into the University of Virginia’s newly renovated main library when its doors opened to the public at 9 a.m. sharp for the first time in nearly four years.

Renovated main library set to open on January 8

The University of Virginia Library is pleased to announce that its main library, which has undergone a transformational, four-year renovation, will reopen to the public on Monday, Jan. 8, at 9 a.m.

Four facts about the main library, reopening in January

A large brick building seen from above.
A recent photo of the main library under renovation, viewed from the northwest. Here, the new clerestory can be seen on the roof, and construction is underway on the stairs and terrace that will lead to the new north entrance to the building.

Staff prepare for book move as renovation nears end

The reopening of the new main library, Alderman, is just under a year away, but Beth Blanton, Director of Collections, is already deep in the process of mapping the book move into the new space. “I realized I have more than 50 spreadsheets — I stopped counting — keeping track of the collections in the book move,” she said, reflecting on a process that directly involves more than a dozen Library staff members and will touch more than a million printed books.

Renovation marches on as key pieces are put into place

A massive crane lifts a metal structure up and over a rectangular building which is partially under construction
UVA photographer Dan Addison captured exciting moments in October, as a crew installed massive skylights over the new library’s indoor atria.

 

Celebrating a Milestone of the Main Library Renovation

University and Library personnel and construction workers and contractors gathered yesterday for a "topping-out ceremony" for the library renovation. The topping-out is when the last beam is placed atop a structure, and is a traditional milestone in a major construction project.

Documenting and Preserving the Graffiti in Alderman Library’s Study Carrels

Guest post by: Kennedy Castillo (UVA Linguistics MA, 2019), Lise Dobrin (UVA Associate Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics Program Director), Liam Donohue (UVA Anthropology and Environmental Science BA, 2019), Grace East (UVA Anthropology PhD Candidate), Edith Kachia (Visiting Fulbright Swahili TA, 2018-19), Jenny Lee (UVA English and American Studies BA, 2019), Dakota Marsh (UVA English BA, 2020), Jacob Nelson (UVA Linguistics BA, 2020), Will Norton (UVA Linguistics BA, 2020)

Cutaway View of Renovated Main Library Shows Vision for Future

The renovated space includes flexible areas for individual and group study and research throughout the building, as well as new elevators, bathrooms, and stairwells, and all-new mechanical infrastructure.