The James B. Hunt Library has recently received significant attention as an innovative model for libraries all over the world.

The New York Public Library system has been among the libraries to take notice of Hunt Library. The New York Public Library located on Fifth Avenue and its branch across the street are scheduled for renovations, and they are turning to N.C. State’s Hunt Library as inspiration for new spaces with modern technology to help engage the local community.

Gregory Raschke, associate director for Collections and Scholarly Communication Administration at N.C. State, said the Hunt Library is so attractive to the New York library because of its modern, colorful and engaging atmosphere.

“It’s not brown, it’s not gray, it’s colorful, inspirational and exciting,” Raschke said.

The integration of technology makes Hunt Library particularly appealing to designers in New York, especially the visualization technology and the large display walls that are integrated throughout the entire building.

The collaborative space that the design of Hunt Library provides is a very high priority for the New York Library, Raschke said.

“The creative and collaborative places that people can get together and use 3-D printers, get group study rooms, look at spreadsheets together, write on the walls and those kind of things—the connective, collaborative feel that Hunt provides,” Raschke said.  

Patrick Veaton, who led the design team for the Hunt Library at N.C. State, emphasized that the service the Hunt staff provides is what sets it apart.

“We get a lot of librarians from all over the country and internationally that are really interested in the fact that we only have one service point, where at a traditional academic library you would have several service desks scattered all over the building,” Veaton said. “But at Hunt we depend on our staff to roam around and help the patrons where they are instead of having the patrons get up and have to come to the desk.”

With the New York Library mimicking Hunt Library, Veaton said he suspects other libraries globally will soon follow suit.

Raschke said Hunt Library has become influential around the world. Tour groups from all corners of the Earth and universities all over the United States have signed up for guided tours and attended a recent conference at Hunt Library about designing libraries in the 21st century.

Hunt Library is no stranger to inquiries of the design details, according to Veaton.

“We will start to see bits and pieces of Hunt start to pop up in libraries all over the world,” Veaton said.

Raschke said it is Susan Nutter, director of libraries at N.C. State, who really deserves the credit for the inspiration that Hunt has become. In a Wall Street Journal article, Nutter explained the importance of innovating library design.

“They can look at their research data in ways that can help people understand it better,” Nutter said.

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“I think that like any institute, libraries have to adapt to the times that they’re in, and so the more innovative and the more responsive to their community, the more value that they can provide, and the better off they are going to be,” Raschke said.

The value of Hunt Library lies in the value it has for its community, according to Raschke. Visitors now have places where they are provided the tools, technology and expertise that all come together to improve the ability to research, learn better, manage data and visualize research in a completely new way.

“The more valuable a library can be to their community, the more they are going to benefit in terms of funding and support,” Raschke said.