Construction of the James B. Hunt Library will begin Oct. 23 on Centennial Campus with a groundbreaking ceremony.

“This is truly a 21st century library,” said Larry Nielsen, co-chair of the building committee. “When people are using that library, the emphasis will be on access to information and the written word. It’s not just for books and journals.”

From the start, the plans for the library will include many of the renovations which came to D. H. Hill years after its construction.

“We have the opportunity to design, right from the beginning, a library that can meet the needs of the campus for the future,” Nielsen said.

One key feature is the Automated Retrieval System, a highly-efficient storage of books which frees up more money and space for technology and study spaces, according to David Hiscoe, the director of communications for the libraries.

“What the ARS is allowing us to do is put books in one-ninth of the place of traditional stacks,” he said.  

With the ARS, students will be able to browse shelves virtually and retrieve books with a request to the automated system.

Nielsen said he hopes the superior technology and available space will make Hunt Library the “living room for Centennial Campus students” of all majors.

“The Centennial Campus is not a campus just for engineers. It’s a campus for the entire University,” Nielsen said. “The library’s for anyone.”

While the majority of the texts will be related to engineering and textiles, whose colleges are centered on Centennial Campus, the space not devoted to books will serve the entire University.

According to Nielsen, there will be rooms reserved for humanities and social science functions, a 400-seat lecture hall and offices for both the Institute for Nonprofits, which offers graduate-level degrees in nonprofit leadership, and the Institute for Emerging Issues.

IEI, founded in 2002 after the success of the Emerging Issues forum, focuses on considering significant statewide issues and renewing innovative solutions to these problems, according to Director Anita Brown-Graham.

“The idea behind the institute was to have a year-long committee considering the longtime economic competitiveness of North Carolina,” she said.

In Hunt Library, IEI will have space for offices and public-engagement programs, which will expedite the organization’s goals to educate and unite citizens, according Brown-Graham.

“We focus on bringing people together and exposing them to information, which shows the commonality and consensus among [every citizen],” she said.

Almost all of IEI’s work takes place off-campus in hotel rooms or borrowed office space, meaning the space in Hunt library will dramatically change the identity of this organization, Brown-Graham said.

“People can’t appreciate the role of N.C. State,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a wonderful day when people across North Carolina can understand the intellectual capital of the students and faculty. N.C. State is investing in the state.”

However, this building has connections at all levels.  

The architectural firm for the project is Raleigh-based PBC+L, which oversaw the construction of SAS Hall, Park Shops, the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts and the Cary High School Auditorium.

The design, which includes no brick but a terrace with a view of Lake Raleigh and the city skyline, was completed by the team at Snøhetta, who won the award in 2009 for the best building in Europe.

“The Hunt library is going to be an amazing resource for the University, and one that I think will attract national and international attention for its beauty and functionality,” Nielsen said.