Since opening its doors Jan. 2, The James B. Hunt Jr. Library has received much hype from students of all disciplines, despite holding mostly engineering and textiles books. 

David Hiscoe, director of communications strategy for N.C. State Libraries, said the creators knew many engineering and textile students would be using the library. However, he said, Hunt has almost 100 study rooms and cutting edge technology, so a migration of students from other disciplines was expected as more people found out about the library.

Brian Kieber, a sophomore in textile engineering, said he uses the library almost every day.

“Most of my classes are on Centennial Campus, so I come to Hunt for two or three hours after,” said Kieber. “It’s a perfect place to study. Now all they need is a dining hall.”

D.H. Hill Library is small, and students can get tired of that, according to Niki Archer, a sophomore in animal science, who recently visited the new library to study.

“I heard about Hunt Library from all my friends, and I wanted to check it out,” said Archer. “I don’t have classes on Centennial, but I have studied there a few times. I love the environment at Hunt Library. I need a change from D.H Hill sometimes.” 

Many thought the new library would decrease traffic at D.H. Hill, but Hiscoe said something different happened. 

“We now often have more visits to the Hunt Library on nights and weekends than we have to D.H. Hill. But visits to Hill remain strong,” Hiscoe said. “Overall students don’t seem to be migrating in the sense of less numbers at D.H. Hill. We have found that just more students are using the libraries as a whole.” 

One factor for this increased usage is that the Hunt library has something other libraries do not: a space for graduate students and faculty. The graduate student section is located on the fourth floor and requires students to present an N.C. State student I.D. to enter.

“Grad students are very focused on their specialized studies and very much appreciate the quiet,” Hiscoe said. “But when they need to bounce ideas off each other, there are similar minded people in the same room, something that also encourages collaboration across the disciplines.” 

On the fifth floor, faculty can find a space reserved for them. There are many tables, a small kitchen, and a video conference room to enable collaborative work around the world.

An N.C. State I.D. is also needed to enter this section of the library. 

The library encourages students who are eager to explore the latest technologies, Hiscoe said. The library has two digital media production rooms, four audio production rooms, a 3-D printer and many other helpful technologies. 

“The equipment you find here is what you could find in a lab somewhere, and for a price,” said Hiscoe. “This is a way for the average student to get access to the technology they need that they could not get access to otherwise.” 

The traffic at Hunt Library will increase, and it has the space for it. D.H. Hill, on the other hand, can only hold 5% of the student population. The Hunt Library doubles the seating capacity with over 1,750 new seats, according to the N.C. State library website. 

The Wolfline bus system has added the library to its list of stops.

Transportation is monitoring traffic at Hunt Library and adjusting the bus system as needed. More stops will need to be added as more students start to use the Hunt Library as their main library. 

Parking is fairly easy for students, graduate students and faculty with cars. A parking deck was built with Hunt and is located across from the library.

The library is over 221,000 square feet, which gives students vast amounts of study space. Since the library opened, many students have gone to the library not only to study, but to explore and take pictures.

There is currently a contest on Instagram for the Hunt Library. Students post pictures of the new library, and the selected winner will receive an iPad Mini. 

This contest, along with all the media and talk around Hunt Library, is bringing all members of N.C. State to Centennial Campus. 

The new library serves as the Centennial Campus library and as a second main library to N.C. State.

“We are starting to see the Hunt Library as a center of the N.C. State community,” said Hiscoe. “We meant for this place to be inspirational.”