Michael Lewis, Williams College's Faison-Pierson-Stoddard Professor of Art History, took another look at the Fisher Fine Arts Library in his article, "Frank Furness and the Expandable Library," in the June Issue of the JSAH. Lewis goes into detail about Furness's original plan to make the library building extensible with modular construction of the book stack wing; he proposed that the south façade should be movable, so as to expand as books were acquired.
"The plan of the stack admits of indefinite expansion to the south by extending the stack a bay at a time, the end wall being moved out on jack-screws. The cost of adding a single bay, when only roof, sides, and shelving have to be estimated for, will not be over 30 cents a volume for the additional space. I need not enlarge upon the priceless value in a library of what I might call a high coefficient of expansion," from Talcott Williams, “Plans for the Library Building of the University of Pennsylvania,” Library Journal 13, no. 8 (Aug. 1888).
0 Comments.