Lawrence V. Johnson Library
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New at L.V. Johnson Library
CULTURAL SERIES in the LIBRARY
Dory Ingram’s “Brood Year” Art Exhibit – Opening Reception & Gallery Talk in the Library Rotunda – Monday, February 19, 2007 at Noon – 1:00.
Many on campus will remember Dory as the Head of Reference at SPSU. Perhaps you’ll want to know how a librarian transitions into a working artist; what are her techniques and why she became especially interested in researching the life cycles of the cicada and locusts. Her Gallery Talk will be enlightening. We invite the campus to come to the event. This is the first event in the Cultural Series.
TWO TELEPHONE SERVICE ENHANCEMENTS – FEB 1, 2007
Distance Learning students now have the benefit of easy access to Librarians by calling the toll-free line: 1-866-513-9516. Students outside the local calling area will get answers to their queries regarding research, which databases are available and a variety of documentation formats for their papers. For library questions, please call for assistance.
The Johnson Library’s main phone line for local patrons changes to (678) 915-7471. Call and you’ll reach the ASK / Reference Desk.
The Library Building
The library at Southern Polytechnic State University opened in the fall semester of 1968. John Pattillo was appointed as the first library director and served until his retirement in 1991, when Dr. Joyce Mills was promoted to the position. In additon to housing tens of thousands of volumes, today the library also serves as the campus gateway to digital research resourcesand special collections. Students often use the library for group work, as the second floor of the building contains numerous small rooms for convenient study space.
In 1987 the library was given an expansion. The new addition was also a renovation of the existing older library space. In the renovation, architectural elements from buildings torn down in Atlanta were incorporated into the structure, including several pieces from the original Atlanta Terminal Station. The main sign outside the library today was once a glazed terra cotta pediment from the Atlanta Terminal Station; step around to the back of the sign to see all of the detail that once greeted visitors to the city as they stepped off a train. All of the older masonry elements in the library are too numerous to mention here; a few worth noting in the library’s structure are:
- Glazed white terra cotta panels from the Peachtree Arcade, built in 1917 and designed by A. Ten Eyck Brown.
- Glazed white terracotta pilaster capitals, acanthus leaf design, with human and animal faces from the Atlanta Terminal Station.
- Terra Cotta Overleaves from the Peachtree Arcade are over the library's back door.
In 1988, Sizemore Floyd Architects won the 1988 Masonry Design Award presented by the Masonry Institute of Atlanta for their work on the building. You can see other pieces rescued from the demolition of the Atlanta Terminal Station incorporated into MARTA’s Five Points rail transfer station. An entire section of the building there was re-created for the North – South rail platform.
In 1998, the library was dedicated to the memory of Lawrence V. Johnson, the first director of SPSU.
