The University of Chicago, along with structural engineer Halvorson and Partners and architect Murphy/Jahn, both based in Chicago, celebrated the recent groundbreaking for the Mansueto Library. This subterranean addition to the Regenstein Library will house an automated retrieval system for the university's archives within a single volume and be crowned by a glass-domed reading room at grade. The new library's location is the former site of a particle accelerator facility where the first atom was split.
Holding more than 3.5 million volumes, the underground library racks will be 50 feet tall. Patrons who request volumes via the Internet will receive them within minutes through the automated retrieval system. Mansueto Library, set to open in 2010, will enable the university to store all of its research materials on campus.