Rooms and Resource Centers

Lane Reading Room

The Lane Reading Room, located on the second floor of the newly restored Bing Wing, houses the Humanities and Area Studies Resource Center. The room was named in honor of Melvin B. Lane, AB 1944, and his wife, Joan F. Lane, in recognition of their generosity in supporting the reconstruction of the library.

From the beginning, the room has served as a reading room, first for general purposes, and subsequently for the study of rare books and manuscripts. Traditional study and reading space is now complemented by Internet access (available from all seating in the room) and computer workstations.

The Lane Reading Room offers printed reference collections and specific "mini-collections" devoted to important topical areas, including collections of new fiction and new books in the scholarly fields of the humanities. Reference materials aiding in the use of Special Collections can also be found here.

The Lane Reading Room houses the Humanities Digital Information Service (formerly the Academic Text Service), which provides access to SUL/AIR's electronic library of humanities texts as well as to electronic indexes, publications, and the Internet.

The Lane Reading Room is located directly above the Social Sciences Resource Center. The two areas are directly connected by an internal staircase, enabling faculty and students to easily move between these areas and the services they provide.

History
The Lane Room (formerly called the Field Room) is part of what was originally called "The Main Library," constructed between 1916 and 1919. From the beginning, the room served as a reading room.

Photo Tour of Restoration

If you would like to view a short photographic tour of the reconstruction project in the Lane Reading Room, please start here.

Floor plan

Map of 2nd floor.


Artist's rendering of Lane Room plans, 1998.

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