Starr Library
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Extended three times (by York and Sawyer, 1927; Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott, 1959 – 62; and Tully Associates, 1978 – 79), by the 1990s the Starr Library was in need of major reworking and expansion yet again. From many viewpoints—coherence of organization, accessibility, technological adaptability—the building did not lend itself to the needs of a contemporary multi-media library facility. It was determined to replace Starr as the college’s library and to adapt the historic building for other academic uses. The Boston architectural firm of Childs Bertman Tseckares was commissioned in 2004 to remove the 1970s stack addition (Meredith Wing), restore the historic shell and original reading and Abernethy rooms, and expand the building with a south-facing winter garden, office wings, classroom, screening, and video production facilities to accommodate the Axinn Center for Literary and Cultural Studies, named for donor Donald Everett Axinn ’51.