Mount Holyoke: Bridging the Gap Between Books and Bytes.

The article reports on a $15.3 million library renovation project at the Mount Holyoke College's Williston Memorial Library in South Hadley, Massachusetts. The project includes a state-of-the-art computer center and a new science library. A copper-sheathed skywalk connects the old and new buildings and symbolizes the growing symbiosis between libraries and information technology resources. College librarian Anne C. Edmonds says that technology is redefining the role of librarians at liberal arts colleges. In a recent report prepared for the Research Libraries Group Inc., Richard Dougherty and Carol Hughes from the University of Michigan's School of Information and Library Studies note that the growing presence of information technologies has created tensions between the traditional values of academe and the new roles and responsibilities envision for libraries and computer centers. Edmonds thinks it is essential that librarians be included in the planning process. Librarians are the ones who ultimately must leverage the library's computing resources for the benefit of its patrons.