The renovated second floor computer laboratory in the Mary Helen Cochran Library was officially named the Jean Ruggles Smith Technology Center in a dedication ceremony on Nov. 3.
Barbara Smith Young ’71 funded the renovation of the center and other computer labs on campus in memory of her mother, Jean Ruggles Smith ’41. Young’s $450,000 gift also went to the acquisition of databases and lab technology.
A photo of Smith hangs in the technology center.“My mother loved Sweet Briar and loved learning. The technology center seemed a natural fit for my gift,” said Young, who currently serves on Sweet Briar’s board of directors and is chair of the development committee.
The College is dedicated to preparing women to meet the challenges of a technologically advanced world and the Smith Technology Center is an important step in fulfilling that vision, President Elisabeth Muhlenfeld said. “With resources of this advanced level, our students and faculty have access to the latest information the world has to offer at the touch of a computer key.”
(Left to Right) Barbara Smith Young tours the technology center with Virginia Collier, chairman of the SBC board of directors, and Kathy Pegues, emeriti trustee.The renovated center is just one area of the library that is being upgraded in an effort to expand and enhance this historic structure. “The Mary Helen Cochran Library is the academic soul of Sweet Briar College,” Muhlenfeld said. “It is also our richest architectural treasure.”
With one of the largest private undergraduate collections in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the library houses nearly 300,000 items, including over 1,000 scholarly journals, an extensive collection of audio and videotape programs, sound recordings and multimedia software.
Completed in 1929, it was designed by the Boston architectural firm Cram and Ferguson. Over the next year, the library’s interior is expected to get new paint, carpet and furniture; historic fixtures are being refurbished and refinished.
The process of defining exactly what will comprise the expanded facility is ongoing. In the spring, a committee of students, faculty, staff and administrators will review and finalize the library program document that defines all the components for the new facility.
— By
Shelia Alexander,
Development communications coordinator
