Old Radcliffe Lib Starts New Life

Conversion of the old Radcliffe Library to new facilities for the Schlesinger Library and Women's Archives and the Institute for Independent Study was begun last month and should be completed by June.

Workmen have laid new pipes and electrical lines throughout Radcliffe Yard and begun work on the facade of the building, tearing out some walls and replacing red bricks with floor-to-ceiling windows.

The Schlesinger Library will occupy the first floor and basement of the remodeled building. The Institute will have administrative offices, seminar rooms, and a lecture hall on the second floor. On a new floor -- to be constructed between the present second and third floors--there will be office space for members of the Institute.

Art Studio

On the top floor, the workmen will build what Radcliffe claims to be the University's first "real" art studios. Constance E. Smith, dean of the Institute, said last week that the four studios, each with an outside wall entirely of glass, will be available to undergraduates working with members of the Institute.

Once the Schlesinger Library is moved into the new building, much of its collection -- now in storage in Byerly Hall--will be made more accessible to students. Until summer, the Institute will continue to be housed in a small office on Mt. Auburn St.; its three dozen scholars do not have offices of their own.

The entire cost of remodeling Radcliffe Library is approximately $780,000, which has been collected in the past year on a cash basis; four donors, in fact, have given most of that sum.

But, before the building can be completed, the Institute will have to find an additional $150,000. Miss Smith said last week that Radcliffe has applied to the Office of Education for that sum