Work begins on UNR's new library

More than 200 craftsmen will work around the clock to place and finish 12,000,000 pounds of concrete

Work began this month on the University of Nevada, Reno's new library, to be known as the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center and scheduled to open in 2008, as Q&D Construction poured approximately 18,000 square feet of concrete.

The foundation pour was the first in a series of large pours that will extend into the fall of 2007 to make way for the 295,000-square-foot, five-story building.

The Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, named after donors Chuck and Ann Mathewson and International Game Technology, will be one of the most technologically advanced libraries in the country.

Integrated information technologies combined with the resources of the University library will maximize learning, nurture the production and distribution of new knowledge, and stimulate and sustain innovation on campus and in the community.

In 2005, more than 1 million visitors visited the Getchell Library, the university's library now in use. The university expects to double the number of visitors in the new facility, during the 2008-09 academic year. The Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center will serve the entire campus as well as visitors from the community.

The University of Nevada, Reno, was founded in 1874 as Nevada's oldest land-grant university. It has more than 16,000 students, four campuses and hosts Cooperative Extension services in all Nevada counties. It is ranked as one of the country's top 150 research institutions by the Carnegie Foundation, and is home to America's sixth-largest study-abroad program, as well as the state's oldest and largest medical school.

• For more information on the library, call Jill Boudreaux at UNR at 784-4611.