Add Your Name to the Hunt

Although it won’t open its doors on Centennial Campus until 2013, the James B. Hunt Jr. Library is already making a name for itself, promising to combine futuristic technology with breathtaking design. And while the former governor’s name will get top billing, there’s still plenty of room in the 200,000-square-foot edifice for other North Carolina names, even yours.

The university recently launched a campaign to raise $10 million to pay for advanced technology and furnishings in the library, offering dozens of naming opportunities for donations up to $2 million. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get in on the ground floor, so to speak, and put your name on what promises to be the best collaborative learning space in the country.

Name That Bot

For $50,000 you could name one of four bookBots, the 50-foot-tall robots that will be used to retrieve books from the shelves and deliver them to library patrons. Visitors will be able to watch the robots in action through a glass wall on the first floor.

A more ambitious donor could name one of the library’s specialized learning spaces, such as the Rain Garden Reading Lounge or the Creativity Zone.

The support of donors is especially important in tough economic times, with the university facing a reduction in state funding. Although the legislature budgeted $115 million for the library, that won’t pay for everything.

“We’ve worked for decades to make this new library happen. The structure itself is paid for, and construction is moving toward completion. The building is bold and astounding, everything we hoped for,” says Susan K. Nutter, vice provost and director of the NCSU Libraries. “Now we need to fill it with the technologies and spaces that will make it come alive. There has never been a time in our history when we have more needed the edge that our donors can give us.”

Centennial Centerpiece

When completed, the Hunt Library will anchor Centennial Campus’ academic oval that includes buildings housing the College of Engineering. The building will also offer dramatic views of the Raleigh skyline to the east and Lake Raleigh to the south. The primary users of the library will include faculty, students and staff of the College of Textiles, the College of Engineering, and other science and veterinary programs.

The building will also be home to the Institute for Emerging Issues, a public policy “think-and-do” tank that brings together leaders from business, the public sector and higher education to tackle some of the biggest issues facing North Carolina.