Contact: David Hiscoe (919) 513-3425

On January 9, 2009, the NC Council of State announced it was accelerating the sale of bonds to finance the new James B. Hunt Jr. Library at North Carolina State University, in part to provide a strong short-term stimulus for the state’s economy. The move comes in stark contrast to the freeze on other research library projects as universities nation-wide struggle with the continuing economic downturn. California State University and San Francisco State University, for instance, recently put major library projects on hold.

In this period of economic uncertainty, Beverly Perdue, North Carolina’s new governor, set out her vision in her recent inaugural address:

“Now is not the time for us to hunker down. We cannot just cut back. And I will not lower my expectations for . . . the people of North Carolina . . . . What we will do is to accept this time of challenge as an opportunity to think big, to dig deep and to push ahead. What we do in the next four years will literally define our future.”

The Hunt Library, named for North Carolina’s governor from 1977 to 1985 and 1993 to 2001, will serve as the signature building and intellectual and social heart for NCSU’s Centennial Campus, a groundbreaking national model for academic, government, and industry collaborative research parks. Housing over 130 companies, government agencies, and NC State research and academic units, the Centennial Campus was named the top Research Science Park of the Year by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) in 2007.

The Hunt Library building, a $127 million project, is scheduled for completion in late 2012 and will also house the Institute for Emerging Issues, a public policy think-and-do tank established by Governor Hunt. The Executive Architect for the library is Pearce Brinkely Cease + Lee (PBC+L) and it is being designed by Snøhetta, the Norwegian firm responsible for the National September 11 Memorial Museum and the new Oslo Opera House, winner of the “Culture” award from the 2008 World Architecture Festival. According to Susan Nutter, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries for NCSU, the building “will be a vibrant intellectual and social forum for the campus community, showcasing the latest technologies and research achievements of the university. The timeless aspects of the library’s mission as a gateway to the world’s knowledge will be reflected in the building’s design. . . . We seek nothing less than to create the best learning and collaborative space in the country.”

Patrick Deaton will join the NCSU Libraries on a three-fourths time basis as Assistant Director for Learning Spaces and Capital Management, effective January 12, 2008. He will continue work on a part-time basis with his current employer, J. Hyatt Hammond Associates, Inc., a leading, full service architecture/engineering/interior design firm in Greensboro, NC, whose portfolio includes libraries.

As Assistant Director for Learning Spaces, Patrick Deaton is charged with planning and executing the design of compelling and welcoming library learning spaces that encourage discovery, creativity, and collaboration. He will ensure that the Libraries provides a physical environment, integrated with the latest technologies, that is conducive to both individual and group study and that keeps pace with evolving learner and researcher expectations. He will also provide internal oversight for the Libraries’ capital management projects, including the Hunt Library on Centennial Campus, ongoing renovations in the D.H. Hill Library, and further implementation of the Libraries’ Master Plan.

With J. Hyatt Hammond, Inc., Deaton has served as Project Manager, Project Architect, and Project Designer on a variety of projects, particularly for public libraries and a variety of higher education projects. He has been responsible for managing an architectural, interior, and graphic design staff of 8 to 12 employees. He began his architecture career with J. Michael Osteen, Architect (Charlottesville, VA.). Deaton has designed library facilities in Greensboro, Burlington, Rocky Mount, Kinston, and High Point. His work on library renovation projects includes the NCSU Libraries’ Learning Commons and current design work for its Creamery, opening in 2009 in D.H. Hill Library. His work is notable for creative, attractive design that succeeds in incorporating the unique functional role of the library as a learning space.

Deaton has held teaching appointments as Lecturer in Interior Architecture, University of North Carolina at Greensboro and as Lecturer in Architecture, North Carolina State University. His professional record includes presentations to the Southeastern Library Association and the American Library Association, as well as past service as Managing Editor for The Princeton Journal: Thematic Studies in Architecture, and Editor of Modulus: The Architectural Review at the University of Virginia. He is a member of the Board of Directors and Interim President of the Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art.

Deaton holds the Master of Architecture from Princeton University and the Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia. He is a U.S. Green Building Council, LEED Accredited Professional.

Contact: Erin Lawrimore (919) 513-1188

The North Carolina State University Special Collections Research Center announces the acquisition of a new collection related to the study of sociolinguistics. The Walt Wolfram Sociolinguistic Collection, 1969-1986, contains audio recordings of interviews conducted early in Wolfram’s career with speakers of Appalachian English, Puerto Rican English, Vietnamese English, Ozark English, and African-American vernacular English. The collection also features transcripts of many of the interviews and manuscripts of Wolfram’s resulting work on these dialects. Stanford sociolinguist John Rickford describes Wolfram as the “complete linguist, an exceptional example of how to combine theory and application, research and teaching, and service. . . and he has endeavored to use his knowledge to increase the public good. . .”

Wolfram has pioneered research on social and ethnic dialects since the 1960s, authoring or co-authoring 20 books and more than 250 articles on varieties of American English. A central focus of his work has always been the application of sociolinguistic information to social and educational problems and the dissemination of knowledge about dialects to the public. This connection has resulted in the production of television documentaries on dialect diversity, the construction of museum exhibits, and the development of dialect awareness curricula for the schools and general public. Since joining NCSU faculty in 1992, Wolfram has concentrated his efforts on preserving the rich linguistic heritage of North Carolina and raising public awareness of its cultural significance. He established the North Carolina Language and Life Project (NCLLP) in 1993, a project that focuses on research, graduate and undergraduate education, and outreach programs related to language in the American South.

Walt Wolfram is William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of English Linguistics at NCSU and has been additionally recognized with the NCSU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Research Award, the Distinguished Graduate Professorship Award, the Association Extension and Engagement Award, the Holladay Medal for distinguished career service, and the 2008 John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities. A former President of the Linguistic Society of America as well as the American Dialect Society, Wolfram received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics at Hartford Seminary Foundation.

The NCSU Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center, located on the ground floor of the East Wing of D. H. Hill Library, holds research and primary resource materials in areas that reflect and support the teaching and research needs of the students, faculty, and researchers on the NC State Campus. By emphasizing established and emerging areas of excellence at the university and corresponding strengths within the Libraries' overall collection, the SCRC is strategically developing collections with the aim of becoming an indispensable source of information for generations of scholars.

The North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries has been awarded $75,330 to extend for another year the project “The Built Heritage of North Carolina: Historic Architecture in the Old North State.” This project is creating an online resource for the study of North Carolina’s architectural history. The Libraries are partnering with Preservation North Carolina (PNC) to digitize 8,100 measured drawings and photographs. Begun in 2007, “Built Heritage” has so far scanned 2,731 measured drawings and 1,180 photographs, and the project is making them accessible in an online image database.

Built Heritage provides scholars with easy access to resources needed for the study of North Carolina’s architecture and history. This online resource will help teachers and students to use local landmarks in order to make history come alive. The general public can use the image database and website for the casual study of the built environment of the state.

Built Heritage provides access to documentation on hundreds of buildings and structures in North Carolina dating from the 1700s to the early 1900s. Buildings represented in this project include well-known examples of historic architecture, such as Bald Head Lighthouse, the Bellamy Mansion in Wilmington (left), and Blandwood in Greensboro. Also covered are such lesser known but historically significant structures as the Charlton-Jordan House in Bertie County (one of the earliest brick buildings in the state) and the Allison-Deaver House in Transylvania County (one of the oldest frame dwellings in the state west of the Blue Ridge). Several buildings in Beaufort, Hillsborough, and Winston-Salem (including Bethabara and Old Salem Village), as well as Mecklenburg and Wake Counties, are included.

During the second year of Built Heritage, project staff will scan 4,189 photographs. They will facilitate geographic study of the architecture by developing a Google Maps feature for the website. Also, Google SketchUp will be used for virtual 3-D modeling of sixteen historic buildings. Finally, K-12 lesson plans will be created to encourage study in the schools.

The NCSU Libraries have strong architecture and design collections to draw upon for Built Heritage. The drawings being scanned were created from the 1950s to the 1970s as part of a historic architecture documentation project by NC State’s well-respected College of Design. These drawings are currently preserved by the Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center, along with the papers of prominent Design faculty from that era, such as Henry Kamphoefner, George Matsumoto, Matthew Nowicki, and G. Milton Small.

PNC is a private, non-profit statewide organization whose mission is to protect and promote buildings, sites, and landscapes important to the diverse heritage of North Carolina. PNC holds thousands of photographs of historic structures. The Built Heritage project has scanned color slides created by Tim Buchman (right, Hezekiah Alexander House, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina), one of the premiere photographers of North Carolina architecture. These images have appeared in such PNC publications as Catherine Bishir’s North Carolina Architecture (1990, 2005). In the second year of the Built Heritage project additional photographers will be added.

The Built Heritage of North Carolina: Historic Architecture in the Old North State is made possible through a Library Services and Technology Act grant administered by the State Library of North Carolina's NC ECHO program. The project will be completed in 2009. For more information, please contact Todd Kosmerick, University Archivist, at todd_kosmerick@ncsu.edu or (919)513-3673.

Contact: Erin Lawrimore (919) 513-1188

The North Carolina State University Special Collections Research Center announces the acquisition and availability of a new collection related to the study of science fiction. The Scott Green Collection of Speculative Fiction, 1929-2007, contains magazines, fanzines, review publications, newsletters, and other publications containing or related to speculative fiction, especially science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Donated to the library by poet and journalist Scott E. Green, these materials enhance NCSU’s collection of writings about science fiction.

"The materials in the Green collection should be a valuable resource for anyone doing serious study of science fiction in the second half of the 20th century," noted North Carolina State University Professor of English John Kessel. It contains a vast number of the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, the first big 'boom' in science fiction publication in the U.S. Many significant authors, such as Philip K. Dick, Walter Miller, Algis Budrys, and Robert Sheckley first saw publication in these magazines.

"In addition, the Green collection contains a large number of amateur and small press publications, so-called 'fanzines,' in which the first serious criticism of science fiction was published," Kessel adds. "These magazines are extremely rare and difficult to find. Any student or researcher seeking to understand the origins and culture of science fiction will find these invaluable."

Scott E. Green earned his B.A. at Bates College in Asian history with a minor in government, and his M.A. in American history with a concentration in archives and museum management from Rhode Island College. Green has been an active writer in a number of fields including speculative poetry. His publications include Contemporary Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Poetry: A Resource Guide and Biographical Directory and Isaac Asimov: An Annotated Bibliography of the Asimov Collection at Boston University. His poetry has been published in numerous print and web publications including Aeon, Amazing, Astropoetica, Space and Time, Star*Line, Strange Horizons, and Writer’s Journal. Green served as president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, served the National Writers Union in a variety of capacities, and maintained membership in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

The NCSU Special Collections Research Center, located on the ground floor of the East Wing of D. H. Hill Library, holds research and primary resource materials in areas that reflect and support the teaching and research needs of the students, faculty, and researchers on the NC State Campus. By emphasizing established and emerging areas of excellence at the university and corresponding strengths within the Libraries' overall collection, the SCRC is strategically developing collections with the aim of becoming an indispensable source of information for generations of scholars.