At a most basic level, our just being here is important. Being open and providing
a space apart from a residence hall room or noisy off-campus lodgings. Being here
as a marker of stability in a world increasingly unrecognizable. Being a familiar
and friendly face after a long day of meetings online. Even more so during the time
the Libraries were closed, we witnessed how critical our print collections remain
for our scholars.
The Binghamton University Libraries serve every discipline on campus. To some, the
Libraries are a group of quiet rooms surrounded by books or the best place to study
and meet study partners. For others, the Libraries represent research opportunities
and discoveries in the stacks that lead to completed pages of a dissertation. Still
other library lovers come to know the institution on a meta-level, and their appreciation
for the institution turns into a career in library and information science.
Libraries are known for their collective ability to pivot. People who regularly use
library services know that the richness of paper books, the essence of the stacks
and the feeling of laying one’s hands on the perfect volume are all that remains the
same and that nearly every other library action can be performed online.
It is the Libraries’ primary institutional purpose to provide material that answers
the myriad of questions posed by scholars. Our biggest fans are many-splendored and,
while they proudly identify with their primary Binghamton degree programs, a select
group remember the Libraries when giving. Stephen McKiernan ’70 is an alumnus who
thought of the Libraries first and uniquely, he decided that he had something to contribute
both now and later.
