Duane Library is a former library located at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

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campus, originally constructed in 1926. After the construction of the William D. Walsh Family Library in 1997, Duane Library officially closed. Renovated in 2004, it now houses the university's admissions office and theology department.

History

Construction

Excavation for Duane Library began shortly after the university's completion of the Rose Hill Gymnasium in January 1925, and construction formally began in 1926. The library was completed in 1928. It was named after Father William J. Duane, S.J. the university's president from 1924 to 1930. Its interior features a spiral staircase and oak paneling, and capacity to store 150,000 volumes.

Renovation and repurposing

In the 1990s during the construction of the William D. Walsh Family Library, the basement space of Keating Hall was used to store 300,000 books that had been held in the Duane Library collection. After the completion of the Walsh Family Library, the Duane Library was officially closed to students and faculty and sat empty. In 2004, a $12 million restoration project of the library was undertaken. A new staircase was added to the building, which used

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

slabs from the library's original stacks. Additionally, the original granite porch of the library's second-floor entrance was removed, relocating the main entrance to grade. The interior restoration required the creation of corridors in order to make the building multi-use, as the original interior had been a single open space. After the completion of the restoration, Duane Library became the official home of the university's admissions and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

department, as well as providing lecture and study spaces.

Recent history

In 2018, the university was gifted a quarter-scale reproduction of Michelangelo's

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

ceiling fresco by the

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. The digital reproduction was made for the Met's exhibit, ''Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer'', which ran from November 2017 to February 2018. It is on display in Duane Library's Butler Commons.

Gallery

Image:Fordham University Campus fall 2010 (2).jpg, Duane Library, viewed from the south Image:Fordham Manor, Bronx, NY, USA - panoramio (9).jpg, Entrance to Duane Library Image:Duane Library interior.jpg, Interior of Duane Library

Notes and references

Notes

References

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External links

Duane Library event archives
{{Fordham University 1926 establishments in New York City Buildings at Fordham University Collegiate Gothic architecture in New York City Libraries in the Bronx