Expanded library formally opened at UAFS

Administrators at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith officially re-opened Boreham Library Wednesday afternoon (April 3).

Dr. Ray Wallace, provost and senior vice chancellor at UAFS, marked the occasion by telling a crowd of several hundred people how special the library's re-opening was.

"I get to introduce the most important academic building at UA Fort Smith," he said. "It's not often you get to celebrate the opening of a new university library. This tells the world this is a place for learning."

According to UAFS Chancellor Dr. Paul Beran, the new 40,000-square-foot facility was a shining example of what a university is supposed to be.

"This is the heart and soul of what every university is about," he said. "If we have a library, we have the core of the university."

According to information presented by Beran, the cost of constructing the new facility was $14.2 million. Of that figure, $1.4 million of the project was funded through donations. Beran attributed the largest donation to the facility to Dr. Ted and Betty Skokos, whom the grand entrance to the new library was named after.

"(Their's was) the landmark gift that led to many others," he said.

The university also issued bonds and refinanced others in order to afford the expansion of the library, which features more than 200 new computers and a capacity of nearly 62,000 books, Beran said.

Prior to issuing or refinancing bonds, Beran said he wanted to ensure that students would have a vested interest in the facility. In order to gauge interest in the expansion, he met with students who said they would be willing to pay a library fee in addition to their tuition.

Those fees have helped the university offset costs associated with the design and construction, Beran said.

Christopher Ha is one of those students who was in favor of a larger library facility. Ha, who lives in campus housing and is a member of the Chancellor's Leadership Council, said the library is now a place where he can study and maintain his 4.0 grade point average 24 hours per day.

"One of the great things is the 24 hour study lounge," he said. "There are no distractions of the dorm life."

He said even though the library was used more than ever, the expansion has made it comfortable for everyone to study and make themselves at home.

And Ha said the library was helping him maintain his academic record.

"(Having the new facility) holds me accountable for holding a high academic standard for myself," he said.

Beran told a crowd of university administrators, educators and community supporters that while the original 1987 library was sufficient during the years the school was known as Westark College, in order to grow into a well-respected university, the library had to be larger than the former building's 29,000-square feet.

He said with the library project now complete, the university was now on it's way to being a full-fledged regional university capable of meeting the needs of not only Fort Smith, but the entire western Arkansas region.

Dr. Don Bobbitt, president of the University of Arkansas System, was also on hand for the opening and echoed the sentiments of Beran and other speakers.

"I haven't seen a library built or expanded outside of (the University of Arkansas in) Fayetteville and that took 25 years," he said.

Bobbitt said the addition to the library, which includes numerous study and conference rooms and an expansive interlibrary loan program, was the university's center for academic discover and debate.

The expansion, he said, will only further debate and learning among the university's students as it continues to grow.

"And that's the essence of what college is," he said.