Dean's vision for new Madden Library

By Michael Gorman
Dean of Library Services

The challenge of the modern university library is to provide the very best technology and, at the same time, to preserve traditional collections and services.

I have a vision of the Madden Library as the beacon of learning in the New California-the great Central Valley .   If Proposition 55 passes, the New Madden Library will be able to house our invaluable million-volume plus collections, provide the services that are based on those collections, and provide the most up-to-date information technology and speedy access to the world's digitized knowledge and information.

In addition the New Madden Library will have:

• ample places in which to study, read, and write in an atmosphere of learning-including innovative technological collaborative learning centers
• centers of excellence such as the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature and the Central Valley Political Archive (each housed in suitable and accessible locations)
• the capacity to deliver the finest library instruction/information competence programs in the state in the most modern learning environments
• a technological infrastructure (including a wireless network) that will make the world's electronic resources instantly available to the library's users.

The New Madden Library will be an attractive and architecturally handsome building in the heart of the campus, a location symbolic of its centrality to the academic mission of the university.   It will serve not only the students, faculty and staff of Fresno State , but also thousands of community members for whom it will stand as one of the most important manifestations of the university's role in the life of the city and region.

The bond issues made possible by the passage of Proposition 55 will provide an investment in education and learning-the New Madden Library-that will benefit the community, region, and state for decades to come.

Cramped workstations are common in library.	The library's stacks are completely full, Gorman says.	Tiles in library entrance need repair.
Three people often work in this small area in the Arne Nixon Center.	More computer stations for students are needed.	The university's historical files overflow shelves in Special Collections.