Harvard renamed the Widener Library Reading Room for benefactor Katherine B. Loker in a Friday afternoon ceremony celebrating her generous contribution last April to the library's renovation.

"She supported Loker Commons, and fed the students' stomachs," said Sidney Verba '53, director of the Harvard University Library and Pforzheimer University professor. "Now with the library, their minds will be fed."

Loker, who already contributed $7 million to the creation of Loker Commons, donated another $17 million towards significant renovations of Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library.

Because Widener Library is internationally renowned and has the world's largest open-stack collection, Loker's contribution "is something that will affect learning across the world," said President Neil L. Rudenstine at the ceremony.

Loker's gift was especially well-received, Rudenstine told The Crimson last July, because although the University has been successful in its fundraising campaign, the library system has lagged behind its goals.

The University was nine months and $180 million ahead of schedule just prior to Loker's donation, but the library fund was behind. Out of the $78 million it hopes to raise to acquire new holdings for Harvard's libraries, renovate Widener Library and preserve Harvard's aging collection, the University had secured only 27 percent of the funds prior to Loker's gift.

"When it became clear to me that the library's needs were not being met and that renovating Widener was a major priority for the University, I thought I'd like to help," Loker said in a written statement. She was married to the late Donald P. Loker '25.

Library officials said they were particularly grateful for Loker's gift because the library fund is unpopular among donors.

"It was clear that the University wanted to address the issues, but it was difficult...to appeal to donors" with requests for wires and sheet metal, said Nancy M. Cline, Larsen librarian of HarvardCollege. "[Loker] looked beyond the mundane" andmade an "investment in the future of Harvard."Without her, "it would have been a much longerprocess," she said.

According to Verba, Loker has provided thebasic funding for substantial renovations to thelibrary, which has seen a significant increase inuse in recent years, due in part to the creationof HOLLIS, the on-line catalog system.

Rudenstine cited statistics which showed thattotal use of the library by individualsunassociated with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences(FAS) has increased more than 100 percent in thepast five years, and said the dramatic increase inuse made the renovation even more important.

The library, despite its grand limestoneexterior, "has experienced a steady deteriorationwithin," Cline said.

Although Widener's steam heating andventilation system was state-of-the-art when itwas built 80 years ago, the same wide windows thatcreate a spacious atmosphere let in fresh air,sunlight and spores that affect the collections,she said.

"The building is still basically what it waswhen it was built," Verba explained.

The collections have been disintegrating due inlarge part to their sensitivity to temperature,according to Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R.Knowles.

The major changes will include new heating andair conditioning, ventilation and fire detectionsystems, new electrical wiring and increasedsecurity.

The plans for the renovation will "compete withD-day in its complexity," Knowles said.

Ensuring the preservation of over 50 miles ofstacks will take at least two years, Cline said.

Administrators said Loker's library gift hasextended her effect on student life across theUniversity.

"She has left quite a legacy," Cline said