The much-touted Poetry Room was designed by Swedish architect Alvar Aalto.

Construction on the new library began in June 1947. The cornerstone was laid Dec. 31, 1947, and the library's eight levels-two of which are used for underground storage-opened for business one year later.

Like the Boylston Hall renovations just last year, the building of Lamont caused Wigglesworth Hall residents many sleepless mornings.

In an on-line memory book the library compiled to mark its anniversary, William G. Crook Jr. '51 writes of "those crisp, clear mornings at 6 a.m. when a bricklayer would over-turn his four foot by two foot metal trough right under my bedroom window, and proceed to spend the next 30 minutes methodically beating every square inch of it with a shovel wielded over his head."

In the weeks preceding the grand opening, anticipation ran so high that night security guard Leo Shean reported staving off numerous curious undergraduates, some of whom went so far as to forge letters from President Conant authorizing them to see the site.

"It was thought to be a piece of architectural genius to fit as many floors and as many functions into the small amount of space that the University was willing to grant," says Heather E. Cole, current librarian of the Hilles and Lamont libraries.

Among its many technological wonders, the library boasted Ra-Tox venetian blinds, "the world's most modern windows" by Thermopane, Celotex acoustical ceilings, the Sikes "Seats of Knowledge," Art Metal Steel book stacks and a state-of-the-art air conditioning system by the G.A. Berman Co.

Vestiges of the past are still apparent everywhere, from the now-worn cork floors to the five or so typewriters tucked away in a reading room on level two.

Opening Day

On Jan. 3, 1949, Lamont Librarian Philip J. McNiff estimated that 7,200 curious undergraduates visited the newfangled library-only 1,000 of whom had actually come to study.

Francis M. Wilhoit '49, a second-semester senior at the time of Lamont's opening, shares his rather unusual story of opening day in the library's on-line memory book.

"As I was leaving," he writes, "I suddenly ran smack into one of the clear glass doors, which caused me to recoil in shame and to beat a hasty retreat."

The Crimson reported the event somewhat differently.

"Under the most severe misapprehension," the paper wrote, "was an unidentified sightseeing freshman who tried to leave the Farnsworth room through a full-length pane of glass. The glass, apparently designed with this in mind, withstood the shock, but the freshman suffered assorted head bruises and a bloody nose."

From the very start, Lamont received mixed reactions to its decor and design. Touted by many as the very best in new technology and engineered study space, the building garnered some criticism along with its praise even in the early years.