E. T. Roux Library
1941
The E. T. Roux library (named for the longtime treasurer of the FSC board of trustees, and early savior of the college) was the first of Wright's circular buildings to be constructed. However, the plan was not completely circular — only the reading room had that form, and it was appended to a hexagon that contained book stacks and administrative spaces. Circles and semicircles are a recurring motif throughout Wright's campus plan, and the library reading room was a space where the circular form could be used without seriously interfering with the building's function.
The reading room is 6 steps down from the entry to emphasize the spatialseparation. A circle with a 90 foot diameter, it was divided into three levels, each with continuousdesks that almost reach around to a full circle. A circulation desk protruded into the center of the circle at the lowest level, surrounded by card catalogs. Behind this desk, at the intersection between the circle and the hexagon, was a fireplace; a domestic touch which also screened the stairs leading down to the basement and up to the second level.
Wright's design included provisions for natural light throughout the building. Poured concrete and structural steel carried the buildings weight, with a concrete block shell for the exterior walls. This provided open space without any interior supports, allowing the two distinct areas to flow gracefully into each other. The reading room, which was closed off from the outside, was lit from above. The library's hexagonal sections also received light from above via a row of triangular skylights running the length of the roof. Directly below the skylights, both the first and second floors were perforated with lozenge shaped light wells that let light penetrate all the way to the basement.
However, the ambitious natural lighting system suffered from functionalproblems. The skylights and light wells in the hexagonal section let in too much light and, together with Wright's provision for natural ventilation instead of air-conditioning, endangered the books. On the other hand, the natural light in the reading room was insufficientand reading lamps had to be used.
The building was also unsuited for the latest developments in library architecture. . The plan, separating the reading room and stacks, dated back to the days when librarians refused to allow reader access to the stacks. But in the 1950s, common practice began to integrate the reading areas and stacks, making libraries more modular and easier to expand. Insufficient space and inability to easily expand became problems for the building. In the late 1960s construction began on a new, larger library, also called the E. T. Roux library. This building was renamed the Thad Buckner building.
The library construction was seriously delayed by World War II. Construction began in fall, 1941; by March, 1942 the walls had been raised up to the clerestory windows. But after that point, war time restrictions on materials and manpower shortages significantly delayed the construction.
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