Robert and Ann Bass, principal donors to Bass Library

Bass Library Now Open!

Over a thousand members of the Yale community celebrated the opening of the new Bass Library and Wright Reading Room with a preview event that kicked off at 11 p.m. on October 18 with live music and refreshments and culminated in a fanfare opening at the stroke of midnight. Students, faculty, and staff were able to view the stunning interiors and sample food and drink offered by the new Library Café.

In homage to two significant events in the history of the University and its Library—the meeting of the ministers of 1701 and the procession of books from the Old Library (now Dwight Hall) to Sterling Memorial Library in 1930—a group of students, faculty, and staff carried the first books from the Wright Reading Room to the shelves of the Bass Library. The Library closed at 1:00 a.m. and reopened just a few hours later at 8:30 that same morning. Finishing touches within the Library will be put in place during the coming months and collections will be moved into the new space over the next several evenings.

Named to honor the generosity of Anne T. and Robert M. Bass ’71, the Library has been completely redesigned to serve the needs of Yale students, teaching faculty, and staff. Featuring new group study rooms, individual study carrels, and custom designed furnishings, the Library will house intensive use and reserve collections needed by readers on a daily basis. It will also be home to the new Collaborative Learning Center, an evolving partnership between the Library, the Instructional Technology Group, the McDougal Graduate Teaching Center the Yale Center for Language Study, and Yale ITS. Yale Dining Services and the Yale Sustainable Food Project will operate the Library Café, which will offer a delicious organic and locally-sourced menu. The café will be open to the public as well as to the Yale community and full services will be available on October 23. The new Bass Library will become an exciting and dynamic center of learning, teaching, study, and collaboration on campus. It will also be a work in progress, encouraging exploration of innovative programs and services for library readers.

Robert Bass stated: “Ann and I can think of no better way to support education at Yale than the renovation of the Cross Campus Library. Already a center for innovative teaching, research and learning, this splendid facility promises to be a model for academic libraries in the 21st century”.

The renovation of the Bass Library is part of the Library’s wider Phase 2a Renovation Project, which saw the complete transformation of the former Cross Campus Library in its entirety and a portion of the basement of Sterling Memorial Library. Construction began in May 2006.

Yale Daily News: Library opens at midnight", October 19, 2007.
Yale Daily News: "Toad's forsaken for Bass", October 19, 2007.