NIMITZ LIBRARY 25th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Public Affairs Office
Annapolis, Maryland 21402

An impressive new landmark -- the modern Nimitz Library with its white granite and huge panes of smoky amber glass -- now dominates the skyline on the Severn River approach to the Naval Academy.

Dedicated in September 1973 and named in honor of the late Fleet Admiral Chester A. Nimitz, a 1905 Academy graduate and commander of the Allied Forces in the Pacific in World War II, Nimitz Library has alleviated a space problem that has plagued the Naval Academy library in recent years.

As the curriculum expanded at Annapolis, the old Mahan Library, vintage 1905, could no longer hold the growing collection of books, and the volumes were spread throughout the yard in several different libraries.  Nimitz Library, however, has now replaced the creaky floor boards and overloaded shelves of Mahan Hall and has once again brought the entire Naval Academy Library under one roof in a striking architectural layout.

The nine million dollar Nimitz Library was designed by the joint venture of John Carl Warnecke and George M. Ewing.  Its simple, clean lines and modern building materials combine contemporary design with the strength and solidity that mark the Academy's 19th century buildings.

Inside, the look is strictly "today." Custom designed Danish-style furniture of oak and soft oranges and browns and greens and blues, matching carpeting and oak shelves fill the bright and airy stack and study areas, while floor-to-ceiling glass, surrounding all sides of the building, allows a view of the Naval Academy Yard and sailboats on the Severn.  Super-graphics of huge three-dimensional letters and modern display techniques dot the walls.

"It's one of the first fully-coordinated government buildings,"  says Lt. John Franz, who worked with Eleanor LeMaire Associates, Inc. on the interior design of the library.  "Instead of setting up a lot of little cubicles we tried to create interesting patterns of furniture and color in open spaces."

The overall effect of the library is an aesthetic one, but comfort and ease for research and study have not been sacrificed for appearance.  Nimitz has a 650,000 volume capacity and seats 1500 people (the Brigade of Midshipmen numbers about 4200.)  Typing rooms, music listening rooms, smoking lounges and microfilm viewing rooms are included.

One of the most unusual areas of Nimitz is an audio-visual viewing room with 105 carrels containing either cassette video-tape equipment or conventional audio-visual machinery. With the video-tape  capability midshipmen can check out color cassette video-tapes of lectures they may have missed or just wish to review, and study them right in the library.

Twenty computer terminals in individual rooms in Nimitz are also available to midshipmen, and groups may discuss projects in seminar-type study areas. For those who like to learn by music, Nimitz has 220 study carrels with headsets that receive stereo music on a five channel system.

One of the highlights of Nimitz Library is the Annapolis Room, a beautifully decorated display and reading room that contains the Academy's rare books and special collections and provides an area for scholars to study these works.

Among the special collections stored in this temperature and humidity controlled area is the Edward J. Steichen Collection of photographs and books.  The photos, many of which were taken by the late Steichen when he was a Captain in the Naval Reserve, portray the Navy's role in the Pacific campaigns of World War II.

Rare first editions of works by authors such as Milton and Coleridge that belong to the Academy’s 4000--volume Harry Frank Guggenheim Collection are also on display in the Annapolis Room.

The Nimitz Library also provides facilities for other Naval Academy departments.  Housed on the ground level is the academic division of U.S. and International Studies, an area that includes classrooms, offices and a modern language teaching and study lab that is available to midshipmen after class hours.

The Educational Resources Center, with its sophisticated television studio, audio-visual center, art studio and film library, and the Naval Academy Photographic Laboratory occupy remaining ground level areas in Nimitz.

The Nimitz Library is the latest structure in the Naval Academy's building program.  Michelson and Chauvenet Halls, the science and math buildings, were dedicated in 1969.  The Rickover Engineering Studies Complex, now under construction next to the Library, will complete the Naval Academy’s modern classroom and study facilities.