Ringling welcomes students and staff to new library

There was only one thing missing from Ringling College of Art and Design's recently completed Alfred Goldstein Library Jan. 9— the last of the books. 

Luckily, Ringling College had no shortage of willing volunteers to help get the last 200 books in the college's 75,000 volume collection from Kimbrough Library to the new facility. 

Students and faculty lined the Martin Luther King Jr. Way, their assembly line crossing the intersection of Old Bradenton Road, to deliver the volumes to their new home at the Alfred Goldstein Library. 

Director of Library Services Kristina Keough was the last person in the assembly line. She piled books on shelves, looking forward to allowing the students inside.

"The most exciting thing is to watch the students walk into this building," she said. "This is their space."

Ringling College of Art and Design President Larry Thompson echoed that sentiment while addressing faculty and students in front of the library. 

He called the facility "the library of the future," not only because of the technology available within the facility, but because of its potential to facilitate student collaboration. 

"It has a lot of books — 75,000 of them as a matter of fact — but it's also a place for students to be able to work together, collaborate and explore ... You, the students, you are the future," Thompson said.