The Legacy Lives On:
BY RACHEL PICKLE The sounds of the first stages of construction on the new Jerry Falwell Library are echoing across Liberty University’s campus as old metal buildings are cleared away to make room for the school’s biggest financial investment in any facility to date. Named for Liberty’s founder, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr., the new freestanding library will be the focal point and most significant project in the current five-year campus transformation. The four-story, 170,000-square-foot structure will provide the latest in technology, resources, services, and amenities for students, faculty, and staff. Located just west of the Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center and a soon-to-be redesigned commons area, the Jerry Falwell Library is scheduled for completion in late 2013. Looking back over Liberty’s courageous history, there has always been a vision for the future, an energy and enthusiasm seen in Dr. Falwell and his dream for a worldclass Christian university from the day it began in 1971. The spacious, welcoming library will be the perfect building to bear his name and honor his life and ministry. Many who share Liberty’s mission are supporting the library through an innovative campaign and contributing engraved bricks for the entrances. Recalling his father’s commitment and challenge, “If it’s Christian, it ought to be better,” Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. said, “We believe this facility will become the bridge between Liberty’s original vision for academic excellence and the final fulfillment of that vision. From the automated book retrieval system to the dramatic expansion of our budget for print books and electronic books, this building is about resources, service, and student spaces. It will be a statement of our commitment to academic excellence.” Looking forward to everything the new library will offer, students are excited about what it will bring to the university. More than 5,000 attended the historic groundbreaking on
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