In preparation for its 2019 reaccreditation review, Harvard Medical School conducted a survey of its students to gauge their satisfaction with their medical education and the School’s facilities.
While students reported being generally very satisfied, according to Lisa Muto, HMS executive dean for administration, there was one area where the School received poor marks: the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, built in 1958 in a brutalist style that many students didn’t find inviting.
“Some students said it's so unwelcoming that they actually trek all the way to the law school library,” Muto recalled.
“We really took that seriously. That was a true student well-being issue,” she said.
Those students would be pleased to see the improved Countway Library.
The Countway Library Renovation Celebration on Sept. 27 marked the completion of a multiyear renovation project that reimagined Countway Library’s relationship to the Harvard Longwood campus and the surrounding area and how patrons use its resources and spaces.
More than brick and mortar
The renovation was guided by a campus-wide study conducted by Campus Planning and Facilities with input from faculty, staff, and students to find out what the community wanted from a modern academic health sciences library.
Traditionally, libraries were seen as brick-and-mortar buildings meant to house collections of books and journals, explained Elaine Martin, director and head librarian at the Countway Library. But increasingly, libraries are also seen as community resources and gathering spaces.
“The goal of the renovation has been to ‘de-brick’ the building,” said Martin.
“While our collections are still here, what we found is that they need to be more accessible. People are looking for a place for social connection, community engagement, wellness, and well-being and a campus hub.”
A place to gather and collaborate
The renovation celebration featured remarks from Martin, Muto, HMS Dean George Q. Daley, Steve Maiorisi, HMS chief campus planning and facilities officer, and two representatives from Shepley Bulfinch, the architecture firm that planned the Countway Library renovation.
The event also featured catered refreshments, a ribbon-cutting, and a champagne — or technically, prosecco — toast.
Attendees took guided tours of the newly renovated spaces and met therapy dogs that are part of the Countway Cuddles program.
“The plan for renovating Countway Library has resulted in a cutting-edge center for academic life, community-building, and interactive learning,” said Daley.
“The Countway Library of 2023 will respond to the diverse needs of the Harvard Medical School and Longwood community,” he added. “Countway is, I think, the quintessential gathering space of 21st-century academic medicine. It’s inclusive, it’s interdisciplinary, and it’s integrated. It brings our community together in countless ways.”
Building connections
The first phase of the renovation began in 2019 and finished in 2021. It included:
- A new Russell Reading Room.
- New employee offices.
- Added men’s, women’s, and all-gender restrooms.
- A lactation room.
- A meditation room.
- A new café.
- More natural light and views of campus.
- New event and multiuse instruction rooms.
- Improved accessibility inside and outside the library.
Perhaps most noticeable, a new entrance was constructed on Huntington Avenue. This entrance features a bridge over the empty moat that had been part of the Countway Library's original 1958 design and separated the library from the surrounding neighborhood. Prior to the renovation, the only entrance to the library was from Shattuck Street.
Before the Countway Library was built, Shattuck Street ran continuously from Binney Street to Huntington Avenue, explained Luke Voiland, executive vice president of Shepley Bulfinch.
“Shattuck Street connected the streets of the Longwood Medical Area to the community,” he said. “Key to our project was reconnecting to the community. The bridge [to Huntington Ave.] is a memory of that connection.”
The second phase of the renovation began in January 2023 and finished in September.
Focusing on the lower level (L1) of the Countway Library, the second phase provided expanded study and seating areas, new conference rooms and classrooms, a tech hub, and other features. Overall, the renovation created 5,000 square feet of new study and collaboration space.
“This feels like a dream — a dream realized,” said Muto. “Also, perhaps, the beginning of more dreaming, because when people come together, that's the kind of thing that can happen.”
