US City Breaks Ground for $47m National Library

18 April 2011 (Last Updated April 18th, 2011 18:30)

The US city of Mount Vernon has broken ground on the construction of the $47m Fred W Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington in Virginia, US. The 4,100m² library will be constructed on a 15-acre site and will house more than 15,000 items including books, letters

The US city of Mount Vernon has broken ground on the construction of the $47m Fred W Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington in Virginia, US.

The 4,100m² library will be constructed on a 15-acre site and will house more than 15,000 items including books, letters and ledgers amongst others.

The main building of the library will consist of a reading room, rare books and manuscript rooms, and stacks for modern volumes.

The east wing will provide spaces for lectures, seminars and training programmes while the west wing will include work spaces for visiting scholars and staff members.

The library is scheduled for completion in 2013.