Hillman Library

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Coordinates: 40.442583° N 79.954033° W

Hillman Library from across Forbes Quadrangle. Tony Smith's Light Up! sculpture can be seen at the bottom left.

Hillman Library is the primary building of the library system of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Located on corner of Forbes Avenue and Schenley Drive diagonally across from the Cathedral of Learning, Hillman serves as the centerpiece of the 5 million-volume^[1] University Library System at Pitt, the 26th largest university library system in the country.

[edit] History

The library was built on land that had bordered Forbes Field and was donated in the 1950s to Pitt by coal magnate John H. Hillman, Jr. When Forbes Field was razed in 1971, three other buildings were planned as a cluster for the site: Wesley W. Posvar Hall, David L. Lawrence Hall, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Construction of Hillman Library, designed by Celli-Flynn and Associates, began in June of 1965. Hillman opened on September 6, 1968 and was named for John H. Hillman, Jr. Both the Hillman family and the Hillman Foundation gave millions toward its construction. Max Abramovitz designed the oriel windows which were placed at a bay window angle in order to be inconspicuous on the plane surface of the outer wall while still providing light.[1]. With five floors, seating for 1,539 students, and holding 1.9 million volumes, Hillman is the largest of the 17 libraries on the Pitt campus. In 1996, architect Celli-Flynn and Associates won the Timeless Award for Enduring Design from the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Institute of Architects for its design of Hillman Library.[2][3]

Tony Smith's 'Light Up,' sits outside the Hillman Library

Tony Smith's 1971 painted steel sculpture Light Up! can be found outside Hillman library in Forbes Quad between the library and Posvar Hall.[4]

[edit] Special Collections/Rooms

Hillman Library contains many different collections and reading spaces. Among them are:

• African-American Collection
• Alldred Collection
• Alliance College Polish Collection
• Buhl Social Work Collection
• Cup & Chaucer Café
• East Asian Library
• The Gertrude and Philip Hoffman Judaic Collection
• GIS (Geographic Information Service)
• Government Publications Collection
• K. Leroy Irvis Reading Room
• Japan Information Center
• Eduardo Lozano Latin American Collection
• Map Collection
• Media Resources (Film/Video Collection)
• Microforms Collection
• Periodicals Collection
• Special Collections
• Stark Listening Center

[5]

[edit] Art

A work by Virgil Cantini on the first floor of the Hillman Library.

A selection of Audubon prints is on view in the library’s ground floor display case and many graphic and sculptural works are nestled among the stairways and study areas on the building’s upper floors, some of which are on loan from the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Several works of Virgil Cantini are in the library, including a wood and metal sculpture of an arrow-pierced St. Sebastian, located in the first floor stairwell, and a wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding a lamb.^[2] Flanking the wall opposite the first floor reference desk are two abstract works: “Modern Warfare” by Kes Zapkus and “Arcing Light” by Albert Stadler. A large bust of Confucius by Chinese artist Li Guangyu and a stone sculpture, “The Sound of Autumn,” by Masayuki Nagare are on the second floor. Near the special collections reading room on the third floor is a selection of early 20th century illustrations in watercolor, charcoal and crayon created to accompany the work of mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart. Also on the third floor are works by winners of the A.J. Schneider Studio Arts Award, selected from among entries in the annual student exhibition. Winners agree to allow their work to be displayed for one year in the reading room.[6]

[edit] Popular culture

Hillman Library is a primary setting for The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, a novel by Pitt alumnus Michael Chabon, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001.

[edit] External links

• University of Pittsburgh Library System
• Hillman Library virtual tour

Panoramic Tours

• Hillman Library First Floor panoramic
• Cup & Chaucer Café panoramic
• K. Leroy Irvis Reading Room 1 panoramic
• Leroy Irvis Reading Room 2 panoramic
• Latin American Reading Room panoramic
• Special Collections panoramic

[edit] References

• Alberts, Robert C. (1987). Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787–1987. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-1150-7. 
• Kidney, Walter C. (1997). Pittsburgh's Landmark Architecture: The Historic Buildings of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. ISBN 0-916670-18-X. 
• Toker, Franklin [1986] (1994). Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-5434-6. 

[edit] Gallery

Virgil Cantini's sculpture of St. Sebastian in the first floor stairwell

A Virgil Cantini tapestri

Another Cantini tapestri

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