Liz Everett, Campus Editor


The words “I have to go to the library” are usually not uttered or met with enthusiasm by students.  But beginning last Friday, Notre Dame commenced a year-long opportunity for the students, faculty and the Notre Dame community to celebrate and commemorate the Hesburgh Library and all that for which it stands.  Contributing to the celebration were live music, staff handing out various Hesburgh paraphernalia and Au Bon Pain’s distribution of free treats and drinks.  A large “Happy 50th Anniversary, Hesburgh Library” card adorned the entrance to the festivities, and students, professors and South Bend residents had a chance to mark down what the library has meant to them.

The library opened in September 1963 and was dedicated in May of the following year.  Its primary mission has always been to connect people to knowledge, though the way that it does this is always adapting and changing.  Unlike when the library began, the catalogue is now completely digital, and scholars from around the world are able to connect to and discover the various treasures the library has to offer.

Provost Thomas Burish, himself a Notre Dame alumnus, explained the purpose of the celebration, noting that it might seem odd to be celebrating a building.  It is what goes on inside the building, Burish said, that deserves to be celebrated––the library is an intellectual home, a quiet place for reflection and hard work.

“We are here to thank Father Hesburgh for creating this years ago,” Burish said.  Fr. Hesburgh had the vision for the library; when asked where he would get the funding, Fr. Hesburgh merely said, “God will provide.”

The event on Friday was not only a reflection on the past, but a commitment for the future: A commitment to creating a library of the twenty-first century.  One of the most obvious changes will be a transition from the physical medium to the digital.  “We have to know what to change,” Burish concluded, “but more importantly, what not to change.”

University President Father John Jenkins also shared remarks, calling the Hesburgh Library a “home for learning and discovery.”  He re-blessed the library and thanked everyone who had ever used it as a search for truth.  He connected this to the Word of Life Mural, more commonly known as Touchdown Jesus, which artfully depicts the University’s mission.  The mosaic is of Christ the teacher, as well as the saints and scholars of the past, all united in the search for truth.

Fr. Jenkins echoed Fr. Hesburgh’s own thoughts about the library: “It must be the place where students of the future will be delighted to spend many hours of every day.  There in silence they will meet the best books from the greatest of minds; there in the quiet by themselves they will carry on the search for knowledge and truth that will change their whole lives.”

This was the first of many events that will honor and explore the history and meaning of the Hesburgh Library.  There will be a lecture series surrounding the library, the first of which will be Friday, September 27.  Janet Blake, an art historian and scholar, will discuss the creation of the Touchdown Jesus mural in a lecture entitled, “Mallard Sheets: An Artist’s Journey to the Word of Life.”

Liz Everett is a senior PLS and English major.  She is the one who knocks (and if you get that, come watch the finale with her on Sunday).  Contact her at eeveret1@nd.edu.