Fenwick Library 1972-2022

The photograph on the left shows the original Fenwick Library, circa 1967. The photograph on the right was taken of the current Fenwick Library in 2016. Yes, an amazing difference. But looks can be deceiving. While the George Mason University Libraries (including Fenwick Library) has grown in many ways since George Mason became a university 50 years ago, one thing has not changed – the absolutely central and critical role the Libraries have in the success of the university’s mission.

Fifty years ago, Fenwick Library had books, official records, microfiche, periodicals, tables, carrels, and chairs – and librarians and other library staff. If you were doing research you sat at one of those tables or carrels, used the available library resources and turned to a  library staff member for assistance. It was a very self-contained world of knowledge; if your study needed information beyond what was in the stacks you depended on the library staff to reach out to other sources.

Yet that Fenwick Library of 50 years ago quickly became the foundational cornerstone of George Mason University. Since then the university’s library system has grown and evolved to provide George Mason with the expert library faculty and skilled staff and scholarly  resources it required as it transformed into a Tier 1 research university. Today, the Libraries continue as the intellectual cornerstone of the University.

In the past 50 years the University Libraries has grown from one library location to currently 3 libraries: Fenwick Library, the Mason Square Library (formerly Arlington campus) and the Mercer Library on the Science & Technology campus. In 2016, Fenwick Library – the university’s main research library - was renovated and significantly expanded to provide a 21st century learning and research environment.

Today the University Libraries serves as the university’s primary gateway to a vast realm of information and knowledge. With collaborative learning spaces, strong instructional and research support programs, extensive physical and digital collections, cultural events and exhibition galleries, the Libraries is a place for the entire Mason community to come together.

The challenge for the Mason Libraries is to keep pace with accelerating changes in higher education. These changes in technology and learning approaches are driving an ongoing need for new library resources, tools and spaces. The massive growth of information and data coming on a global scale is even changing the role of our librarians. Students are still turning to our library faculty and staff to help them find information - but now also turning to them to learn how to critically filter this information and apply it to their studies.

Donor support is essential for the Libraries to meet these challenges. The opportunities to contribute to the success of the Libraries’ mission are extensive and highly impactful, including: student assistantships and scholarships, research support, endowments to acquire and preserve collections (including those in digital formats), and naming opportunities to support the enhancement of library spaces and the ability to provide student programing and resources.

Even as the higher education landscape constantly evolves, the Libraries’ mission is to continue serving as the strong academic and research cornerstone of George Mason University. We hope you will join us in making sure the Libraries are able to fulfill this crucial mission as we look forward to the next fifty years of exciting and impactful learning and research.