McLure Library has been a familiar presence at The University of Alabama, serving students and faculty since 1925. But starting 50 years ago, conversations about reimagining and fully realizing the library’s potential resurfaced, shaped by shifting needs, advancing technology, and the evolving role of information studies. What existed functioned well, but the idea of what McLure could become remained.
That long-awaited transformation is now complete. With its revitalization, McLure Library emerges as a modern, purpose-driven home for the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS), giving the College of Communication and Information Sciences (C&IS) a space designed specifically for SLIS programs.
On December 7, SLIS faculty and staff, along with invited guests, celebrated the new space with an official gathering. Guests toured the renovated facilities and learned how the spaces will be used through hands-on activities designed to introduce the breadth of library, information, and book arts education. From making a miniature book to operating a letterpress, the event offered a glimpse into the creative and technical work that now has room to grow inside McLure Library.
For Jamie Campbell Naidoo, Ph.D., Pauline Foster–EBSCO Endowed Professor and Director of the School of Library and Information Studies, the reopening of McLure Library is as much about visibility as it is about space.
“Well, for the open house, I’m really excited about people seeing how it happens in Book Arts, letterpress printing, hand paper making, and book binding,” said Naidoo. “I’m excited for everyone to see the kind of learning and hands-on things that our students do.”
Positioned across from Bryant-Denny Stadium, the building places SLIS programs directly in the daily flow of campus life, a shift Naidoo believes will strengthen awareness of the school’s academic offerings, including its growing informatics program, minors and certificates.
“People may not have realized we were on the top floor of Gorgas Library for 50-plus years,” Naidoo said. “Now they know we’re here.”
The reopening also holds meaning for those who teach and work in the building each day. Anna Embree, Ph.D., professor and coordinator of the Book Arts Program, describes the renovated McLure Library as a transformation not just in square footage, but in possibility. As the instructor behind the program’s bookbinding sequence and a wide range of specialized courses, Embree has long worked to give students a deep understanding of both the history of the book and the craft behind it. Students begin with foundational techniques, learning basic sewing structures and materials before advancing into increasingly complex forms, grounding their creative work in centuries of tradition.
The Book Arts facilities inside McLure have more than doubled in size, a change Embree described as essential. Now, students have access to a dedicated undergraduate studio alongside expanded graduate workspaces, allowing for more hands-on instruction and collaboration. Each section can now work in harmony thanks to this new accessibility.
That proximity is also evident in the letterpress studio, where Sarah Bryant, Ph.D., associate professor and book artist, introduces students to the craft of printing as both a historical practice and a contemporary art form. In the renovated space, Bryant’s classes blend traditional processes with experimental approaches, encouraging students to work from metal and wood type, carved blocks, and digitally produced plates alike. The result is an environment where centuries-old techniques and modern tools coexist, giving students the freedom to push the boundaries of what a book can be.
“One of the things that I love about the new space is that we have the paper mill right here,” said Bryant. “So, all these things you can imagine, it’s like having them in conversation with each other. Being able to walk straight from the mill right into this space, I think that it means that there’ll be a lot more kind of happy, collaborative activity, maybe unplanned intersections.”
Those unplanned intersections are exactly what McLure Library was redesigned to encourage. By bringing together book arts, library and information studies, and emerging digital practices under one roof, the renovated space allows students to move flexible between disciplines.
For C&IS, the space stands as a visible commitment to hands-on learning, innovation, and collaboration across traditional and emerging forms of communication, ensuring McLure Library will serve not just today’s students, but generations to come.
