The Joseph Mark Lauinger Library is the main

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and the center of the seven-library Georgetown library system that includes 3.5 million volumes. It holds 1.7 million volumes on six floors and has accommodations for individual and group study on all levels. It is generally referred to colloquially as "Lau" by Georgetown students. Opened on April 6, 1970, the library was named after an alumnus and Georgetown Chime who was killed in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. It holds the Woodstock Theological Center Library, the remnants of the library of

Woodstock College Woodstock College was a Jesuit seminary that existed from 1869 to 1974. It was the oldest Jesuit seminary in the United States. The school was located in Woodstock, Maryland, west of Baltimore, from its establishment until 1969, when it moved to ...

and one of the country's leading Catholic theological libraries. The fifth floor houses the Booth Center for Special Collections, named after

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, which contains a number of archival documents related to Georgetown as well as an extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, and art. Lauinger Library replaced

Riggs Library Healy Hall is a National Historic Landmark and the flagship building of the main campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Constructed between 1877 and 1879, the hall was designed by Paul J. Pelz and John L. Smithmeyer, both of whom also ...

, which had been the main library at Georgetown since 1891, one of the few extant cast iron libraries in the nation. By the middle of the 20th century, Riggs no longer had the capacity to serve as Georgetown's primary library. The need for more space was the primary reason for the construction of Lauinger. However, Riggs library still serves its original function—storing books—despite that it is mostly used for formal events at the university. The library has views of the

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and the skyline of neighboring Rosslyn, Virginia. Designed by architect

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, the building is supposed to be a

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

interpretation of Flemish Romanesque

Healy Hall Healy Hall is a National Historic Landmark and the flagship building of the main campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Constructed between 1877 and 1879, the hall was designed by Paul J. Pelz and John L. Smithmeyer, both of whom also ...

, located adjacent to Lauinger on Georgetown's main quad. The Students of Georgetown, Inc. also known as "The Corp," operates a coffee shop named "The Midnight MUG" on the second floor of the building. The cafe is usually referred to as "Midnight MUG" or simply "Midnight" and has been in operation since 2003. The library has been designated one of the ugliest buildings in America, with

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labeling it the second ugliest in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, behind the

Watergate complex The Watergate complex is a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Covering a total of 10 acres (4 ha) just north of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the buildings incl ...

References

External links

Georgetown libraries homepage
Library buildings completed in 1970 Brutalist architecture in Washington, D.C. Georgetown University buildings Libraries in Washington, D.C. {{WashingtonDC-university-stub