When construction concluded on the University’s new, $3.5 million library after two years, five months and seven days, a University-wide contest challenged students to find the best way to move all of the books from the cramped, outdated Hill Memorial Library, according to a Sept. 11, 1958 edition of The Daily Reveille.The result was a conveyor belt operated by a pulley system capable of moving the volumes across the grassy corridor into a modern two-story building, which came to be known as Middleton Library, said Assistant Dean of Libraries Nancy Colyar.Middleton Library will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a low-key reception Friday. In its half-century on campus, the building has received intense criticism for its location, seen the addition of two floors, taken part in a technological revolution and now endures a 5 percent cut to its overall budget.In addition to the low-key reception, special exhibits will be featured, including a list of the 50 best books of the last 50 years, a Banned Books exhibit in the Education Resources room and an exhibit featuring photos from when the library was initially built in Special Collections. All festivities will be open to the public. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCEMiddleton Library was originally built with a basement, two floors and a foundation capable of holding a third and fourth floor. While there are no current plans to physically expand Middleton, Colyar said there are plans to continue expanding the resources available within the building as well as into an additional library facility.”It doesn’t accommodate all of the weight of the books on them though — so the foundation has a few problems,” Colyar said. “You’ll start to see water seep up on the floor of the basement every now and then.”The library opened Sept. 11, 1958, and it was formally dedicated Oct. 23, 1958, according to a University news release. The library received about 5,000 student visitors per day within 10 days of opening. Middleton Library was named in honor of Col. Troy H. Middleton, president of the University from 1951 through 1962, said Paul Hoffman, a history professor researching the University’s past. Middleton’s foundation was built strong enough to accommodate expansion under Middleton’s insistence. Academics vs. athletics came into play whenever Middleton initially proposed building a library central to the University because funds were also needed to pay for  enclosing the south end of Tiger Stadium, Hoffman said.Once the University received funding, Hoffman said Middleton chose its location — the center of the University’s quad.CONTROVERSYThe original plans for the University’s layout featured a cruciform-shaped quad with the buildings on each end, Atkinson Hall and Foster Hall, each visible from the other with complimentary facades, said architecture professor Michael Desmond. But the library is located directly in the center of the two buildings, creating an additional area that came to be known as the Exxon Quad.”The architecture [in the original campus plan] is splendid and really nicely coordinated,” Desmond said. “It’s really a beautiful ensemble. What Middleton Library does is completely interrupts it … Middleton really interferes with what is otherwise one of the nicer college plans in the country.”Middleton’s modernist architecture style also clashes with the Italian Renaissance style of the rest of the original buildings, Desmond said. When the library was initially constructed, the large opposing windows and spacious interiors of the first floor were intended to link either side of the quad and give the impression visitors could “float through,” Desmond said. The connection is blocked by vestibules and magnetic detectors, he said.”When Middleton was built, in some ways it was a progressive move,” Desmond said. “Unfortunately, they did it in a way that lessened the value of what was there.”Michael Finkelstein, history and philosophy senior and Landmark LSU president, said the Campus Master Plan created in 2003 is designed to guide the growth of the University — and it features Middleton Library being torn down and relocated to the area between Tureaud Hall and the Military Science building.”Middleton disrupts the flow of the quad, it disrupts the original intent and the original focus of the quad,” Finkelstein said. “[The Campus Master Plan] shows you what they [intend] to do with the library to restore the quad to its original glory.”But all infrastructure changes are currently on hold — until the University weathers the budget crisis.WEATHERING THE CRISISMiddleton Library faced a 5 percent total cut to its budget for the 2009 academic year. Down from a budget of $11.4 million in the 2008 academic year, the 2009 budget is $10.5 million, Colyar said. To minimize the cuts, Colyar said the library attempted to spread the decrease throughout the department rather than cutting regular staff. Some unfilled positions were cut, and fewer student workers were hired, but no regular staff members were cut.The library now closes at midnight each night instead of 2 a.m.  because of the cuts during regular operating hours. The library returned to closing at 2 a.m. during midterms, and it will be open 24 hours a day during finals. The library is also purchasing fewer books and being more selective about the journals it does purchase, Colyar said. It is also binding fewer journals at the end of each year and making efforts to conserve paper. The travel budget has been almost entirely slashed.—-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]