In January 2026, the 24-hour section of the Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library reopened to the public after undergoing extensive renovations. Construction began on May 21, 2025, and the space remained closed throughout the summer and the fall semester. The renovations include a new entrance, several new windows, new conference rooms, six new group study rooms and significantly more seating.
The Vassar College administration celebrated the section’s reopening by hosting an open house on Monday, Feb. 9. President of the College Elizabeth Bradley, Director of the Libraries Andrew Ashton, and Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies and American Studies Lisa Brawley delivered remarks about the scope of the project and the opportunities it will provide students. Dozens of administrators and faculty members attended the event to hear the speakers and witness the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Bradley spoke briefly during the open house to thank those involved in planning and executing the project. She specifically highlighted Dean of Strategic Planning and Academic Resources Marianne Begemann, Project Managers Sarah Hayes and Maryann Pilon and Lalinthip Maholarnkij, the project’s architect. Bradley added, “We’re also so thankful to the many alums who gave and thought ahead and were philanthropic, that really made this possible. And there were more than one, and many we didn’t know were going to donate, which we were just thrilled about. And the space is being used widely. Clearly, it’s meeting a need. So let’s enjoy.”
Ashton, who spoke after Bradley, discussed the project’s logistics and timeline, explaining that the planning process took nearly five years and noted that the idea to renovate originated from the College’s need to make the library more accessible. Due to an absence of ramps, the library’s main entrance is inaccessible to people in wheelchairs, forcing those with mobility issues to enter the library from the north entrance. However, Ashton explained that making the north entrance more welcoming was only part of the project, and that the north entrance’s close proximity to the 24-hour section created an opportunity for the library staff to reimagine the section and address other needs: “I’m really proud that we were able to rethink this north entrance as almost a second main entrance, a real community space that you can enter into and really be inclusive for all members of our community…but we also recognized the need for more spaces for student and faculty support.”
Brawley, the former Director of the Learning, Teaching and Research Center (LTRC), spoke about why she believes the renovated area will facilitate more proactive student and teacher learning. Brawley argued, “[Renovations] provide much-needed convening spaces for the LTRC, the peer mentoring, and faculty and student workshops of the Writing Center, the Quantitative Reasoning Center and the inclusive pedagogy programs.” She also cited the additions of easily movable furniture, whiteboards, projectors, comfortable seating and small breakout spaces for peer consultation as key factors that make the section more conducive to academic work.
In an interview with The Miscellany News, chief architect Lalinthip Maholarnkij spoke about the intention behind her design choices. “We wanted to give more space to the students as a common space,” she explained, “like a gathering space…so that it’s not always a space where you’re studying, but where you are also sharing new ideas.” Additionally, Maholarnkij shared that the vibrant colors throughout the space were designed to capitalize on natural lighting to make the addition feel brighter and more alive: “Sunlight is the key. In the daylight, the room needs to be active. The sunlight comes through the colors on the perimeter and goes inside the large room so that everything feels connected.”
In addition to speaking at the open house, Ashton sat down with a Miscellany reporter to elaborate on the thought process that went behind the renovation. He pointed out that many of those leading the project felt the original design and purpose of the 24-hour section had become obsolete: “[The 24-hour section] was mainly designed as a computer lab when desktop computing labs were a thing that colleges needed to provide… It just increasingly felt that having a large space that was primarily designed for desktop computing wasn’t really where students are right now. So we wanted to rethink it as more of a warm, welcoming community space with breakout spaces.”
Ashton also shared his hope that the new, welcoming design of the section would draw students interested in conversation away from quieter sections of the library. “We get a lot of complaints about noise in the library,” he explained. “So we were hoping that by making this end of the library…more of a vibrant kind of community space that has a very different feel from the historic part of the building, that people who want to work in a group and maybe want to be a little bit loud will sort of gravitate that way.”
Since reopening, many Vassar students have returned to the 24-hour section and benefited from its services. When asked to compare the renovation to the old section, Matthew Freire ’27 said, “It’s just very colorful, it’s very playful, it’s just good vibes compared to the last one. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t want to stay there, and here I actually feel like I can engage and stay in one place.” Rachel D’Agostino ’26 echoed Freire’s comments, adding, “I think it makes our library more competitive with other college campuses, because we have the draw of a more vintage, antique-feeling library that feels more historic, but also has the appeal of a modern facility that feels more minimalist than most of the maximalist art on the Vassar campus.”
Reflecting on what else could be done to improve the library, Freire and D’Agostino agreed that they want larger and more accessible bathrooms. Ashton emphasized his commitment to provide more bathrooms to the library in the future, but also shared other ideas he has for improvements, like decorating the courtyard with student artwork. Above all, as he continues looking to find ways to improve the library, Ashton said that he wants student feedback and ideas: “Just keep giving us constructive feedback… We were thinking of putting up a QR code with a virtual suggestion box…and you can talk to somebody at the front desk, you can talk to me, you can talk to anyone who looks like they work here and it’ll always get to the right place.”