On Monday, 6 March 2023, the Scientific Information Service (RCS-SIS) and the Site and Civil Engineering department (SCE) celebrated the first-stone ceremony of the CERN Library renovation.

Members of the Scientific Information Policy Board, the library renovation project team and current and former SIS colleagues joined the ceremony at the construction site. Speeches by Mar Capeans, Head of the SCE department, and Joachim Mnich, Director for Research and Computing (RCS), emphasised the importance of the library as a physical space in today’s world, and the value of collaboration across CERN departments. This was followed by a moving speech by Christiane Standley, who shared memories of her life-long career as a CERN librarian and reminded guests of the importance of peace in Europe.

A time capsule was inserted into the new wall replacing the previous entrance. This capsule contains photos of the library over the years, personal messages from a range of library users and librarians, as well as the key holder used to open the old library desk. The time capsule is now sealed inside the wall for future generations to discover.

The CERN Library team looks forward to serving the CERN community in the renovated premises in autumn 2023. In the meantime, you can find the temporary library in 3/1-015 or send your requests by e-mail to @email.

See more photos of the event on: https://cds.cern.ch/record/2851660.