6 things you didn't know about Duke's Libraries

Is print really dead? If you’re skeptical of that morbid conclusion, you have an ally in Deborah Jakubs, Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and vice provost for library affairs. Jakubs notes that the number of patrons entering Duke’s libraries has steadily increased even as digital media becomes more dominant. Duke Libraries continues to acquire more than 80,000 hard-copy volumes in a typical year, and Jakubs doesn’t think that number will get smaller any time soon. Of course, Duke Libraries is also growing its collection of e-books and other digital materials. But the library space itself can’t be reduced to a downloadable file—last year’s $13.6 million gift from David M. Rubenstein is girding an upcoming renovation effort that will turn a western chunk of Perkins into the new David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Perkins as we know it is the place students tell Jakubs they “come to get serious,” but the building moonlights as the biggest party venue on campus. The next Library Party is on the horizon (“Heroes and Villains,” February 24), and last year’s “Mad Men & Mad Women” is widely and fondly remembered. Here are some things you should know about the multi-talented Duke Libraries system.