For all the controversy, the Memorial Union’s Browsing Library has emerged from recent renovations relatively unscathed.

The renovated library is now open for business.

Last year, when the Union was being redesigned to make room for new student offices, a proposal was made to junk the library or move it because designers were pressed for space. After much protest, the Union Board of Directors decided to keep the library where it is.

In an effort to visually tie the Browsing Library and Chapel to Gold Star Hall, the foyer in the library now has a vaulted ceiling and columns in each corner.

Kathy Svec, Union marketing director, said the new foyer provides a transition zone between the calm of the library and the bustle of the new Food Court area. “It now, I think, allows you to change your mood.”

In addition, renovators removed the hall that used to lead to the Chapel. The Chapel is now only accessible through the library.

The arch door that used to lead to the Browsing Library no longer met current fire codes, Svec said. However, the Union did not want to dispose of it, so officials refashioned it as the door to the Chapel.

The Chapel is not open because the Union still lacks sufficient storage space. It’s being used to house equipment for an art exhibition program. Once organizations move into new student office spaces, Svec said builders will work on reorganizing storage space and reopen the Chapel.

Lucy Duitscher, a former ISU student who returned to Ames when she retired, said she is glad the Browsing Library is open again.

“I love to come over here. I look forward to it,” Duitscher said. “On a cold day, I love to come over here and read the good assortment of magazines. It makes me feel like a student.”

On the other hand, not as many people are visiting the library as they did before it closed for renovations.

“A lot of people don’t realize we’re open. I think people are hesitant to walk in. They kind of peak in, and we have to drag them inside,” said Stacy Otto, a student supervisor at the library. They may be due in part to a closed door.

“We really would like students to feel comfortable and just come on in; use the space,” Svec said.

“I don’t think people realize all we have to offer,” Otto added.

The Browsing Library is located directly below Gold Star Hall, a memorial to Iowa State students who died during war. Gold Star Hall’s vaulted ceilings, Corinthian columns and stain glass windows give a cathedral-like atmosphere to the hall, something renovators wanted to tie in to the library.

Architects in the 1920s liked to incorporate memorials in their designs, Svec said. As part of his memorial, Union designer W.T. Proudfoot wanted to place a library and a chapel directly below Gold Star Hall as a “symbol of freedom and democratic life,” Svec said.