News Release
For imme(diate release: October 18, 1993
For further information: Marleen Morris, 986-1911

Capilano
College
Capilano College Opens New Library
2055 Purcell Way
North Vancouver
British Columbia
Canada V7J 3H5
191(604) 986-1911
Fax (604) 984-4985

Public Relations
Tel (604) 984-1729
Fax (604) 984-1714

In his first appearance at a post-secondary institution in B.C. since his
appointment as cabinet minister, Dan Miller, Minister of Skills, Training and
Labour, will officially open the $10.9 million library building at Capilano
College's North Vancouver campus on Thursday, October 21 at 5:30 p.m. The
opening is the highlight of the college's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration.
"Capilano College is one of the oldest community colleges in British
Columbia," Miller notes. "This new library ensures Cap students will continue to

1968-1993

enjoy outstanding educational opportunities.
"The government's support of this project is evidence of our continued
commitment to post-secondary education in British Columbia," says Miller. "We
see education and training as vital to the health of our province's economic
future."
The official ceremony is scheduled to get underway with a trumpet
fanfare from the college's music students. Guests will be invited to tour the new
three-storey facility and the adjoining former library, now renovated to house the
library's Media Production, Audio-visual, and technical services areas as well
as a classroom, archives, administrative offices, and the college's Achievement
Resource Centre.
Two floors of the new building house the library's main collection, study
areas, circulation and reference services. The 40,000-square-foot facility is over
three times the size of the old library, with shelving for 200,000 volumes, more

than doubling its former capacity. Study carrels have increased from 100 to 350,
and many have been wired for laptop computer/modem use.
The third floor of the new building presently contains classrooms, but
when enrollment warrants can provide an additional 18,000 square feet for
library use, serving a capacity of 7,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) students.
Currently the college has 4,200 PTEs.
"It's very fitting that we mark Capilano College's twenty-fifth anniversary
with the opening of this state-of-the-art facility," says Graham Crockart, chair of
the Capilano College Board. "The college is committed to providing students
with excellent facilities and opportunities. The new library will be the heart of
this campus and a focus for our commitment."
Among the high-tech features of the library are a fully-integrated on-line
library system, due to be in place in 1994. Users of the system will be able to
access current catalogue, circulation, and acquisition information via 22 public
terminals. The integrated system will also give students access to remote
databases and library catalogues at other colleges and universities, vastly
increasing available research materials.
Another electronic resource, a 12-station computer lab, will offer
hardware such as a color scanner and a color laser printer — equipment not
easily available to most students. The lab, which has both PC and Macintosh
stations, was made possible through a $75,000 contribution from CIBC.
"We are very grateful for the hard work of the Capilano College
Foundation in their fundraising campaign," says President Doug Jardine. "This
contribution, and many others, help us to provide our students with training and
equipment that greatly enhances their learning experience and prepares them
well for the workplace or continued studies."

Another example of community support is a $62,000 contribution from the
Royal Bank that will upgrade the college's CD-ROM services to a network.
"Through the Capilano College Foundation's focused giving campaign,
the library has received over $240,000 in corporate and private donations,"
says Jardine. "This vastly increases our ability to provide our students with firstrate support. We are very appreciative of the community's continuing
involvement in the programs and activities of the college."
College administrators and planners have also provided an attractive
learning environment in the design of the building. Architect Richard Henriquez
has explored West Coast themes in the interior, which features a stylized boat
keel down the centre of the first floor ceiling, stylized sail-like light reflectors, and
an abundance of windows looking out on the surrounding trees.
Facilities at the new library are available to the public.

-30-