By Ana Breton

The $77-million fund responsible for renovating the Marriott Library is now nearly 90 percent fully funded due to a $5-million pledge from the Marriott family.

This is the second donation from the Marriott family, bringing its total contributions to more than $12 million.

The rest of the funding has come from the State of Utah, the Federal Emergency Management Act and other private donations. Only $8 million has yet to be raised.

Heidi Brett, spokeswoman for the Marriott Library, said she and the rest of the staff are grateful for the family’s donation.

“We’re very excited about it,” she said. “The Marriott family has been so supportive and this is really an extension of their generosity.”

The library’s Renovation-Innovation project will give the library sufficient support through a 7.0 earthquake, which the Utah Office of Emergency Services predicted could happen at any time within the next 50 years.

The project, which started in June 2005, will also equip the library with an automated retrieval center-a robotic system that will house more than a million items and locate one within minutes.

The renovation will also include an Advanced Technology Studio, a grand reading room and eight electronic classrooms.

“When completed, the library will be a truly stunning centerpiece,” said U President Michael K. Young in a written statement. “For nearly four decades, the Marriott Library has served as the state’s flagship academic library. The new library building will reflect the deep value this library provides to the campus, the state and indeed the world.”

Meghan Robinson, junior in history, said besides making the library more secure, remodeling it shows how much the U cares about its students academically.

“The library is sending a message to students saying how important preserving history is and how important research is by directing so much of their attention to it,” Robinson said.

Joyce Ogburn, director of the Marriott Library, said she was thrilled about the Marriott family’s donation.

“This is a big boost for us,” Ogburn said. “It’s a great capstone, but we need to continue to fund raise for the rest.”

Ogburn said the project will be 50 percent finished when the glass exterior is finished in the next couple months. The library renovation will be completed during the summer of 2008.

“Then it won’t look like a bombed- out building anymore,” she said.

Lennie Mahler

The Marriott family recently pledged $5 million dollars toward the renovation of the Marriott Library, leaving only $8 million to be raised to meet the projected $77 million total cost of the renovation, expected to be completed in the summer of 2008.