An old-fashioned picture day will be the final farewell to Morris Library Friday before its facelift begins.

Members of the Carbondale community and all those affiliated with the University are being invited to gather at the North entrance of the library for a wide-angle photo. University spokeswoman Sue Davis said the photo commemorates a milestone in the University’s history,

“The library is the backbone of our campus,” Davis said. “Every faculty member that’s here, every graduate student, has a connection for resources and research. It’s very important to any institution of higher education.”

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A blow-up of the photo will hang inside the new Morris Library, probably near the lobby, said David Carlson, dean of Library Affairs. He said the photo would be a statement of the library’s past meaning and future campus role.

The $42 million project will add 50,000 square feet added to the library’s front. A recreated exterior, new auditorium, computer classrooms, Internet caf and coffee bar, and an updated classification system complete the package, making Morris Library more attractive to modern day students, library employees say.

Carlson said he had the idea for a picture while thinking of ways to involve the whole campus and community. He said the difference before and after will be greater than most imagine.

“There will be echoes of the Morris Library we know,” Carlson said in a letter about the project. “But the building will be otherwise fundamentally changed.”

Susan Tulis, associate dean for Information Services, said the picture would feature administrators holding four volumes important to the library’s history. Board of Trustee President Glenn Poshard will hold the handwritten minutes from an 1873 board meeting, while Provost John Dunn grasps the 1874 handwritten student register.

Chancellor Walter Wendler and James Duggan, Faculty Senate president, will hold the one- and two-millionth volumes the library acquired. With approximately 2.8 million volumes on its shelves, those two volumes – “Areopagitica” by John Milton and “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman – will always be special to the library, Tulis said.

The fanfare will not stop with a photo. The Saluki Marching Band and Brown Dog and Grey Dog will be there, with refreshments following the picture. Tulis said they have printed 1,000 free t-shirts in honor of the day and Carlson said buttons, flyers and advertisements tout the event.

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Tulis said the photo would be available for purchase at a later date. The price has yet to be determined.

“There are a lot of people who graduated from SIU who remember the building as you see now,” Tulis said. “We want some kind of record of it before we start tearing it down and doing something else.”

Davis called the renovation exciting, saying she has fond memories of the library.

“It’s a chance for us to take a snapshot of history that future generations will have before the current building is changed,” Davis said. “And it’s a time to celebrate.”