Rocky Mount, N.C.—North Carolina Wesleyan College recently received a $50,000 grant from the Cannon Foundation to assist with expansion and renovation of the College’s Elizabeth Braswell Pearsall Library.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in April for the 12,000-square-foot library addition. The $4 million project will nearly double the size of the existing library, built in 1967 as one of Wesleyan’s first structures. The addition is expected to be completed in early 2009, before the end of the spring semester.

“This very generous grant from the Cannon Foundation demonstrates Cannon’s ongoing commitment to education and to North Carolina Wesleyan College,” said Malcolm W. Woodall, Wesleyan’s vice president of development. “The gift helps make possible a beautiful and technologically up-to-date center of learning on our campus. We believe it will be a great benefit to our students and faculty, and that it also will attract new students to Wesleyan.”

Among the most visible features of the expanded library will be a landscaped plaza leading to a re-positioned main entrance conveniently located near parking areas and several residence halls. Just inside the entrance and overlooking the plaza will be an inviting, glassed-in Internet Café, where students, faculty, and others can enjoy conversation and learning.

Some of the other important features will include a high-tech instructional lab, a new information/learning commons, a media and special collections area, and wireless computer technology.