SJSU Develops Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library

San Jose State University (SJSU) will open the doors of the new $177.5-million Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library on August 1, 2003. The 475,000-sf facility, the first public/private partnership in the nation between a university and a city, will feature a browsing library serving hot and cold meals, an Internet cafe, a large story-telling room, a rooftop terrace available for rental, and four multipurpose suites with videoconferencing equipment available for meetings. The eight-story building, plus mezzanine and lobby, will also include a teen room with audio equipment, CDs, DVDs and VCRs. Area residents will be able to access books, learning tools, and SJSU's collections previously reserved for university faculty and students. Technologies include voice-over-IP-capable phones, 4,000 data ports, a fiber-optic Internet backbone, and tablet PCs to loan to visitors. Construction on the library began in July 2000.