Originally Posted by
mlbcard
It looks cool, but the first comment on the article is right. I've often found books I need by browsing through the shelves. Without that, I'd probably miss out of lots of interesting or relevant books.
The books inside the automated storage system include digitized serials (already browsable via JSTOR, LexisNexis, ProQuest, etc.), special collections (already closed stack, and mostly fragile items which will benefit from fewer human hands, less movement, and stronger climate control), archived legal volumes, and unpublished dissertations. Moving these lesser-used items into Mansueto will open up shelf space within Regenstein, which has 4.5M volumes in open stacks.
As for the glass dome, I visited on Tuesday afternoon during the (thankfully past) heat wave. It was a bit toasty and very bright inside, but almost every seat was taken with laptop-toting students. Most other library study spaces around campus are dim and soft-surfaced; this is quite a welcome contrast, and I'm sure that it will be very welcome on clear and cold winter days, an insulating blanket of snow coating the semi-opaque upper panels.