Washington Post calls Hunt Library 'must see' spot in Raleigh

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Hunt Library on N.C. State's Centennial Campus has attracted more than 70,000 visitors from 100 countries since opening in 2013.

It's making headlines again with a Washington Post article citing it a "must see" spot for Raleigh visitors.

"I think people come in and are blown away," explained Brooke Peters, Visitors Relations Specialist at Hunt Library. "They say, 'why are you taking me to visit a library?' and they walk in and it's worlds apart from what anyone expects coming in the door!"

With more than a $100 million price tag, Hunt Library is high tech with no shortage of design. Everything from the architecture to the chairs were designed to tell a story and create an inspiring space for students and visitors.

"We have about 80 different chairs in 100 different colors," Peters said. "There is research out there that shows if you create interesting and innovative student spaces, students will feel like they have to do work that meets those spaces. We wanted to inspire students to do interesting and innovative work."

The Book Bot is one of the biggest draws at the library. It cost about $4 million and holds about 2 million books in about one-ninth the space of traditional shelving freeing up space for state of the art gaming and visualization labs.

Hunt Library offers tours Fridays at 3:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. Private tours can be arranged.