The real groundbreaking

I arrived this morning to find the center of campus being disassembled in preparation for the new library. Not much ground was actually broken at the ceremonial groundbreaking, but today the sound of ground being broken is echoing all over campus. It's a sound we'll have to get accustomed to because construction is expected to take about 18 months. Some trees have been removed to make way for the library, but smaller plantings in front of the old library are being moved to other places on campus. The process is loud and dirty and not very attractive, but it's the price we have to pay for a new library and I can live with that.