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(Re)Illuminating History

A New Life for the Olin Library Call Board

Unveiling the New Call Board

Exhibit in Olin

Due to delays in construction, the call board was ready to go before it was ready to be reinstalled. To show off the hard work and success of the students, the plastic sheeting came down and a fully upgraded call board was displayed on blocks in Olin Library through May and June of 2025, during Commencement and Reunion weekends.

The call board, prototypes and other items relating to the project sit on tables with red table cloths. There are signs for Cornell's Electrical and Computer Engineering program and a poster about the project.
The fully functional, updated Call Board was displayed in Olin Library at the end of the Spring 2025 semester. The display demonstrated some of the prototypes and original components of the board, as well as a poster created by the students detailing their work on the project.
The call board sits on a table with red tablecloths. One of the prototype boards is on top of it with many of the numbers illuminated.
The second prototype sits atop the call board while on display in Olin Library at the end of the Spring 2025 semester.

Olin's Grand Reopening

Raffle tickets made to look like the numbers of the call board sit on a table next to a sign that reads “Raffle Numbers Please Take One.”

In the fall of 2025, Olin Library held a reopening celebration. Using energy saving LEDs and a Raspberry Pi computer as its brain, the beloved call board was the star of the show. Professor Skovira gave a short talk describing the project before demonstrating the new functionality of the call board.

The call board was even used to randomly select the raffle winners for the event! Raffle tickets featuring the new colorful numbers of the call board were distributed to attendees. Then the board displayed all numbers, with random numbers turning off one by one until only one remained illuminated to choose the winner.

Anushka Mathew, Professor Skovira, and Yikai Guan pose under the call board with University Librarian Elaine Westbrooks.
Anushka Mathew '25, Professor Skovira, and Yikai Guan '25, pose under the newly installed call board with Elaine Westbrooks, Carl A. Kroch University Librarian (second from the left).
Professor Skovira stands at a podium at the reopening celebration. The call board can be seen behind him and he holds up a NeoPixel circuit board.
Professor Joseph Skovira speaks at the Olin Library Reopening celebration in August 2025.

The upgrades to the call board are a testament to the ingenuity of students and faculty in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program and the dedication of library staff, facilities, and administration in their desire to save the call board from destruction. Thanks to the combined efforts of Cornell Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University Library, and the construction team, a piece of Cornell history was preserved, ensuring that the Olin call board is ready to serve the library patrons for another 60+ years.

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