By Ricky Thompson

Picture the Snell Library with wood paneling, padded armchairs and soft lights. That picture may soon become a reality, at least for part of the library.

The university is taking steps to ensure advancements that can be enjoyed by past and present students alike with the construction of an Alumni Reading Room.

“It came up in discussion with the Alumni Office and students that Northeastern doesn’t have a dedicated space for alumni,” said Dean of University Libraries Edward Warro.

The project carries a price tag estimated at $170,000, and will coincide with a series of other developments planned for the facility’s first floor.

“It fit in with the library needing a quiet, low-tech space for people to gather and meet [as well as] a place that we could have presentations and alumni could have meetings or activities when they came back to campus,” Warro said. “I thought the library’s need for that kind of space and the alumni need had a pretty good fit.”

The overall script for the renovations additionally calls for infusing the library’s first floor “with the same bright, high-tech, welcoming energy and verve” of the Cyber Caf